Redding School District

Partnership Educators,

In 1979, Super Bowl XIII in Miami between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.  Within that game, one play deserves a small replay. During the see-saw first half, time was running out and the score was tied.  To go to the locker room with any kind of a lead would give any team a psychological lift going forward. Steeler quarterback, Terry Bradshaw with an injured shoulder, connected with Lynn Swann to drive the team down within seven yards of a touchdown.  But it was here where the Dallas defense stiffened and the first two downs went nowhere. Terry called a pass-run option play and sprinted to his right but the Cowboy defense was converging from everywhere and it looked impossible. But then he saw a Steeler uniform in a place in the end zone where it shouldn’t or couldn’t be and so he threw the ball in the general direction not knowing who he was throwing it to.   The player in question leaped to great heights and brought the ball down to record the last touchdown of the half. As history recorded it the Steelers never gave up the lead again.

Many of you are thinking that this doesn’t sound that spectacular.  This sort of thing happens every game and often within many Super Bowl games before and after the game we are examining.   It wouldn’t have been that exceptional except for the person making the catch. The player in question was drafted into the U.S. Army during his rookie season in 1968.  While on duty he was wounded in the left thigh by an enemy rifle bullet and while down an enemy grenade landed nearby which sent shrapnel into his lower right leg. He lost part of his right foot in the blast and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.  Doctors at the Tokyo hospital told him that he would never walk again let alone play football.

The then owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney, so believe in his former rookie that he put him back on the team and placed him on injured reserve starting in 1970.  He spent a lot of years working with players and training for the moment when he could play full time again. That came in 1974 when he made the team for good, against all the odds.  Robert Patrick Bleier was his name. You might know him as Rocky Bleier. He was part of four Steeler Super Bowl champion teams. Many to this day can't believe that the person who wasn't expected to play football again or even walk without great pain could have done what they saw in that game.

Believing in those that are struggling and making a way for them to have success is difficult to do in the face of facts that tell us it can’t be done.    The environment of support is what makes people want to continue to struggle. Rocky said about Art, “When you have somebody take the time and interest to send you a postcard, something that they didn’t have to do, you have a special place for those kinds of people.”   It is the simple gestures that make the difference for those around us.

Reciprocity research tells us that people are more than likely to reciprocate those actions that are first given to them.   People are frequently much nicer and more cooperative to friendly actions, conversely, are more nasty and brutal to hostile actions.

Thanks for your continued civility within our workplace and in your communication to the community around us.  The five-ten rule is great to apply. If someone is within ten feet, smile and make eye contact. If they are within five feet say hello.  It matters in our cooperative environment in order to make the difference for our kids. Please accept the appreciation item that you will all receive this week.  It is never seems enough to say thank you for your service to our families. Thanks for your continued work because it is truly EPIC in its ability to make the difference in one childs life.

Rob