Honoring Al Dennis – The Sun Will Come Up

Last fall I wrote an article about Al Dennis when the Baytown Sterling High School football field was named in his honor. That November day was my final time to speak with Coach Dennis. Today I gathered with my brother, my coaches, my teammates, Rangers younger and older, and with the Dennis family and friends to honor this life of deep significance.

There is no advanced math available by which we can quantify the impact he has made in the lives of his players and coaches. The lessons we learned in his program are part of us and our daily decision-making. Moreover, we have passed those values along to our own children and grandchildren. You simply cannot calculate such an effect when compounded over that many lives and over that many years.

How my heart rejoiced with every story shared today from the players who were legends in my life to those players who came after me. The stories also came from coaches, an NFL Hall of Famer and other Sun City friends, his grandson, and a famous TV personality. They were all fantastic.

However, the one I cannot get out of my mind is the story shared by a former student that did not play football. He shared that his father died when he was 14, and coaches Dennis and Kluch went out of their way to help him and show him humanity and compassion, making it possible for him to work an overnight job while still in high school. They showed him amazing respect and help allowing him to have a place to sleep while he worked and went to school. I regret not having been able to find this man after the service. I would love to get to know him.

Thank you to Scott Goodman and Martin Lemond for organizing us into a team that I am sure made Coach proud. Thank you both for your roles today in serving the family and all of us present.

Here is the story I shared today.

After my playing days were over in the fall of 1979, I watched my brother, Kelly, also play for the Sterling Rangers. I was the public address announcer for several years, including Kelly’s two varsity years (’81 and ’82). In the fall of 1982 Sterling had arguably one of the best two or three teams in school history. They had a legitimate shot at winning the state championship. After a satisfying first round win over LaPorte, they faced Beaumont Westbrook in the Astrodome. I got to announce that game, which was pretty special. My wife, Margot, was my spotter, as always.

I will not go into the details of that game, but anyone that was there will never forget it. This was prior to the high school overtime system in Texas for deciding tied games. Tied games at that time were subjected to a series of tiebreakers.

  • The game ended tied 7-7
  • Both teams were tied on penetrations inside the opponent’s 20 yard-line (which was the second tiebreaker)
  • That means the third tiebreaker would determine who advanced. Westbrook had two or three more first downs than Sterling.

They advanced and went on to win the state championship.

After the game, in the bowels of the Astrodome, I sat next to Kelly at his locker. He and his teammates were obviously upset at the result. Even though they had not lost, their season was over. Like them, I could not prevent the tears from coming. Coach Dennis came over and sat down next to me. He had just experienced what must have been one of the biggest disappointments of his coaching career, but he put his arm around me and with a smile said in that deep voice of his:

“Hey, Mr. Casey, the sun will come up tomorrow.”

You know what? It did!

That turned out to be the last game Coach Dennis coached. At that point he was ready to move on to his next challenge of leading schools and then school districts, at which he unsurprisingly excelled.

To Mrs. Dennis, Chad, Coleman, and the rest of the family, you know that Coach was a man of faith trusting in the big promises. I know it was his hope in eternal things that allowed him to remind us all that in the face of disappointments, the sun will come up tomorrow. I hope you find comfort in that. Thank you for sharing him with us!

You Have Three Chocies

RSS-Huddle_1978As a high school sophomore I sat on a yellow school bus with my football team and wiped away the tears as I listened to one of the greatest life lessons that I would ever hear. We had come so close to winning this game. We were going to win. We should have won. We had them. We were on the one yard line about to score. All that stood between us and an undefeated season (and a district championship) was one fumble on the goal line.

The fumble happened.

We lost by 3 points.

Into this bitter disappointment our head coach, Richard Bethell, taught one of those lessons that athletics seems especially suited to teach. He said, “Men, when you face defeat, failure, and disappointment you have three choices.” He laid out our choices:

  1. You can quit

  2. You can make excuses or blame others, or

  3. You can go to work

Often the profound is simple. Sitting on that bus all I could think about was football. Many times since then, however, the wisdom of these three choices has fit my life.

I am capable of each choice from time to time. I prefer #3. I try to avoid #2 at all costs. I consider #1 only if the situation makes it clear that I have been pursuing something that is not worth my effort or is bad for me — but I am constitutionally not a quitter.

After my senior year Coach Bethell sent a letter to all of us seniors who played offensive line for him that season. As we went out into our adult lives he reiterated this lesson we had learned two years earlier. He spoke of adversity we had overcome in both our freshman and senior years. Here is an excerpt from the letter he wrote us:

Bethell-Quote-1979

Earlier in the letter he called that loss our sophomore year his “greatest loss as a coach.” He had felt that sting as deeply as we had.

So the lesson remains with me in life to this day. I hope you will make it your lesson as well. When you face defeat in your life you have a decision to make about your future — your Forward Story.

You have three choices. Which will it be?