Charlie watched as the man rose out of his seat. He didn’t know that he was there, but now that he recognized his face, he knew everything was about to change. He had posters of him hung up on his wall.
And now he was looking at the real thing. Charlie felt his stomach twist into a knot as the man started walking toward him. But what neither of them was aware of was the teacher filming the entire interaction.
Some kids dream of being astronauts, and others dream of being police officers. But Charlie Williams loved football. He supported Florida State since he lived in Florida his whole life. The 11-year-old wanted to be just like his favorite players when he grew up.
Charlie wanted to become a professional football player. Although he wasn’t athletically inclined, he had a small build and was sometimes even ridiculed for it by other children.
Charlie was aware that he wasn’t the same as all the other kids in his class or even the school. He was extremely thin and weak, but he never let that fact get him down. He had big dreams, and he knew he would achieve them one day.
It was still hard, though. With all the teasing, Charlie didn’t have many friends. He would sit alone at lunch every day. But that’s exactly where things would turn around one day.
Charlie had the same ritual at school every day. He would pay the utmost attention in class, and then at his recess, he would run to the same table after picking up his lunch from the cafeteria.
He’d choose more or less the same meal every day. There would be a starch of some kind – normally mashed potatoes. Maybe a gravy, some peas, and a chicken fillet. He’d then eat his meal all on his own.
One day while at school, Charlie heard a rumor that he had the hair at the back of his neck standing on end. He needed to find out if it was true or not.
He knew that there was only one person that could tell him for sure whether or not there was any validity. He had to go to the faculty and ask.
Charlie went straight to his teacher to ask her about the rumors. “Ma’am, I heard that a football team might come to visit the school?” The teacher smiled at him and shed light on the situation. “Yes, Charlie, yes they are!”
Charlie couldn’t believe it, he always wanted to meet a celebrity, and one that played football made it all so much better.
Charlie couldn’t contain his excitement. They would visit the school the very next day! He came home and got together all of the memorabilia that he had collected. He looked through his favorite trading cards and photos and even wore his jersey.
He couldn’t wait for the next school day. A visit from some of his heroes. He was excited to meet them. But he had no idea that it would be different than he imagined.
The next day, Charlie woke up and got dressed for school. He was looking forward to the day. It was his big day. He got onto the bus and headed for school. He finished his morning classes, and recess was the next period.
But then he saw something that broke his heart. All of the popular kids had set up a table for the football players to hang out and meet them. He would never be allowed to sit at that table during recess.
Charlie felt crushed. He waited for the period to end, and just as he predicted, the football players were gathered around the other table.
He sat at his normal table all by himself. But just as he didn’t think things couldn’t get any worse, he noticed one detail that made his exclusion so much worse. The team that was visiting was none other than Florida State, his favorite team.
Charlie twirled his plastic fork in his hand as he enviously watched his favorite team interact with all the other kids. He was their biggest fan and had even worn his fan jersey.
But something else would happen entirely unexpectedly that would change everything forever. One person on the team had noticed Charlie’s jersey and him sitting all by himself. He would decide to do the unexpected.
Charlie watched as the man rose out of his seat. He didn’t know that he was there, but now that he recognized his face, he knew everything was about to change. He had posters of him hung up on his wall.
And now he was looking at the real thing. Charlie felt his stomach twist into a knot as the man started walking toward him. But what neither of them was aware of was the teacher filming the entire interaction.
The man sat down next to Charlie, who was speechless. He smiled at him and asked what his name was. All he could do was stammer out, “it’s Charlie.” “Well, Charlie, I can see you’re a big fan of my team by your jersey.”
Charlie nodded excitedly and even offered the man some of his lunch. The player looked at the granola bar on his plate and decided to take the gesture he was being offered. But a teacher was secretly filming everything.
The man introduced himself, “Well, Charlie, I don’t know if you know who I am, but I’m one of the members of Florida State, Travis Rudolph.” Charlie nodded his head again, “I know. You’re my favorite player!”
The interaction between the two was extremely wholesome, and it wasn’t just Charlie that was excited. His teacher was recording the entire interaction from across the room. And she would send the evidence to an important person.
Charlie’s mom was sitting at home, oblivious to the interaction taking place in her son’s life, until she heard the message tone of her phone and was let in on what was going on.
She smiled as she watched her son offer the football player some food and go on to talk about how much he looked up to him. It was something she knew meant a lot to Charlie, and now he was finally getting something good.
The interaction wasn’t over yet. Charlie told Travis how much he dreamt of being a football player when he was older. But he explained that he wasn’t very athletic and quite small.
But Travis had inspirational words to share, “If that’s your dream, there’s always a way to make it work. Through hard work and determination, anything is possible. And now you have me to cheer you on the entire time.”
