Taken Too Soon
Mike Meals via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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On March 2nd, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, a bus carrying the Bluffton University (OH) baseball team went off an exit ramp on Interstate 75, killing 7 people and injuring 21 more.
On November 30th, 2014, Ohio State’s own Kosta Karageorge was found dead near his Columbus, Ohio apartment, a victim of an apparent suicide.
July 25th, 2016, in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Nebraska’s Sam Foltz was killed along with former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler in a car wreck that also injured LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye.
September 25th, 2016, near Miami Beach, Florida, Miami Marlins Pitcher Jose Fernandez died from injuries sustained in a boating accident.
All in all, these people who perished had not a lot in common. They were all young. They all were athletes who had their entire lives ahead of them. They all were taken too soon.
For those of you who are not baseball fans, Jose Fernandez gave baseball fans 1 of 2 views of him. He was an all-world pitcher who had defected from Cuba to chase his life’s dreams of being free in the USA, and to possibly be a Major Leaguer.
MIAMI, FL – APRIL 18: Jose Fernandez #16 of the Miami Marlins smiles as he walks off the field during the first inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park on April 18, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
Fernandez also was known to be very cocky and not someone who lived by the “unwritten rules” of baseball. He would bat flip when he hit homeruns. He would jump and yell in the dugout when his teammates did something great. He was not one to be a robot. This means you either loved his youthful exuberance or you hated how he acted, almost childishly, towards the one professional sport in this country where you had to deal with tradition as much as talent.
I viewed Fernandez as the kind of kid who loved baseball and life like people should. He always had a smile on his face. He was the kind of teammate I’d want, because he always seemed to have his guy’s back. He was damn good, he knew it, but he never seemed to be above the game like some people do.
Sam Foltz was not a name I really knew before the day of his death. But since then, we all have learned a lot about it. He was a great teammate who was loved by players and coaches alike. And unless you live under a rock, you have seen some of the great tributes to Foltz and Sadler this season: The 10 man punt formation at Nebraska and ensuing delay of game as Nebraska waited for their 11th teammate to take the field (a penalty Fresno State was more than willing to decline), the flowers Oregon left at the 27 yard line (Sam’s number) before the Ducks/Huskers game this year, Sadler’s number in the Spartan helmet at MSU, Delahoussaye wearing cleats this season with SaMike and their numbers on them.
Why do I bring these up? Because a simple Google search shows me that at least 39 college football players have died while still being an active member of their college football team since 2014. And while I am not one to get into each death, ranging from complications after medical issues to homicides, each one is a tragedy. I also am not one to get into the debate over the recent “Black Lives Matter” “Blue Lives Matter” “All Lives Matter” debate, for this is not a political website or discussion.
I bring these up because I know two things. I know how losing someone feels. I know what it is like to have a co-worker, a former teammate, and/or a friend pass away. My freshman year of college, I played on a team that was one missed extra point away from winning a conference championship. We had players on our team who dealt with the death of a former teammate and they felt his presence with them at all times on the football field. I remember how the death of Kosta was something that everyone on the 2014 OSU team felt and carried with them to the end, holding up that College Football Playoff Trophy. These things can ruin a team, or it can motivate them to do things they never thought possible…win games they never thought they would, excel when they thought they would fail, and give them that one little push needed, that one bit of hope, when all is lost. This belief, and some may think I am crazy here, is the belief that pushed a field goal attempt the extra foot higher needed to clear the cross bar. These fallen teammates, in spirit, cause a sure handed running back to fumble in the open field. It really can feel like a 12th teammate is on the field in the moments it is needed.
I also know that we should all strive to live life and love it the way these players did. When you see pictures or video of Fernandez, you see him smiling and jumping around, loving the game he was being paid to play. When you see Sam Foltz’s media guide photo, you see a guy who knows he has a wonderful life ahead of him, one that was earned by his ability to play a sport he loved. Sure, you see a goofy looking kid, but he was still a kid with the whole world in front of him.
With all that is wrong with the world today, both in politics and athletics, we need to see and celebrate these young men and women. We need to have good things talked about. We need to show the people around us that it’s ok to be a good person, to have good times, and enjoy life. I hope, as you read this, you take a second to enjoy the wonderful things you have too. I hope you smile at least once thinking about those things. I hope you hug someone a little bit tighter. I hope you enjoy your life the way these young people were, and now never will get to do again. I hope that you are able to smile like Sam, jump around like Jose, be wild and crazy and in love with your team, your family, and what you are doing at that exact moment in time. You never know when it will be over too soon.
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Taken Too Soon appeared first on
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