Author Topic: Newton (Texas) football coach gives most inspiring championship celebratory speech ever  (Read 809 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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By: Cam Smith, USA TODAY High School Sports   | December 21, 2018

The Newton (Texas) High School Eagles captured their second straight Class 3A state title with a 21-16 victory against Canadian Thursday. While the performance was a lift in itself, the speech that came after from Newton head coach W.T. Johnson was an entirely new level.

As noted by 247Sports, Johnson’s postgame speech put football in perspective. The coach contracted graft-versus-host disease following a double lung transplant in 2015, a condition that deteriorated in the lead up to the 2018 season. In August, Johnson was told he had eight months at most to live. The coach was forced to tell his players he might not live through the season, and that he was taking a back seat on game days.

Then, something amazing happened. Newton kept on rolling, winning week-after-week, and Johnson survived. Eventually, after Newton captured a second-straight state title, Johnson was given the platform to stress how the preceding four-plus months had put football and life in perspective. He didn’t disappoint:

Video at link: https://usatodayhss.com/2018/video-newton-texas-football-coach-gives-most-inspiring-championship-celebratory-speech-ever

Offline Sanguine

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Very inspiring. 

Offline thackney

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Thanks for sharing that.
Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Offline the_doc

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Thanks for sharing that.

Most East Texas folks are pretty solid folks.