The Crowd Goes Wild... For all the Right Reasons.

So what is the big deal about a college football player that breaks team rules, gets himself suspended, and comes back to play after missing 3 games? It sounds like this is something that may happen all over the country week after week. The details surrounding this one however make it special; all of which came together so organically that it could have easily not happened and blended into all of the rest of the stories out there. 

Here is a link to the article that tells the whole story:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130925/spencer-hadley-byu/

I'm not a huge fan of any one football team, but I'm a fan of the human spirit rising about difficulty. To me, I think this story touches all in some personal way. It must. It's got 30,000 likes over a few days after going live which the author himself admitted had never happened before. So here is the Cliff's Note version if you haven't already read the article:

• Spencer Hadley is a football player, he plays for BYU.
• BYU has an honor code that every student athlete must abide by in order to play football or represent the school in any way. You've probably heard of it before, the honor code is always poked fun at in the media when BYU athletes break the rules. They'll get suspended from playing their sport while resolving whatever mistake they've made; typically these honor code offenses are activities that most other college athletes are participating in all over the country without even thinking twice.
• Spencer broke the honor code. The story says he went and partied in Vegas and had some alcohol.
• A Ute fan, probably acting under a fake name, rats Spencer out days before the rivalry game between BYU and Utah. The story is all over the media.
• Spencer gets suspended.
• The BYU team goes to do a fireside type message one evening before the rivalry game to a group of prisoners in the state prison.
• Article author, Jeff Benedict, who was in town working on a separate project, was randomly invited to attend this prison fireside, he had not initially been invited to attend nor did he have plans to.
• Spencer makes a last minute decision to also attend this prison fireside even though he didn't want to, and even though he technically wasn't in the position to represent the school due to his honor code violation. He hops on the team bus because an inspired coach invited him to attend.
• The fireside goes as planned until after the coaches remarks, an attending inmate shouts, "Put Spencer in."
• Coach decides to invite Spencer to address the crowd of inmates. He does: 

After a long silence, he cleared his throat and shared a scripture about vile sinners that had been forgiven by Christ. "I've done some things that have embarrassed my family, my teammates, my school and even my church," he said. "But I believe in redemption."Many inmates nodded."I know who I am," Hadley continued. "I know who you are. We're all children of a Heavenly Father. All of us in this room have made mistakes. Not one of us qualifies as being the vilest of sinners. Yet having made mistakes I know that we can change and we can come back and right the wrongs that we've done."

• Tears
• The crowd goes wild (The crowd of prisoners that is). Each of them spiritually touched in a way that none of them expected upon arriving.
• Writer Jeff Benedict watches in awe at the whole scene that has unfolded in front of him. He convinces Sports Illustrated late that night that he's got a one of a kind story to tell, and somehow convinces the Hadley's to participate in this article just after a week of unwanted attention in the media.
• BYU loses to Utah 20-13. Spencer's suspension denies him a final opportunity to beat his rival school, and BYU loses a 4th consecutive time to the Utes.
• The article about the events in the prison, including details about Spencer's background, is published and within a few days gets over 30,000 likes. It currently has over 40,000.

So even the Cliff's Notes version is kind of long, but overall shows how so many details, many of which were unlikely to fall into place or happen at all, tell a stirring account of redemption. It is this redemption that we all seek in some way knowing that we are all imperfect. Although I feel bad that Spencer never got that last chance against the Utes, I'm glad that his actions of improving his personal situation off the field was able to reach so many, including myself, in a very positive way.
I believe this story has a ripple affect that is still actively touching people's hearts. The current status of main subject of the story got his time on the football field once again. In an unexpected fashion, Spencer's suspension was lifted early and he was on the field yesterday with his teammates against Georgia Tech. A game in which BYU won. I wasn't there, and I didn't watch the game, but they say the first tackle that Spencer made invoked a roaring cheer from the crowd, the kind that makes the hair on your arm stand on end.