Terry Hawthorne Doesn't Quit

Sixty thousand groaned collectively. Groaned collectively at a scene displayed so many times before. A scene at once routine and familiar, while at the same time singularly capable of providing fresh despair no matter how many times it's been witnessed previously. A flash of maize and blue, an unassuming field of green. A winged helmeted interloper from the north, racing unimpeded towards the goal. As sixty thousand groaned collectively, heads in hands, fists clenched in helpless rage, Terry Hawthorne gave chase.

For seventy six yards Terry Hawthorne pursued, chasing, not quitting...closing. And for what? To turn a seventy-seven yard touchdown pass into a mere seventy-six yard reception? To tackle the receiver at the goal line, denying him his prize, only to reward Mighty Michigan with three (or four) opportunities to hammer it in from inside the one?

Terry Hawthorne contested those seventy-six yards so his teammates would have a chance to make a stand over the final eighteen inches. And make a stand they did.

After fending off the Wolverines on four attempts from inside the one yard line, the offense took over and marched ninety-nine yards to take the lead. Michigan didn't score again.

An obvious benefit of competition is it's ability to teach us lessons that extend to and inspire us in our daily lives. Lessons that can sometimes be elusive or vague, consisting of a reward perhaps only realized over time, or one mired in statistics, measured in wins or losses. The true wonder, however, lies in those rare occasions when the lesson is stripped naked of pretext and associations, it's existence devoid of nuance and complexity, impossible to miss. The lesson that one person, refusing to give up, can make a difference. A lesson that I witnessed firsthand today in the most remarkable 5 minutes of college football I've ever seen. Read more here