The Sacred Acre by Mark Tabb

Author:Mark Tabb [Tabb, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-310-33220-6
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2011-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

Players and assistant coaches arrived earlier than usual. The atmosphere at Ed Thomas Field felt like a carnival had just pulled into town. Part of the carnival surrounded the arrival of Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Aaron Kampman and his wife, Linde. Even though the NFL season opened that weekend, Aaron was able to come back for the game because the Packers opened at home on Monday night. Aaron and Linde had been back several times since Aaron came into town the day after the tornado. Every time they returned, the town looked different.

As they drove through town on their way to the football field for the first game, they saw houses springing up all across the south side of town. The Kwik Star gas station was open for business, and the bank and city hall buildings were almost finished. Yet they noticed the biggest change in the town when they walked into the crowd at the Booster Club dinner. This did not feel like a town struggling to recover from a tornado. “Man, you can just feel the hope in the air,” Aaron said to Linde. “You can sense a spirit of redemption here.”

As soon as he could get away from family, Aaron walked over to the bus barn that doubled as the teams’ temporary locker rooms. He slipped into the door, almost unnoticed. Camera crews filled the room, and microphones popped up like dandelions in spring. Ed caught sight of him and waved him over. “Man, I’m so glad you could make it back,” Coach said.

“I had to see it with my own eyes,” Aaron said. “Wow, I can’t believe you guys pulled this off so fast.”

“A lot of people put in a lot of time to make it happen. So, you ready to talk to the team?”

Aaron took a deep breath. “Are you sure you want me to talk to them? I mean, this is your night, not mine.” A couple of days earlier, Aaron had called and asked Ed if he minded if he came back for the game. Ed not only told him to come; he asked Aaron to speak to the team prior to their warm-ups.

“It’s not my night either. It’s their night. It’s the town’s night. I can’t think of anyone I would rather have speak to them right now than you,” Ed said. He then turned to the team and said, “Hey, fellas, gather round here. I’ve asked one of our former players to say a few words to you guys tonight. So listen up. Aaron, come on over.”

Aaron walked over into the middle of the team, all of whom were sitting at their lockers or on the floor. Looking into the faces of these fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-year-old boys, he threw the speech he had planned out the window. Aaron sensed these young men carried the pressure of the community’s expectations on their shoulders, as though they all felt they had to win the game or they would let down the entire town.

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