[Vision2020] This Ty is Better Than a Win

[Tom Hansen]

>From Steve Rushin's column in the December 25, 2006 edition of Sports
Illustrated -

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This Ty is Better Than a Win
By Steve Rushin

Two years ago, at 14, Tyler Kessler was attempting to stave off cancer and
kidney failure with an unusual course of treatment. He and his dad, Bob, had
set out to visit every NFL stadium and share a steak after each game. Having
endured, simultaneously, chemo and kidney dialysis, Tyler was trying out the
curative powers of pro football and red meat. 

The Kesslers were kind enough to share their story on this page (AIR AND
SPACE, Jan. 31, 2005), including Tyler's size (4'6", 70 pounds), best friend
(his yellow lab, Sparky) and three wishes (to meet Dan Marino, John Elway
and Brett Favre). Maybe it's because he was born on Christmas Day and comes
from Bethlehem -- the one in Pennsylvania -- but Tyler seemed to embody the
phrase "the least of my brothers." And here's what you did unto him. 

Twenty-four hours after that column appeared, a CBS executive called to say
that Dan Marino would like to meet Ty at the Super Bowl. Oh, and did the
Kesslers need game tickets? (Turns out, they did not, because another reader
had already donated a pair.) 


Within days, at least one season-ticket holder for every NFL team wrote to
offer the Kesslers seats for any game. 

Dave Silk of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team invited the Kesslers to Lake
Placid for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Miracle on Ice squad, at
the team's expense. Silk set up two goals in beating the Soviets, but it was
this assist that gave me goose bumps. 

Matt Millen, embattled president of the Lions, personally hosted the
Kesslers in Detroit, where Bob and Tyler watched a Sunday Lions walk-through
from the sideline. "When they broke huddle at the end of practice," says Ty,
"every single player walked straight over to us. They were shaking my dad's
hand, telling him, 'You did a great thing for your son.'" 

The next day, as Ty stood on the field after a Lions-Rams preseason game,
St. Louis receiver Torry Holt peeled off his game jersey and handed it to
him. 

New England center Dan Koppen, who is from Whitehall, 10 miles from
Bethlehem, invited the Kesslers to last season's Pats-Colts Monday night
game, before which Ty -- as an honorary captain -- stood at midfield for the
coin flip. Colts captain Peyton Manning, who had spent 15 minutes with Ty in
an Indianapolis steakhouse a year earlier, looked down at him at midfield
and said, "What's up, Ty?" 

Last Christmas morning, Ty's siblings, Cameron and Caitlin, waited for their
big brother to finish his morning dialysis before going downstairs to open
presents. The last of those gifts was a trip to the Pro Bowl. Rams guard
Todd Steussie provided a day pass to the players' hotel, where Ty shared a
hot tub with Jake Delhomme and Edgerrin James. 

Last season, Ty got a tour of the Seahawks' facility from kicker Josh Brown,
who beat the Cowboys the next day as time expired. When Ty and Brown met up
again hours later at Seattle's Metropolitan Grill, the kicker signed a
football, game-winning 50-yarder for my buddy ty! 

In October, in an Arizona hotel lobby, Ty told Bears linebacker Brian
Urlacher all about his travels. Instead of looking for the nearest elevator,
Urlacher listened for 10 minutes. As the Kesslers were heading out to the
parking lot, a man stopped them and handed Bob his business card. It read,
george mccaskey, director of ticket operations, chicago bears. Three weeks
after that, as a guest of the Bears, Ty had a front row seat at Soldier
Field for a game against Miami. When Dolphins receiver Marty Booker caught a
touchdown pass, he beelined for the boy in the bethlehem catholic
sweatshirt. "I froze," says Ty. Booker flipped him the football. The two
have never met. 

Like the President with his nuclear one, Ty always travels with his own
football, which John Elway happily signed for him in Denver. And two
Saturdays ago in San Francisco, Ty was summoned to a hotel conference room,
where Brett Favre was waiting to meet him. "Amazing," says Ty. 

This Christmas night, on his 16th birthday, the boy from Bethlehem won't be
under a star. The star will be under him. Ty will step onto the field at
Texas Stadium -- his 32nd and final NFL venue -- as the guest of Dallas
owner Jerry Jones. 

"For a long time," says Bob, "I worried that Tyler's only childhood memories
would be of doctors and hospitals." Instead, Ty is thriving -- his cancer is
in remission, and 18 months ago he got a healthy new kidney. From his dad. 

Ty is a mirror, reflecting the fundamental decency of people. "Everyone has
been very kind," he wants me to tell you. "I don't know how to say thank you
enough." 

I hope you like your gift, America. You're getting a Ty for Christmas.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.

- Author Unknown
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