[ThomasTomasz]

Glenda Heyer would not know the right fielder for the Atlanta Braves if he were sitting at the table next to her at the International House of Pancakes, which at that very moment he just happened to be. All she knew was that her teenage son needed a personal trainer like most of his football teammates, only she had no idea how to find such a person.
And, well, the man sitting at that next table looked athletic, so, excuse me, sorry to be a bother, but would he happen to know anything about sports training?
Rest of Article: washingtonpost.com

First of all, great read. Stories like these make the reader and fan of the team feel more connected to them, know their story. The Washington post has not run stories like this on a regular basis, but it was nice to read this one, and also one on the Capitals new defenseman, Tom Poti, this morning.

Second, in this day and age, it is nice to see an athlete like Heyer persevere through hard work. If you read the article, whatever he was asked to do, he did. He never made an excuse.


Even more, it is nice to see other athletes giving back. Brian Jordan could have easily ignored Ms. Heyer, but he did not. He trained some with Stephon, and paid the trainer bills. Gail Devers also helped to contribute to Heyer's growth, and helped out in getting him shoes and a gym membership.

Randy Thomas took Stephon under his wing and trained alongside him. Again, Heyer kept working, doing all of what Thomas told him to do. He impressed Thomas so much that he waived his right to room by himself and took Heyer as him roommate on the road.

So far, a great success story. This is a guy you just can't root against. So, when you tune into the game tomorrow night, look for 74, even if he doesn't get to play (no doubt they will show him on screen at some point.) Imagine that he used to be 270, with no coordination. Now, he's huge, chiseled and a machine. Heyer has a bright future, thanks to other athletes helping him out.