After catching a touchdown to help Clemson win the 1981 National Championship, wide receiver Perry Tuttle adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated with the caption, “Orange Bowl Hero Perry Tuttle of Clemson.
You might think that would be Tuttle’s favorite memory of his greatest football game ever. But it wasn’t. It was the game his dad attended just after being released from prison.
From Tuttle’s interview on Joe Gibb’s Game Plan for Life site:
I am the youngest of seven, and grew up right outside Winston Salem, NC. I don’t know if anyone could have better brothers and sisters than I do. My mom, even to this day, is the closest thing I’ve got to heaven. She used to pray all the time, especially after high school football games, I would hear her pray about my future wife. I remember thinking, “I am not ever going to get married! Why would I get married?” But she prayed anyway and was just an incredible, Godly woman. My dad on the other hand was in and out of trouble all the time, whether it was prison or just heavy drinking. The older I got the more I resented my dad. My first few years of little league football my mom would take me to Lexington State Prison and I used to sit on my dad’s lap after every game and I thought that was normal.
A reporter called me a while back and asked me, “What is your favorite memory of your greatest football game ever?” He was thinking that it was going to be the National Championship game where I scored the winning touchdown or my first game in the NFL with the Buffalo Bill’s, but it was actually in the 6th grade when my dad came home from prison because of good behavior. He came home on a weekend and was able to come to one of my football games. I scored four touchdowns and just went off in that game because he was in the stands. It was incredible.
We’ve heard similar testimonies from Angel Tree children when the gifts arrive from their dad or mom in prison. The impact of a parent in a child’s life cannot be overstated. Right now, there are 2.7 million children in America with an incarcerated parent who are waiting to have one of their greatest memories ever.
Click here to find out how to register your church for the 2012 Angel Tree season to help give kids their greatest memory ever.
Photo Credit: https://www.perrytuttle.com