Impact of loss goes beyond Parkersburg, Iowa

A high school football coach dons the cover of the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated, a feat that SI writer Lee Jenkins called unusual.

"I don't recall that ever happening," he told Radio Iowa writer Darwin Danielson in an online article dated July 1.

But Jenkins and many other media personnel recognized that the world lost a legend in Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas.

On Wednesday, June 24, during a morning weightlifting session at the school, former A-P student and football player Mark Becker allegedly fired off several shots at point-blank range, killing Thomas.

By telling sports fans across the country about the tragedy in this week's cover story, Jenkins and his superiors recognize the significant impact Thomas made on the Parkersburg community and the Iowa high school football scene.

"I think that's a testament to Coach Thomas' life but it's also kind of a statement about the universality of coaches in small towns and the impact that they can make," Jenkins said in the interview with Danielson.

Being from a small town - although much larger than the community of 1,900 in Parkersburg - I feel like we sometimes forget the powerful influence high school coaches have when they instruct teenage athletes.

We are privileged in these close-knit communities to have coaches that teach more than just the fundamentals of a game, they teach us how to live and grow up into responsible adults.

I know my brother's football coach made that impact on him and I see the positive education Le Mars Community coaches Jim Boyd and Al Engebretson provide through the program "Coaching Boys into Men". I know there are many more examples similar to these in Le Mars and I'm sure you are aware of them as well.

Coach Thomas was one of those role models in the A-P community. A 37-year coaching veteran - 34 of those seasons for A-P - Thomas had a passion for the game, naturally, but also for the community.

When a tornado devastated Parkersburg last year, Thomas - whose home was completely destroyed - made sure the football field was reconstructed in time for the 2008 fall season. He found somewhere for the players to lift during the offseason and sure enough, his team went 11-1 last fall and, after a perfect regular season, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs, where the Falcons fell 14-6 to Emmetsburg.

Thomas' love for Falcon football was so great that he insisted on taking care of the field (which named for the legendary coach and known to many as the 'Sacred Acre') himself - mowing, watering, picking weeds, you name it. But you can read more about that in SI.

"We didn't just lose a football coach. We lost an icon," Tom Teeple, a barber who cut Thomas' hair before every game, said in a Des Moines Register article dated June 24.

On Saturday in the midst of Independence Day hoopla, I was shocked to read of the passing of another icon - former NFL MVP and Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair.

The 36-year-old retired QB was found shot to death in his Nashville condo early Saturday morning.

In losing the former Titan great, many recognize McNair's role model influences as well.

"It's still kind of hard to believe," his brother Fred McNair said to the Associated Press. "He was the greatest person in the world. He gave back to the community. He loved kids and he wanted to be a role model to kids."

McNair was on a different level of 'role-modeling' than Thomas was, however; the former Titans' star certainly influenced many young fans, but as a small-town football coach, Thomas' impact was more personal.

I recently wrote about role models (see my June 11 blog on www.lemarssentinel.com) and recognized the incredible influence high school athletes have on young kids in the community. However, I failed to mention the fact that many of these teenage athletes are simply living out the examples they have received from parents, teachers and coaches.

What we may fail to realize is the fact that every single thing we say or do could influence someone observing us, whether it be positive or negative. Think back to when your children or siblings were learning to speak. They repeated everything they heard, not knowing what it meant or if it was good or bad.

Coach Thomas worked with the hope that his football players would emulate the plays he scripted for each game and many continued to emulate the legend off the field as well.

Thomas was a prominent member and an elder at First Congregational Church in Parkersburg, among his other active roles in the community.

"I can't describe how emotional it is for all of us to lose such a great person," A-P superintendent Jon Thompson said in a June 24 article posted on Radio Iowa's website. "...Him as a person, that's another loss to our community today. That's how he's best going to be remembered -- not as the football coach but as a good person, a good Christian and a tremendous role model for us all."

Thomas had the opportunity to influence thousands of kids over the course of his coaching career and he chose to be a positive influence.

While the talk of much of the world is still swirling around the deaths of celebrity icons like McMahon, Fawcett, Jackson, Mays and McNair, remember that in Iowa we are mourning a legend of our own. A man who was and will be more influential and a more positive role model than any Hollywood star could ever be, the legend of Ed Thomas will remain in the hearts of those who knew and loved him and many more every time they soak up the glow of those Friday night lights.