I opened my New York Times today to a story about a modern day Bill Myles. Suicides, Drug Addiction, and High School Football is a well written but heart retching column by Juliet Macur about football coach Patric Morrison, and today’s challenges of small town Madison, Indiana. In Coach Myles’ day the disease was racism and opportunity. For Coach Morrision’s time, it is drugs and the opioid epidemic. The symptoms and results are the same for each though: depression, child abuse, neglect, poverty, and despair; and the common theme of both stories is a young football coach trying to hold things together for his players – via sports and education – in the midst of all that.
Coach Morrision reminds me so much of a young Bill Myles in the 1960’s inner city of Kansas city. I am going to mail him a copy of Myles Traveled in the hope that it provides him some inspiration and comfort. Below is a link to Juliet’s story in the Times, which all should read. If you can read it without reaching for a Kleenex, well yours is a colder heart than mine. This world needs a whole lot more like Bill Myles and Patric Morrision.
Suicides, Drug Addiction, and High School Football:
