Normally in this spot at this time on Sundays is when the getting to know you series runs.

 

Don’t worry, that feature isn’t going anywhere. I love putting those together.  I love finding out that Hayden Moore listens to AC/DC before he takes the field. I love finding out that Julia Griffith has home improvement skills.

 

I love all the answers that all the great athletes at Bridgeport High School have given me.

 

I’ve always been a fan of pieces like the getting to know you feature because it’s something a little different than the wins and losses and the stats that so often dominate the discussion when it comes to high school athletes.

 

It also gives me a chance to get to know them on a different level and get them used to talking to me so they aren’t nervous in postgame situations.

 

So again, the feature is not going anywhere, it’s just enjoying a day off.

 

I had been thinking about hitting the pause button for this week anyway since we are at the one-year period where the term COVID-19 pandemic took over our daily lives.

 

But something happened in the past couple of days to cause me to reflect on something else. Two things actually, both extremely humbling.

 

The first was me being named this year’s Gene Morehouse Award winner. If you want the particulars on that, read my tag team partner, (the Ric Flair to my Arn Anderson), my co-worker and my good friend Jeff Toquinto’s far-too kind blog HERE

 

The second item was the response once word got out about my award. I’ve always said the most rewarding thing about what I do is the relationships I’ve built with athletes, coaches, peers, the friends I’ve made. I’m blessed to have so many in my life that took time out of their day to congratulate me. It means so very much.

 

I’m usually the one on the other side of this. I’m the one giving out the award, not the one receiving one. So the congratulations and well wishes on Saturday were overwhelming. Overwhelming in a good way of course, but overwhelming nonetheless.

 

Not only is this the time to say thank you to all again, this is the time I wanted to share a couple of stories that helped shaped my career, one of which I’ve never shared with anybody.

 

The Morehouse Award is named in Gene Morehouse’s honor. Gene was one of the people that lost their lives during the 1970 Marshall University football plane crash. The sports editor of the school paper, The Parthenon, in 1970 was Jeff Nathan, who also died in that crash.

 

Gene Morehouse and Jeff Nathan are two names very important to me. I was sports editor at the Parthenon when the 25^th anniversary of the plane crash was observed and I was asked to be a part of the services at the memorial fountain that year.

 

I of course knew about the tragic plane crash before that but it wasn’t until that day that it hit me like a ton of bricks, just how important that football program is to that city and how important it is that the fountain comes back on every spring. That was the day, well before my career had taken off, that I realized the effect sports have on a community.

 

That day shaped the way I would approach being a writer.

 

The next career-defining moment came a few years later when I was working in Parkersburg. And this is the story I have not shared with anybody.

 

It was about two weeks before Christmas. I ran into a Parkersburg High School football player named Mike Smith in a K-Mart. Mike was a starting offensive lineman for the Big Reds team that won the Class AAA state title in 1999.

 

He approached me and said, “Today we turned in our uniforms after school and I cried because I knew that was it. I know I’m not going to play in college but I love this game so much and I just wanted to thank you for all the things you’ve written about our team.”

 

It hit me like an even bigger ton of bricks. What I do has consequences and it matters to people. I didn’t understand that until that day and I’ve never forgotten it and I've never taken it for granted. 

 

The importance of sports to a community and the understanding that my words matter to people ... those two things have been two of the three key components of my career.

 

Now for the third ingredient.

 

Here’s the thing, I don’t know if I’m a good writer or not. People tell me, “Hey that was a great story” and I appreciate it every single time but I’m also the type of guy that can’t sleep at night worrying about if I put that comma in the right place or if I asked the right question or focused on the right moment in the game.

 

I do however know that having work ethic pays off.

 

That’s the one piece of advice I always offer any athlete that I cross paths with. Don’t let the person next to you, outwork you.

 

There will probably come a day when you put in the work and you still don’t come out on top and that’s OK. When you get older you will realize that if you work hard, you may lose but you are never going to fail.

 

So there you have it, that’s the three things that led to someone like me getting an award like this.

 

Turns out, I guess this still kind of turned into a getting to know you piece. Or I guess a getting to know me piece (my favorite move is Casablanca, my favorite athlete of all-time is Cal Ripken Jr. and the thing I can’t stand that everyone else seems to like is mayonnaise ... just in case anybody was wondering).

 

Thank you again for all the kind words.

 

Editor's Note: Photos of Chris Johnson with major award winners he has presented and introduced at various Victory Awards Dinners throughout the years. Top one is with Huff Award winner Alex Sutton, second is with Ostroski Award winner Hanna McClung, third is with Evans Award winner Jarrod West and bottom is with McCoy Award winner McKenna Smith.