Bird of Prey

For anyone that was lucky enough to tune into the NFL Network last night around 8 pm they got a chance to see a nice NFL Films production called “Birds of Prey”. Being the chief bandwagon driver this year, I thought it was a nice in depth look at a team I don’t know everything about. Plus, it was nice to see the classic highlights/lowlights that only NFL Films can provide. This show was a retrospective of the last 30 years of Seahawks football. There was a look at Mike Holmgren the high school PE teacher/ Football and Tennis coach. They looked at the ineptitude of Seahawks football and the Greatness (large G) of Steve Largent.

The story that really hit me was the story of Isaiah Kasvinsky, everyone’s lovable special teams leader. I like most don’t really know more about him other than he went to Harvard and has a pre med degree and plays for the Hawks. What I learned last night was a far cry from what you would expect from a “Haaverd” grad. I thought I would give a little bio on the man I have new found respect for. Isaiah was born in small town New York (Endicott, NY) His father was constantly out of a job taking whatever job her could to provide food for his family even getting food out of the dumpster. His father was also an alcoholic who constantly beat Isaiah for no reason. It even got so bad that he and his family had to live in a tent outside of a neighbor’s home.

The glue that kept his family together was his mother. A woman who no matter what always found the positive in all the horrible things that surrounded the family. She always found time to give support to her kids in there activities. She taught Isaiah how to act and how to use his knowledge and athletics to lift himself up from his surroundings. She watched Isaiah grow and become a three time all conference and all state selection in football. He also ended High School with a 4.0.

Sappy enough for you… Well it is going to get better. The day before Isaiah was to play in the Semi-final State Football game his mother was killed in an auto accident. He was crushed and didn’t know what to do but he knew that is mother would have wanted him to play. Well he did and dominated the game. Isaiah never was recruited by the big schools and was lost in the insueing months after his mothers death. Until he was offered an academic scholarship to Harvard, he had no plans on going to a school like that he could never make it in a place like that with pocket protectors and legacy’s running all over campus. He just figured he would end up washing dishes like his father. Until he found a stack of pictures of his mother and him, his mother was wearing a Harvard sweatshirt. From that moment on He knew he should be there.

He became the first Harvard player to start every game. He went on to lead Harvard all time in tackles. While he attended College he started to mend his relationship with his father who since had become a recovering alcoholic. Isaiah’s father attended all his games and was finally able to see the impact his son was making on people’s lives. While he watched Isaiah tackle a player he was patted on the back by another players father who was a doctor and asked if he was Isaiah’s father. He responded yes. The boys father then said he was so greatful for Isaiah coming to Harvard because he has brought a special quality back to Harvard football and my boy is inspired by Isaiah. At that point Isaiah’s father broke down and realized he has missed so much of his son’s life and needed to make things right. Isaiah and his father are getting back to what a father and son should be.

I know there are countless stories like this one out in the sports world. I just wanted to shed a little light on a player who has been through a lot and his managed to build himself up from tragedy. It might be a little to sappy for the Lodge but I thought it was a great story during this over hyped media week.