Greg's ASU Hall of Fame Dinner

Last night, Jason, Janet (Jason's mom), and I attended Angelo State's hall of fame induction dinner. Jason made sure to wear his purple tie- Ha! Greg Stokes, Jason's best friend and fellow linebacker in college was one of the 3 people inducted. Grant Teaff who was very successful head coach at Baylor was one of the keynote speakers. He also coached at McMurray and Angelo State and wrote the book, "I Believe."

I've talked about Greg before, but just in case you don't know the story, Greg was killed in a car accident (fell asleep at the wheel and flipped his truck several times) after he and Jason's next to last game their Senior year. Greg was a remarkable football player. He played middle linebacker, was a 3 time All-American (almost unheard of to receive that honor 3 times), and a Harlom Hill candidate which is the equivalent to the Heisman in Division I. More than likely, Greg would have been drafted to play professional football. Greg has a twin brother, Derek who accepted the award on his behalf. The ironic thing is, Derek and his wife have twin boys. I believe God definitely had a hand in that! Greg also had an older brother who died a few years ago. His family has been through a lot.

It was so hard for Derek to get through his speech. He cried most of the way through it, but he was very nice to mention Jason. Coach Martin (ASU's defensive coordinator for years and Jason and Greg's position coach) was there and his wife told me after the dinner that Greg's death was probably hardest on Jason and Coach Martin. Jason didn't know this at the time, but his coaches actually called his Mom b/c they were so concerned about him. Jason was the last person to see Greg, as Greg left Jason's apartment after midnight the night he died. Of course, Jason blamed himself for letting him go. I think one of the reasons Jason didn't go into coaching immediately after graduating (he went to Occupational therapy school at Texas Tech) was because football reminded him so much of Greg. He didn't want anything to do with football.

I know the dinner was hard for Jason. He said Greg and Derek had so many of the same mannerisms. They weren't identical twins, but Jason said he'd look at him and see Greg. I heard him tell C. Martin, "after all these years, it doesn't get any easier, does it."

The meal was wonderful... a little too light for Jason. For $25 a meal, he said he expected a chicken fried steak (typical man). We had to stop at Whataburger afterwards. It was really neat for Jason to see all of his coaches, professors, some players etc. They were all kidding him about his gray hair.

We were also so thankful that Janet was able to come. She had been in San Antonio visiting a friend who was sick and took the time to come and had to drive back to Odessa by herself. I guess she's used to that, since she made every football game this year but one and actually took me to most of the games. I have been very lucky, b/c when we were in Wichita Falls, my parents were 35 minutes away and took me to all the games after Morgan was born. Before Morgan, I always rode with other coaches' wives.

Anyways, Janet came to a football banquet at Old High one time so Jason always jokes that he's the only 34 (turning 35 on Valentine's day) man whose mom still comes to his football banquets. Greg's death was very hard on Janet too, b/c she had to see her son in so much pain which I think must be one of the hardest things for a parent. At the time, she was always reminding Jason that his faith was imperative and although it didn't sink in at the time, he eventually "got it," and he has one of the strongest faiths of anyone I know.