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It was the year of 1981, and there was Jasbir at age 16 driving down the road in the cold winter. Hanging out with friends was a priority and Jasbir was literally making a name for himself on the gridiron at high school.
In his car, with a couple of friends, he driving and it seemed like a blizzard outside. But then hell struck. Out of nowhere, he crashed into a giant rock and memories swept away. Jasbir was headed towards the hospital. Eventually, he was pronounced dead, as something critical happened to this brain.
It was a sad day. A chance at playing football in college and possibly in the pros, in which he dreamed of, was crushed in a fatal car crash. Sports never seemed to be his future, and his story begins here.
Back in India, Jasbir and his three brothers always ran around the park. It was a race every day, and a competition in which the oldest brother, Harminder, would always win in. Prithvi, the second-oldest, would come at second while Harvinder (my father) and Jasbir would always end up last as they were the young guns.
It never seemed that Jasbir would ever win in anything against his brothers. He always failed. Then, at age twelve, he moved to America, living in the state of Indiana. Jasbir started getting into sports more and more often. He was that normal Indian sports fan, loving Cricket and Tennis and all sorts of those kinds of sports that many Americans just couldn’t get into.
On TV, he always saw these big, mean guys in helmets and pads hitting each other hard. Pads popping and helmets flying everywhere. Touchdowns scored, passes made. Jasbir really loved it. At 15, he started playing football for his team. Flag? No. Tackle was his thing.
Coach was very impressed with his size, at 6’1” and about 185, he was a big kid. Jasbir was unlike his other siblings, who were between the heights of 5’9” and 5’11.” He was a unique man part of the family. Dhani played lineman, and he was hell of good.
It always seemed he would dominate on the turf, but he was too nice. During practice, Jasbir was going up against the strongest player on the team, and this was a true story. Jasbir knocked him so hard, it was a mega-pancake block. After the block, he ran all the way to his running back when he scored and congratulated him. But then he ran all the way back to the guy he knocked down. And guess what he did? He picked him up, and said, “Sorry I hit you so hard.”
He did that all the day. The coach seemed very pissed every time Jasbir did that. His brothers would nod their head and be like, “No, no, no!” After practice, Harvinder said, “You don’t say sorry to him! What are you doing? You are being too nice out there. After you knock him to the ground, don’t go back there and say sorry to him. Say nothing, absolutely nothing.”
Jasbir listened to him. At all the practices, Jasbir destroyed every player possible on the turf. He grew two inches and was up to 230 pounds. He was now the man of the team, earning himself as captain. At all the games, he was phenomenal. He was one of the best offensive lineman in the state.
Scouts started coming to the game and maybe were going to recruit him. It was all going good. Jasbir turned 16 and got his driver’s license. He truly had the talent in him when he played football. Every block was perfect. He was never beaten and he always won. Harvinder had a thought of his young brother even going to the NFL!
His senior year at high school was about two years away, and off to College Football it was. But, it never happened. Back to December 1981. Driving with four his friends, the crash occurred. One of the saddest things to ever happen. Everyone was all hurt in the family. Jasbir’s mother and father just couldn’t believe this just happened.
Oh what could have been of Jasbir Dhani. I would do anything to see him right now. I never met him, not at all in my life. If I saw Uncle Jasbir in my life, it would be great. He would have been 44 years old by now. But I wouldn’t care if he was an NFL player or not.
All that mattered, as that he was my uncle.
And a special one too.
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