When the letter arrived in the mail at Dan McNamee’s Kentucky home, he did what any other person would do – he opened it. After all, the letter had a return address for the Bridgeport High School Alumni & Friends Foundation and being that he’s a proud alumnus, he opened it up.

 

“I was kind of taken aback with what I saw,” said McNamee. “They told me I was part of the 2014 Alumni Hall of Fame Class. I thought I was maybe on a large mailing list and my name got put on their as a mistake.”

 

Of course, McNamee did what he always does when there are matters of importance involving Bridgeport High School. He found a way to get in touch with his former journalism teacher and mentor Alice Rowe.

 

“I texted Mrs. Rowe and said they sent a letter to the wrong person. I told her the only thing I did was break my neck,” McNamee said with a chuckle. “She let me know that it was about overcoming adversity and helped put me at ease a bit, but I really do believe there are so many people that are much more deserving of this honor in that great community.”

 

McNamee’s right about one thing. There are plenty of folks deserving of being inducted into the Hall of Fame (Click HERE to read about this year’s ceremony). Where he’s wrong is that there’s no one more deserving.

 

Alice Rowe was also correct. This wasn’t about Dan McNamee breaking his neck playing football during his sophomore year. It wasn’t about being confined to a wheelchair from that day forward. It was about everything from the moment it happened to today. It was about an attitude he displayed that permeates the school he graduated from and the community he loved.

 

It was about not trying to set an example, but rather being THE example. Call it perseverance, an iron will or whatever you want to label it, but in all my years I’m rarely as humbled by anyone whenever I’m in the presence of Dan McNamee. And it has nothing to do with him being in a wheelchair, but everything to do with the fact that when everyone would have given him a pass to take the easy road out of life he never considered it

 

The 1998 BHS graduate was a three-sport standout and had the rare honor of starting as a sophomore for Wayne Jamison. He was that good. Yet, to try and sum up Dan’s life to this point from an athletic standpoint is selling him short.

 

Today, the man who ironically was named without hesitation as Bridgeport High School’s “Champion of Champions” during the Indians football program’s “50 Years of Football Celebration,” is about to reach his five-year anniversary with his wife Nikki at their Pikeville home. He lives comfortably there thanks to the fact that the only obstacle a wheelchair created in college was getting to potential second floor parties on his way to a double major in Management Information Systems and Business Management from Marshall University.  That effort has led him to his job as an accountant for Pikeville, KY Medical Center. 

 

I had a hard time taking 12 hours a semester and McNamee was busy getting a double major. I couldn’t navigate the campus of Fairmont State without a mental breakdown looking for a parking spot and McNamee drove the Huntington campus – as I discovered while spending a day with him there many years ago – in his motorized wheelchair with the skill of an Earnhardt.

 

Then, and as I’ve even told him recently, there are slugs like me still can’t help but to think of the “what if” with Dan. If God had ever shaped a youngster physically to do something well beyond high school in sports, he had touched the shoulders of McNamee. The real beauty of it is that Dan McNamee quit asking that question a long time ago. He’s perfectly okay with the other gifts God touched him with.

 

And after you talk to him a while, he’s even okay with being named to the Hall of Fame. If for no other reason it’s a chance to do something he’s always wanted to do on a very large platform in front of people like Rowe, Wayne Jamison, his physical therapist Mike Martin and others he cares about who are already in the Hall of Fame.

 

“This gives me a chance to tell everyone what an honor it was to live in Bridgeport and how Bridgeport has been there for me and my family unconditionally. I can try, but I can never thank them enough for all they’ve done. I’m going to try again because the city is who I am,” said McNamee, who left Bridgeport 14 years ago. “When anyone asks me where I’m from I tell them ‘I’m from Bridgeport, West Virginia.’ It’s still home. It always will be.”

 

The real beauty of what McNamee’s going to say – he already knows what he’s going to say. He’s already got his speech prepared. He said it wasn’t difficult. Even more important, he’s taken care of one pressing detail.

 

“I sent what I’m going to say to Mrs. Rowe. It’s just like the old days. The grammar and the words have to be right,” said McNamee. “After all, I’m going to be thanking Bridgeport. I want it to be perfect.”

 

And allow me to speak on behalf of those that know you Dan and thank you. Thanks for showing us all on how to appreciate life and how to live. You, my friend, are what being in a Hall of Fame is all about.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is of Dan and his wife Nikki, while Uncle Dan is show in the middle photo - and bottom picture is of the Dapper Dan that will be showing up for the ceremony later this month. To purchase tickets to the Hall of Fame Dinner call 304-842-6510 or 304-842-3474. Tickets for the Sept. 27 event that starts at 6 p.m. in the BHS Cafeteria are $25.