November 22, 2009
What's Inside:
Special touchdown touches many
Benton player's score becomes media sensation
Benton player's score becomes media sensation
Life continues as normal for Matt Ziesel.
The Benton freshman showed up at football practice Tuesday, spent some time kicking field goals off a tee and ran a few scout team plays with his teammates at left tackle. Matt, who has Down syndrome, didn’t change his life with a touchdown run in last week’s freshman game against Maryville.
But he changed the lives of countless others, many of whom he will never meet.
“Every Friday night, each game has 100 or more plays involved with it at the varsity level,” Benton freshman football coach Dan McCamy said. “And then one simple play in Maryville, Mo., in a freshman game with a score of 46-0, which obviously the game was meaningless at the time.
“That one play impacted a nation.”
What started as a Youtube.com video link e-mailed to six people turned into a national phenomenon.
The 51-second video of Matt Ziesel scoring a 63-yard touchdown run on a play at Maryville High School hit Youtube.com last week and had more than 345,000 views as of Tuesday evening. The video since has appeared on CBS’ “The Early Show,” ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CNN, and on airwaves as far away as Australia.
The story has been featured on multiple radio stations, as well as in print in papers from the News-Press and Kansas City Star to national publications such as The Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times and Los Angeles Times. ESPN and CBS Sports also have expressed interest in filming their own segments to highlight.
All of the attention has kept Matt’s father, Mike Ziesel, and Mr. McCamy busy.
“We’re overwhelmed by it,” said Mike, who did a radio interview for a station based in Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday. “I like to say that I’d hate to be Michael Jordan or someone like Tiger Woods, because if they have this kind of stuff all day, I wouldn’t want to do it.”
The play, which started with a handoff from quarterback Beau Steele, was a long time in the making.
Doctors advised the Ziesels that Matt probably shouldn’t play football, due to the dangers of physical contact.
Mike, also Benton’s activities director, knew his coaches would take care of Matt’s special needs, but try to involve the 15-year-old as much as possible. Part of that involved drawing up a special play to give Matt the chance to handle the ball without players tackling him during practices and scrimmages.
“We knew that there was this ‘Matt Play’ somewhere,” Mike said. “I saw it in the preseason, and coach McCamy said, ‘I’m going to get him in a game. I just don’t know when and how.’”
The opportunity presented itself with Maryville leading Benton 46-0 last Monday.
Mr. McCamy called a timeout with 19 seconds left and approached Maryville’s coaches with the idea of allowing Matt to enter the game and score a touchdown. At first bewildered by Mr. McCamy’s advances, the Spoofhounds’ staff agreed to the idea.
Matt sprinted down the right sideline, with Mr. McCamy giving encouragement, and Maryville’s players feigning attempts to tackle him.
“We didn’t have anything to take away from that game,” Mr. McCamy said. “Just overall, not a very positive game. I thought Matty deserved to be on the field as much as anybody else.
“I don’t know. It was just something where I pulled the trigger.”
Mike Ziesel witnessed the play, but his wife, Patty, was out of town. So Mr. McCamy decided to put the video online at Youtube.com and sent the link out to six people, who forwarded it onto others.
The video had 100 views the first night, then 200, which seemed like a big deal. After he was featured in numerous media outlets, the hits continued to mount.
Even Matt has been able to watch his highlight multiple times.
Matt watches the video and sees a touchdown, regardless of the circumstances. Many others who have watched it see even more, prompting the Ziesels to receive innumerable congratulatory e-mails and cards.
None of the attention changes Matt’s life.
“He knew he accomplished something, running for a touchdown,” Mike said. “As far as knowing all of the things that happened, that it was preset that they collaborated, he doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter to him. He wants to play football.”
Ross Martin can be reached at rossmartin@npgco.com.
This story has 29 comments. Click here to join in on the discussion.
Story Tools
Hyperlink Legend
E-mail story
Print friendly version
iPod friendly version
Today's Top Headlines
Characters set the stage for children’s programming
Kids choice of favorite shows varies
Health care bill clears Senate
It’s official: Santa’s here
Task force report stirs health debate
JOB SEARCH
RECENTLY DISCUSSED
Coleman, Intel join forces
(90 comments)
City wants grant to battle smoking
(80 comments)
It's your call, Nov. 19, 2009
(55 comments)
Health care bill clears Senate
(2 comments)
More Popular Discussions
(90 comments)
City wants grant to battle smoking
(80 comments)
It's your call, Nov. 19, 2009
(55 comments)
Health care bill clears Senate
(2 comments)
Nice job Matt!! And great job to the coaches and players showing there is more to football and life than who won and what the score was. That TD probably meant more to him than a Hiesman trophy. I would have traded Chiefs tickets to see that game.
I think the play speaks very highly of the character of all concerned, especially the Maryville staff and players. Congratulations and thanks to all.
By the way, how bout linking the the video to the story? OK. I'll do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ylwXOxKb7I
I also like to say a nice job and congratulations Matt.And the coaches and all involved this was great and my hat goes off to all you coaches from Benton and Maryville such great character.
This is an awesome story . . . too bad St. Joe's fine newspaper didn't pick it up prior to the KC Star. They had a very nice article last Friday with a wonderful picture of Matt and his team members. Here is the link: http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1452971.html
Gee, awesome story - just a bit late behind national news though.
What is with this place? Didn't have room for Matt after reprinting associated press stories? No room after H1N1 updates? Economic climate just too important to pass up?
I posted a link the NBC coverage of Matt's play last week. Last week. NBC.
AWESOME story!
Thanks for posting the links everyone. This is the first I had heard about it.
this is such a great demonstration of the oneness we all share as humanity.
lets enjoy the moment.
These are the kind of stories we can all use. Thanks to the above people for giving the link. Such a show of humanitarianism and sportsmanship, all should be proud, especially the students, for making a young man's dreams come true.
Liberty or Death - I know, I kept seeing this everywhere else and hearing about it even on the National level, and from friends abroad asking me about it, and when I came to our hometown news online to find "our" article which I fully expected to find an even bigger elaboratory spread, I found nothing. NOTHING. I had hopes that I was just missing it or doing something wrong, but your post confirms that maybe it simply wasn't there. I'm glad to see something now about it. Better late than never though, I'm glad News Press got with it. I think the spread that KC did was pretty decent complete with pictures even. Their online pictures of Matt really puts you in the moment of Matt's touchdown.
Congrats to Matt, to both the Benton Freshman team and Maryville team, coaches involved as well. This is what I call true sportsmanship. Its a breath of fresh air.
The pure joy on this young mans face, the pride in a fathers face, the normalcy of this one moment, amazing!
This is just icing on the cake!
An inspiring story that will be remembered in the hearts of every player on that field and in those bleachers that Friday night. KUDOS to all, you did a great job!
I just went to youtube and rewatched it. Matt is quite the runner :) I cant say it enough what an awesome thing happened. Maryville - you should be proud! Everyone came away from that game a winner in more ways than one! Thank you for the inspiration and hope in a time where so much you hear in the news is negative. Like I said, this was a breath of fresh air. Just think of the impact you all have made with one simple kind thoughtful gesture. We should all learn.
I hate to defend the news-press, but they did have something in the sports last week, before all of the main stream coverage. Possibly who ever big brother on here is, that boots all the "good" comments, could confirm the date. Also, the accolades for Matt are well deserved. There is no bigger cheerleader than Matt for the Benton sporting events. Praise well deserved!
Congratulations to all involved!! So often there are negative stories that make front page news.I am glad to see a story that shows that the human spirit is still alive and well. Matt, I am so glad you are a part of a team that views everyone as being important and of value. To your parents thank you for being the support to your childs dreams and aspirations. It is wonderful to see a story of this magnitude that the whole world is appreciating and cheering!!
My recollection is the News-Press had a couple of paragraphs on this last Friday, maybe on the 2nd or 3rd page of the sports section. The Kansas City Star the same day had a four-column headline on page 1, with a four-column picture, and continued the story on another page with another picture. KQ also did a nice story on this about a week ago, with interviews from the Maryville and Benton coaches. A nice feel-good story today, I'm sure much appreciated for those who don't use the internet or don't subscribe to the Star.
This really pulls at the heartstrings. Awesome effort by all involved and especially the opposing team and staff that could have taken a shut-out and instead turned it into an event this young man will cherish the rest of his life.
My unit once sponsored athletes for the Special Olympics. Our sponsorees stayed the night in our barracks and we were essentially their chaperones. Seeing them win their medals sent a profound joy in me as if I were a father. There were a lot of tough, macho guys that shed tears that day when they got on their buses and left.
I'll never forget how polite, happy, and the overall zest of life every single one of those athletes had. We may label them disabled, but they never once felt sorry for themselves and live on a level most of us "normal" folks could only hope to.
Falcon- that KC Star spread was nice wasn't it? I sent that link to a few of my friends abroad. I hate that I missed the KQ interviews though, I would have like to have seen that.
After reading some of the comments posted on the Athlete of the Week blogs, I was quite perturbed. Many bloggers whined that it wasn't fair that Matt was winning, "just because of his disability." My faith in humanity and my faith in our community was restored after reading these blogs. As one of Matt's former teachers, I know first hand his work ethic, drive, and determination toward all of his endeavors are yet to be matched "despite his disability!" What a wonderful show of support from this community!
Paladin,
I know exactly what you mean when you say, "tug on your heartstrings!" I am blessed everyday and not a day goes by without my heartstrings being tugged at; as I am a special education teacher who is fortunate enough to work with such great kids everyday!
I heard about this last Friday, Sept 18 from a twitter.com/stjosephmo Tweet. I'm glad it's gone viral and everyone deserves credit for doing the right thing... especially the kids from Maryville.
You know I think it is great that Matt is winning athlete of the week. Goes to show that being recognized as an athlete goes beyond being a "star" but what heart you put into it. I wish we could choose the maryville team as well for showing true humanity and sportsmanship!!
Very touching story. For the Benton team who have made Matt their teammate they understand that being part of a team is more important than one's self. The players from Maryville displayed character & class and should hold their heads high.
:)
I had to hear about this on Fox 4.. Then I hear it was on the Today show.. I guess once it got national coverage it was now important enough to get local coverage..
SEVERAL YEARS AGO, BENTON ALSO ALLOWED A YOUNG MAN FROM LAFAYETTE THAT WAS INJURED AND NOT ABLE TO CONTINUE TO PLAY FOOTBALL TAKE THE FINAL SNAP OF THE GAME AND COMPLETE A PASS...
I THINK THE STAFF OF BENTON HIGHSCHOOL SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR THEIR CHARACTER!
THEY OBVIOUSLY UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN WINNING THE GAME!!
StJoeMike, in fairness to St. Joseph media, it should be noted this did get some early local coverasge. Ryan Menley had a nice story on KQ Tuesday, September 15, the day after the game, with film and conversation with the Maryvile and Benton coaches. The News-Pres picked up on this last Friday with a few paragraphs on an inside sports page. That was the same day the Kansas City Star helped turn in into a national story with a front-page spread. Click on aol.com and see how extensive the national coverage has been.
My Mother from St. Joseph shared the story with me this afternoon. Living in Montana and also having a son playing freshman football this season made the story special. Matt's touchdown not only was a winner for everyone at the game but everyone who absorbed it over various media links.
Thanks for the inspiring story. You rock Matt.
"This was a nice story, however, putting him as Athlete of the week is a bit much. Many kids practice hard, work hard and only get minutes on the field or will never get to score a touchdown. To put a set up touchdown in a freshman game as Athlete of the week is not respectful to others achievment on the field. Before I get hate posts remember, it's a great feel good story, its simply not Athelete of the Week."
typical nasty negative post from this person.