As a high school athletics coach, I gave a speech about football to students and parents, aiming at getting new team members :I talked about how"everyone can benefit from football. This year, a worried-looking couple approached me. Their son, who had a sickly childhood, really wanted to play football. They'd tried to talk him out of it, but he had his heart set on joining the team. 

When they told me his name , my heart sank. Michael was short and thin. He was a lonely kid and the constant target of other kids' jokes. I knew Michael would never make it. But so close to my "football is for everyone" speech, I told them we could give it a try. 

On the opening day of practice, Michael was the first player on the field. We started a one-mile jog around the track. Repeatedly he fell, each time picking himself up. The same thing happened for weeks. But Michael put his whole heart into the training. Cradually, Michael gained strength both socially and physically. He began to laugh and most of the teammates became friendly. By the last week of practice Michael could run the mile without falling. He asked me to add a few more exercises he could work on his own. Soon , Michael ran the opening mile faster than anyone. 

One day after practice, the team captain, Steve, came up to me. He was talented but lazy.He was popular with students even though he could be heartless. Steve pointed to the field where Michael was jogging all alone and asked me why he was still out there. I told Steve to ask him. The next night, I was surprised to see Steve exercising right next to Michael. 

Finally our big game came-at first we were losing by twelve points. I could see that some kids had already lost heart. But Michael was playing as hard as he could , begging the team to keep trying. Finally we won the game by one point in the final ten seconds. 

At our celebration dinner, we always gave a big award to the most productive player. Steve had scored the most points that season, and everyone cheered as he received his award. " There's someone who deserves it more than I do," Steve said, " Everything I accomplished, and everything the team accomplished this season, is thanks to one person-Michael. " The entire team cheered as Steve turned the prize over to the player who had inspired them all.
Who was the story about?
a speech about football