A few days before our new bundle of joy, a baby girl was born, my cousin died in a car accident out in Western Nebraska. It was a painful reminder of how fragile life is, as he left his young wife and son in this world without a father and left a big void in our family as a friend and all around great guy. It was super frustrating, because with a new baby being born, what is supposed to be one the great moments in your life was overshadowed with great loss.
I tell you this, only because we all were stunned on Sunday morning with another loss, this time Sam Foltz, Nebraska’s great punter. We are big fans of Sam at our house. The boys, who are headed to fourth grade next month, have been to the Nebraska football camp the last two summers. Both times, Sam has been front and center, fooling around, catching, throwing and kicking to any kid that wanted to show off for him.
In 2015, the boys and my nephew attended the camp, and the first two players out on the field were Sam and Drew Brown. As the boys grabbed a football and started throwing it around, Sam was right in the middle of them, along with Drew, giving them all the attention that they could handle. As a parent, and a kid that grew up during Nebraska’s halcyon days of the 80s and 90s, it was awesome to get to watch my own family get their first real dose of Husker football up close and personal. The boys all had an awesome time, but from that day forward, I was sold on Sam and Drew and I could tell that they were great kids, just from their interaction from the camp. We took plenty of pictures the next two days and Sam was kind enough to join in on many of them and also signed, anything and everything, including the shirt on a lot of kid’s backs.
In 2016, I wasn’t able to spend as much time with the boys at camp as I would have liked, but when I went to pick them up on the final day, the first person I saw signing autographs and of course giving one to my son, was Sam Foltz. I took a couple of pictures as Sam signed again. I was starting to take him for granted because he was such an accommodating person. Sometimes you get used to someone a little too easy. Again, I noted how Sam was out there, just being a kid himself, signing anything and everything and always with a great big grin!
I was able to attend the Uplifting Athletes run the week before Sam’s terrible accident, and of course, when we got there, Sam was right in the middle of 10-15 kids, holding court and involving his teammates and anyone that would listen with any kid that wanted a bit of his time. I was standing about 10 feet from Sam when that iconic picture that he posted to Twitter was taken, following my son in a mile race that was a blast, simply because the players give so much of their time to make it fun. Afterward, both the boys were collecting autographs, and I see Sam standing there, and one of my sons hadn’t gotten his football autographed yet by Sam. I told him, “Go get it again, Sam doesn’t mind and tell him that you are starting to become a buddy to him, heck, he sees you kids enough!” I didn’t get a picture with Sam and the boys that day. For whatever reason, I just figured, I had plenty already and I had a feeling that Sam would be around to take pictures whenever we needed, so I was in no rush.
My first thought when I heard the news about Sam’s accident, I felt just like I did when I heard the news about my cousin. Sam isn’t related to us, he probably doesn’t even know any of our names. At the same time, Sam had become family. He was always there when the boys asked him to be there to take pictures or autographs, he threw the football and kicked it to them, whenever they asked. He was a family member in my eyes, as Sam was no longer a stranger, and the news hit us all like a sledgehammer.
I will remember Sam for the rest of my life. As many of you probably have read or if you had any interaction with Sam, you probably already knew what we all did about him, he was a great person. As we recover from this and prepare to watch our favorite team this season, I know I will think about him every game. I expect many of you will too. I’d encourage you not to take someone like Sam for granted. I know I will never take him for granted again.
“You never know who’s watching.. What impact do you wanna leave on the next generation to aspire too?!” #DreamBig – Sam Foltz @samfoltz27
#RIP27
