I received this email from my son who got it from a friend. Lots of insight to Colt and his parents. Not sure who originated this email but I am glad it made its way to me. Hope those who read this will enjoy it as much as I did.
Don Hardin
Abilene
Received this from a friend of a friend but following is a
non-Longhorn fan's summary of the speech given by Colt's father at a
recent sports banquet:
This was an email sent to me by a friend who was at this Banquet...thought
you might enjoy:
I have to share with you all our experience last night and bear with me,
this email could get pretty long. Tom and I had the amazing privilege of
hearing Coach Brad McCoy (Colt's dad) speak at the Regents' fall sports
banquet. He had been the scheduled speaker for months - who knew that he
would come to us after the three hardest weeks of his life.
He has coached for 26 years, won 4 state championships and has or is raising
his three sons to be Godly leaders, with humble servant hearts. He confessed
to us that he speaks all the time on growing leaders and on the importance
of sports, football in particular, to learning life's lessons. He also said
that he had to change his talk for the night in light of what happened to
Colt Thursday night. He apologized for what could sound like rambling and
for having to talk about his son more than he might, usually, but he said he
had to share with us how he saw God in all of this.
Coach McCoy began his talk telling us of God's hand in the story of how Colt
and Jordan Shipley came to live in the back house of one of our Regents'
families and that was very funny and entertaining. He wanted to thank the
Andersons, who were there, for providing his son with a safe home and he
wanted to honor for them for who they have been in Colt's life (they hate to
be publicly thanked like this but he thought it appropriate since they were
part of the Regents' family). I'll share this story with you later because
it's what else he talked about that was so amazing.
He told us that three weeks ago his high school football team, his youngest
son is a senior on it, lost the state championship by 1 point because their
kicker flunked out, they had to go for two with no time left on the clock and
lost 13-12. Then he and his wife join Colt in New York for the Heisman
ceremony which did not go as well as they could have hoped. Then they get to
Pasadena for the biggest game in Colt's life, one he has been preparing for
all of his life - and he plays for three plays. He told us that as soon as
Colt went down he began to pray that God would enable him to continue
playing, he prayed for healing and for Colt's heart and attitude.
He finally made his way down under the stadium, praying the whole way,
hoping to see Colt sitting up and putting his pads back on and heading back
out the tunnel. Instead, he saw him laying prone on a trainer's table, no
pads, and a tear on his face. Colt looked up at him and said "Dad, I had
them - I knew everything they were going to do before they did it - I could
have completed every pass I threw - I could see everything and I know we
could have won this game." Brad told God that Colt could have his arm!
Later, Colt got up and wanted to try and throw a little, just in case he had
been miraculously healed and Coach McCoy said all he could think of was when
Colt was 3 or 4 and they would throw in the front yard - he could see that
little boy in this big ol' quarterback and it broke his heart to watch him
throw as if he was using the wrong hand, like he had to think of every step
and where should his hand even be. When everyone finally decided he was not
playing, Colt refused to let them put his arm in a sling, he put his pads
back on and asked for a headset so he could help with the plays and help the
new quarterback.
All through this, Coach McCoy was dealing with lots of emotions and he told
us he was pretty angry with God and God finally told him "Colt is fine, it
is you that need some help." He said that God shared that with him over and
over all through the night - like when the game finally turned around and
the crowd was chanting "Gilbert...Gilbert" and he was so struck by the fact
that this should have been Colt's stage. He just shared with us the hurts of
a father who could do absolutely nothing to help his son and how God helped
him to realize that Colt would make it, that it was Coach McCoy who needed
God's strength at the moment. He told us his phone blew up from all the
texts and messages after Colt spoke at the end of the game and that he
didn't hear what Colt said until Saturday morning. He did ask Colt later
that night, around 3:00 am, what he said because he was getting all these
calls about it and Colt said, "Dad, I don't remember, I have no idea."
Coach McCoy believes God spoke through Colt Thursday night. He also told us
that Colt set out to impact the world through football at UT and he firmly
believes he did that by what he said after the game in a way that Colt could
never have done, even by winning the championship. He asked us to pray for
Colt, not for his shoulder, because that is already getting better, but for
his broken heart. He also shared with us that a non-believer who had heard
Colt speak after the game recognized Coach McCoy and asked him about what he
said. Coach said he had an amazing opportunity to explain "the Rock" to this
person and to witness to him.
Then - he said he likes to sing some and apologized because he might not
make it through the song, but he sang for us the song about "...on solid
rock, I stand - all other ground is sinking sand..." Anyway, it was an
amazing night and I have to think we are probably the only community Coach
McCoy has shared any of this with - what a story and what a privilege. He
also shared with us his and his wife's philosophy on raising kids and it's
that you prepare the child for the path, not try to prepare the path for the
child - and this was something in Colt's path and his faith would see him
through.
I have never been to a sports banquet where I cried and laughed so much - he
is a great speaker and was so honest and transparent - his hurt for his son
and his joy and pride in his son were so evident. He also told us that he
got a call from a NFL general manager yesterday who told him that what Colt
said after the game just raised his stock with the NFL immensely, because if
you want someone to be the face of your franchise, that is what you want
their face to look like. Anyway, sounds like Colt is the real deal, which is
what I have thought all along. I still can't claim to be a UT fan, but I
will always be a Colt McCoy fan!! Sorry this was so long and I'm sure I
didn't give his talk justice - it was just an amazing evening.
Don Hardin
Abilene
Received this from a friend of a friend but following is a
non-Longhorn fan's summary of the speech given by Colt's father at a
recent sports banquet:
This was an email sent to me by a friend who was at this Banquet...thought
you might enjoy:
I have to share with you all our experience last night and bear with me,
this email could get pretty long. Tom and I had the amazing privilege of
hearing Coach Brad McCoy (Colt's dad) speak at the Regents' fall sports
banquet. He had been the scheduled speaker for months - who knew that he
would come to us after the three hardest weeks of his life.
He has coached for 26 years, won 4 state championships and has or is raising
his three sons to be Godly leaders, with humble servant hearts. He confessed
to us that he speaks all the time on growing leaders and on the importance
of sports, football in particular, to learning life's lessons. He also said
that he had to change his talk for the night in light of what happened to
Colt Thursday night. He apologized for what could sound like rambling and
for having to talk about his son more than he might, usually, but he said he
had to share with us how he saw God in all of this.
Coach McCoy began his talk telling us of God's hand in the story of how Colt
and Jordan Shipley came to live in the back house of one of our Regents'
families and that was very funny and entertaining. He wanted to thank the
Andersons, who were there, for providing his son with a safe home and he
wanted to honor for them for who they have been in Colt's life (they hate to
be publicly thanked like this but he thought it appropriate since they were
part of the Regents' family). I'll share this story with you later because
it's what else he talked about that was so amazing.
He told us that three weeks ago his high school football team, his youngest
son is a senior on it, lost the state championship by 1 point because their
kicker flunked out, they had to go for two with no time left on the clock and
lost 13-12. Then he and his wife join Colt in New York for the Heisman
ceremony which did not go as well as they could have hoped. Then they get to
Pasadena for the biggest game in Colt's life, one he has been preparing for
all of his life - and he plays for three plays. He told us that as soon as
Colt went down he began to pray that God would enable him to continue
playing, he prayed for healing and for Colt's heart and attitude.
He finally made his way down under the stadium, praying the whole way,
hoping to see Colt sitting up and putting his pads back on and heading back
out the tunnel. Instead, he saw him laying prone on a trainer's table, no
pads, and a tear on his face. Colt looked up at him and said "Dad, I had
them - I knew everything they were going to do before they did it - I could
have completed every pass I threw - I could see everything and I know we
could have won this game." Brad told God that Colt could have his arm!
Later, Colt got up and wanted to try and throw a little, just in case he had
been miraculously healed and Coach McCoy said all he could think of was when
Colt was 3 or 4 and they would throw in the front yard - he could see that
little boy in this big ol' quarterback and it broke his heart to watch him
throw as if he was using the wrong hand, like he had to think of every step
and where should his hand even be. When everyone finally decided he was not
playing, Colt refused to let them put his arm in a sling, he put his pads
back on and asked for a headset so he could help with the plays and help the
new quarterback.
All through this, Coach McCoy was dealing with lots of emotions and he told
us he was pretty angry with God and God finally told him "Colt is fine, it
is you that need some help." He said that God shared that with him over and
over all through the night - like when the game finally turned around and
the crowd was chanting "Gilbert...Gilbert" and he was so struck by the fact
that this should have been Colt's stage. He just shared with us the hurts of
a father who could do absolutely nothing to help his son and how God helped
him to realize that Colt would make it, that it was Coach McCoy who needed
God's strength at the moment. He told us his phone blew up from all the
texts and messages after Colt spoke at the end of the game and that he
didn't hear what Colt said until Saturday morning. He did ask Colt later
that night, around 3:00 am, what he said because he was getting all these
calls about it and Colt said, "Dad, I don't remember, I have no idea."
Coach McCoy believes God spoke through Colt Thursday night. He also told us
that Colt set out to impact the world through football at UT and he firmly
believes he did that by what he said after the game in a way that Colt could
never have done, even by winning the championship. He asked us to pray for
Colt, not for his shoulder, because that is already getting better, but for
his broken heart. He also shared with us that a non-believer who had heard
Colt speak after the game recognized Coach McCoy and asked him about what he
said. Coach said he had an amazing opportunity to explain "the Rock" to this
person and to witness to him.
Then - he said he likes to sing some and apologized because he might not
make it through the song, but he sang for us the song about "...on solid
rock, I stand - all other ground is sinking sand..." Anyway, it was an
amazing night and I have to think we are probably the only community Coach
McCoy has shared any of this with - what a story and what a privilege. He
also shared with us his and his wife's philosophy on raising kids and it's
that you prepare the child for the path, not try to prepare the path for the
child - and this was something in Colt's path and his faith would see him
through.
I have never been to a sports banquet where I cried and laughed so much - he
is a great speaker and was so honest and transparent - his hurt for his son
and his joy and pride in his son were so evident. He also told us that he
got a call from a NFL general manager yesterday who told him that what Colt
said after the game just raised his stock with the NFL immensely, because if
you want someone to be the face of your franchise, that is what you want
their face to look like. Anyway, sounds like Colt is the real deal, which is
what I have thought all along. I still can't claim to be a UT fan, but I
will always be a Colt McCoy fan!! Sorry this was so long and I'm sure I
didn't give his talk justice - it was just an amazing evening.
