Awesome Stories to Make You Love Sports Even More, Part 1

There are so many awesome sports stories to tell that this is going to take two days—and that won’t even be enough.

The great thing about sports is that they can represent so much more. Stories of generosity, courage, determination and sportsmanship set against the backdrop of sports can truly inspire people in a powerful way. 

Prepare to have your heart warmed and maybe even get a little misty-eyed. These amazing stories will make you love sports even more.

Austin Hatch

Austin Hatch was a star basketball player in high school, and he earned a scholarship to play at the University of Michigan despite incredible odds against him.

Hatch has survived two separate plane crashes, one of which killed his mother and two siblings and another that killed his father and stepmother.

Hatch recently scored his first collegiate point during an exhibition game in Ann Arbor, and the celebration following his free throw was resounding.

Munchie Legaux

Al Behrman/Associated Press

Injuries are all too common in sports, and some are too severe to recover from.

That’s what many must’ve thought about Munchie Legaux’s devastating knee injury in 2013. The Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback dislocated and tore multiple ligaments in his right knee. Doctors said he might not play football again.

But after months of rigorous rehab, Legaux returned to the field. A little over a year after his injury, Legaux entered in the second half of a close game with USF. The Bearcats went on to win 34-17.

Bruins Play Dress Up

Athletes often visit ill patients in hospitals to help brighten the day. However, it’s hard to imagine a better way to light up a child’s face than dressing up as the cast of Frozen. 

In the spirit of Halloween, members of the Boston Bruins dressed up as characters from the wildly popular movie on a visit to Boston Children’s Hospital.

The female characters were represented as well, with Dougie Hamilton as a particularly huge Elsa. Well done, Bruins.

David Ortiz and World Series Tickets

David Ortiz’s team did not make the 2014 World Series—not by a long shot. But the slugger still helped do something generous for a few very deserving baseball fans.

Per USA Today's For The Win:

"

David Ortiz and three Massachusetts based military members (two veterans and one active) will be in attendance at Kauffman Stadium Tuesday night after the Red Sox slugger surprised the trio with tickets at Fenway Park recently. It was part of a partnership between Bank of America, the Red Sox Foundation and the Massachusetts General Home Base Program whose goal is to surprise military veterans with a “once in a lifetime experience.”

"

Angelo Whittis

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

When Angelo Whittis was growing up in Detroit, he struggled with homelessness, sometimes even sleeping in cars. Whittis told Dave Hogg of Fox Sports Detroit that he never knew his father, and his mother was in and out of prison. He shuffled around from various family members but never found a stable home.

After his sophomore year of high school, Whittis looked into transferring schools. That’s when he met Corey Parker, the head football coach at River Rouge High School. Parker and his family took Whittis into their home, and he began to flourish, becoming the team’s starting quarterback.

He now plays college football at Ferris State University in Michigan.

Jack Hoffman

In 2013, a young cancer patient scored a touchdown for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Seven-year-old Jack Hoffman had befriended one of the players the previous year. He came into the team’s spring game and ran for a 69-yard score on 4th-and-1.

Cameron Lyle

In 2013, a track and field athlete at the University of New Hampshire cut his athletic career short to help save a life.

Cameron Lyle joined the bone marrow registry his sophomore year at a Be the Match event hosted by the football team. His senior year, Lyle found out he was a match for someone. Be the Match told him the odds of a non-family member matching were close to 5 million-to-one.

The timing of the situation was such that Lyle could not finish his final season with the track team, but he donated anyway.

Princess Lacey

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

In 2012, then-Michigan State basketball player Adreian Payne visited a local hospital and befriended a young cancer patient, Lacey Holsworth.

Lacey was a big Spartan basketball fan, and Payne was her favorite player. So when he visited the hospital with his teammates, she asked him to stick around.

The two forged an inspirational bond. Lacey and her family attended Michigan State games, she accompanied Payne on the court on senior night, and she even traveled with him to the 2014 Final Four, where he was competing in the College Slam Dunk Championship.  

Lacey, just eight years old, passed away shortly after returning from Dallas, but her story has continued to be an inspiration for others. The Journey on the Big Ten Network aired a great story about her friendship with Payne—you can watch it here.    

Meghan Vogel

In 2012, Meghan Vogel, a junior at West Liberty-Salem High School in Ohio, showed the world what true sportsmanship is.

At the Division III state track meet, Vogel had fallen behind in the 3,200-meter race. She was coming down the final stretch when she noticed a competitor in front of her fall to the ground (a fall later attributed to dehydration and heat exhaustion).

Instead of running past that competitor, Arden McMath, Vogel stopped to help her across the finish line and also made sure McMath finished ahead of her.

Kevin Grow

Kevin Grow was the men’s basketball team manager at Bensalem High in Pennsylvania for four years. Grow, who has Down syndrome, played in the last two minutes of the team’s final home game his senior year.

What he did next was simply incredible. Grow scored 14 points in those two minutes, draining four three-pointers. The crowd went berserk.

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie was so impressed with the video of Grow’s performance that he signed him to a two-day contract.

Chy Johnson

The old stereotype is that jocks are bullies, but don’t tell that to Chy Johnson of Queen Creek, Arizona.

In 2012, Rick Reilly of ESPN.com chronicled the story of Johnson, a high school student whose brain works at a third-grade level due to a birth defect. Johnson was being bullied her sophomore year until the star quarterback stepped in.

Carson Jones was a senior and QB of the football team at Queen Creek, and he and his teammates took Johnson under their wing. They invited her to sit with them at lunch, talked with her and just generally became friends with her.

The bullying ceased, and maybe the stereotype will, too.

Leah Still

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Leah Still is the four-year-old daughter of Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still. In June 2014, it was discovered Leah had a rare form of pediatric cancer.

Still was forced to leave team activities to take care of his daughter, and the Bengals faced a decision of having to cut him in September. The team decided to sign Still to the practice squad so he could retain his pay and health benefits.

Since then, the outpouring of support has been tremendous. The Bengals are donating all proceeds from Still’s jersey sales to pediatric cancer research, and other NFL teams have stepped up to support the Stills as well.