Chance Meetings

I recently read a thought-provoking article by Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated. Reilly, who has become one of my favorite sports writers because of his ability to capture stories of human interest that transcend athletics, devoted a column to professional football player Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers.

Driver stole many cars during his youth in Houston. His nickname was Quickie. "I could drive pretty good. Anytime anybody in my family needed a car moved, I'd say, 'I'll do it.' That's how I learned to drive. I probably stole 20 or 30 cars and only had to jump out once." As Reilly noted, that "once" was to alter Driver's life forever. It occurred when he was starting the engine of a stolen car and heard police sirens. He sped away but crashed into a car driven by an elderly woman who was backing out of her driveway. Driver leaped from his car and began to run, well ahead of the police.

Although in all likelihood he would have escaped, something prompted him to turn around to check on the elderly woman. She was not injured, but by that point the police were turning the corner to her house. She looked at Driver and said, "Go sit on my porch." Without knowing why, he trusted her. When the police approached, she said that the person who rammed her car had fled. They wondered who was the teenager sitting on her porch swing.

She answered, "Oh, that's just my grandson."

The police left. The woman yelled at Driver, "Get in this house. Why do you do this, young man? You could be doing so much more with your life!"

Reilly noted, "Her kindness that day changed Donald Driver. Not overnight, no. This isn't a made-for-TV movie. He stole another car or two, took that money and bought drugs, which he says he never used, only sold for more money. But her little kindness grew in him."

Shortly thereafter Driver's mother sent him to live with his grandmother, who lived close by. He joined the drill team at his grandmother's church and played three sports at the local high school, including organized football for the first time. The voice of the elderly woman continued to echo, "You could be doing so much more with your life!"

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