Football players save toddler's life

The overwhelming majority of student-athletes are decent hard-working young people. They say "please," "thank you," and they call mom on Mother's Day. We often get swept up in the sensational, though. The athletes who are self-serving and greedy get a lot of attention. Thankfully, we have young people like Jack Long and Shane Simpson to pull us back. Long and Simpson attend Missouri Western State University (St. Joseph, Mo.) and are defensive backs on the school's football team. As those who follow football know, defensive backs are the last line of defense. If an offensive player makes it past them, the play or the game is usually over.

Long and Simpson proved to be the last line of defense for 17-month-old Liam Snook as he was accidentally trapped in his grandmother's car on Aug. 23. The high temperature that day was 98 degrees and the heat index was well over 100. The young men were on their way home from a grueling football practice. No one would have blamed them for minding their own business as so many of us do. Liam's family is glad they decided to do the opposite. Watch the Missouri Western coverage below (email subscribers click here).



Most of us will never be in a position where we have to save someone else's life. However, we will all be in a position to help someone who truly needs it at some point. As you heard in the video, Liam's grandmother did not have the strength to break the car window and wore herself out after repeated strikes. The young men got Liam out with relative ease. This is what we need to teach our kids. Doing something that's almost effortless on your part could mean the world to someone else. In this case, it meant the life of a little boy. Go Griffons! Until next time...

Be a Good Sport!

-Sol