Chris DeMasse

This story is now more than 25 years old and I have told it more times than I can count, but it hits very differently today. I was anchoring SportsCenter one afternoon and Lou Holtz was on the show. I was quite excited to talk with him, he had been an icon all of my life. He was very friendly, asking me all about myself as we walked toward the studio to record an interview. I told him: “Actually, Coach, it’s quite exciting, my wife and I are expecting our first child in the next few weeks.” He stopped dead in his tracks and put a finger up near my face. And I’ll never forget what he said. “Young man, the most important thing you can do for a child is make sure every day they know how much you love their mother.” And, just like that, he started walking again. Our daughter was born a month later, our son came two years after that. And I have thought about what Lou Holtz said to me that day about a million times since. RIP Coach, thanks for the best advice anyone ever gave me.

This sucks. I know that as a Patriot I always want the other teams best shot. I wish he was playing but what ya gonna do.