If you spent your Saturday watching college football, then you no doubt saw a lot of touchdowns being scored. But we can promise you that you didn’t see any great as the TD scored in the clip above.
Robby Heil, a senior at Novi High School in Novi, Mich., has served as the Novi water boy for four years. So during a recent game, his coach arranged for a special surprise for him. He talked to an opposing coach and got him to agree to let Heil enter a game for one play. That play didn’t count towards the final score of the game, but as you’ll see, that didn’t matter to Heil, who has Down syndrome. He took the ball on the play, made a few cuts at the line, and then scampered towards the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown. And then, he did what all players do when they score and celebrated with his teammates. It was such a cool moment that even players from the other team celebrated with Heil.
The touchdown was extra special for Heil because he got the chance to score it in front of his mother Debbie Heil, who is terminally ill with bone cancer. She couldn’t contain herself during an interview with WXYZ Detroit following the game. "I dropped to the ground because I was so emotional when I saw him make that touchdown," she said. "I’ve always been proud of him being the water boy, or as people call him, the hydration manager, but this was incredible."
It sure was. Kudos to all those involved for making it happen.
