A student with Down's syndrome has been given the night of his life by two US high school football teams.
This is so heartwarming to watch. Ahead of a crunch Friday night game in North Carolina, Lake Norman High School student Sam Jordan - a huge football fan and his team's student manager - was given a special experience.
Before the I-MECK 4A conference game against Vance High School kicked off, Jordan was given the opportunity to run for a solo touchdown. Then he got to celebrate with his team, while also being congratulated by the opposition.
Credit to Vance's players who got into the spirit of the moment by diving past Jordan with some spectacular missed tackles as he ran - then wholeheartedly engaged in the celebrations afterwards.
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The wonderful moment was the idea of Lake Norman's coach, Jonathan Oliphant, who wanted to do something special for Jordan, who has been part of the school's Wildcats football team as student manager for years.
So Oliphant reached out to his opposing coach, Glenwood Ferebee, and the two agreed the plan to make Jordan's day.
"We wanted to do something for him that he wouldn't forget," Oliphant said, per the Charlotte Observer.
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"It was great," added Ferebee, whose team went on to win the following game, 35-16.
"My background is in special [education] and I identify with those kids and I understand how special they are.
"I talked to my kids and said: 'Make sure that kid has the best moment because he'll remember this for the rest of his life.' "
Well, it certainly lived up to expectations.
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Oliphant added: "You try to teach these kids to be good people and good husbands and good dads. At some point, the man upstairs will judge us all, and I try to live by the golden rule and I try to get these kids to do the same.
"The world's a crazy place right now, but I think we made his night."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: American Football
