At the age of 12, I liked to watch football if I could find a TV to watch it on. I also liked watching my pals play baseball when Nephi's Pioneer Park had a baseball diamond in the northwest corner. We had a lot of motels along Main Street, so we had uddles of fans in the bleachers. With just a paper route, I couldn't afford a baseball mitt or hat, but then I decided to get a real job and save my money so I could do what Y.A. Tittle did in football. In 1963, that Hall of Fame quarterback and the NFL's Most Valuable Player's played 17 seasons in Pro football, starting with the AFL's Baltimore Colts in 1948 and finished with the New York Giants. When I could watch him, I thought he was like Superman, who couldn't be stopped. He ran and threw the leather ball like he was made of steel. I eventually came to know he was "merely human" when I saw a photo of him when he was hit with a vicious hit and bleeding from the head. Later in life, I knew what a hit like that was, as I have experienced several hits to the head including a shotgun blast to the face; subdural hematoma as a Scoutmaster and learned the hard way to have an adequate parachute before I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane over Alta Airport. My kids knew I loved football and Y.A. Tittle. They surprised me to the point of tears when they gave me an autographed photo of "The Bald Eagle". He died at age 90 in 2017. I knew my earthly hero was not really "deadly" dead, but just transferred to a bigger field in God's friendly skies. I wanted another hero of sports, and my buddy had upfront tickets to Jazz games, so my new hero became John Stockton, who was often the real "huminite" that was lacking in professional sports. By chance, my sister Jaynette invited me to go with her to watch her grandson play basketball, then football for the Gunnison Bulldogs. Years ago I got acquainted with Jesse Owens and a friend to Gene Fullmer, but they were "transferred" as well. I needed a new sports hero, and goody goody gumdrops, along comes Jack Hansen of downtown Centerfield. He loved playing football with my son Justin, and they would often have Jack going deep into the pasture to catch a long pass. Jack reminded me of John Stockton. He knew how to work around his opponent's and get the ball to another Bulldog to make the basket. Jack Hansen was a team leader and the fans knew that. When football came along, and even though he was a Bulldog, I felt like a Juab Wasp coach when I presented a football helmet to Jack that used to belong to the BYU team of ions ago, and then given to the Juab High Team when they got their team going in the late 1950's. Jack excelled in football and became their starting Quarterback. I had him sign his autograph on the photo of me and him and told him when he makes it to the big leagues, he could come and visit me at the nursing home. He never forgot that and wrote me a letter to that effect in 2018. He didn't make it to the Big Leagues, but every body makes mistakes, especially Sports Scouts, who are after the money. Along the way at Gunnison Valley High, Jack Hansen still holds the longest Jump at 21 feet and the State record for the longest Punt. He still makes us all proud as he is getting a college education and finding his nitch in life. His Transfer Has Been Great.
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