Watching film of Fletcher Cleaves in high school, one is struck by how the dazzling playmaker resembled Ike Hilliard of the Florida Gators in the 1997 Sugar Bowl against Florida State.
Want to know what Cleaves looked like as a high school player? Go to the 0:38 and 1:34 marks of this video clip of Hilliard, who caught passes, stopped on a dime, and make artful juke moves against Florida State defenders who lost their jock straps:
Maybe Fletcher Cleaves wasn’t going to be the next Ike Hilliard. However, he was going to be the first Fletcher Cleaves, and with a toolbox of skills which called Hilliard to mind, Cleaves earned a football scholarship at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee.
On September 9, 2009, Cleaves received the news that he had been announced as a starter on the Lambuth football team. These weren’t the bright lights of the Football Bowl Subdivision, but being a college starter is a substantial achievement regardless of the level of competition. Cleaves was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Four years in which to play the game he loved were set before him. It was a great time in his life, perhaps the best day of his life.
Before that day ended, it turned out to be his worst.
Today, six years later, Cleaves has much to be proud of. He is writing a happy story, one you’re going to hear more about in the days to come. However, that story has nothing to do with football.
Why? A person looked at their phone while driving a car, just hours after Cleaves’ dream of starting for a college team had come true.
Cleaves was driving home after a hard day’s work on the field and dinner with a friend, filled with thoughts about the opportunity he had been given. Then, one moment — one driver’s glance at a phone — caused an oncoming car to drift into Cleaves’ lane causing him to run off the road and flip his car.
It was the best of times… and then it quickly became the worst of times for Fletcher Cleaves. Paralyzed from the chest down, he had to spend his days in a wheelchair. His football dreams instantly ended. The joy surrounding his achievement; the excitement about the future; the hopeful energy which coursed through Cleaves’ veins when practice ended on that afternoon — all were flushed away by a careless and completely unnecessary glance at a phone, something that has no place behind the wheel.
AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign is encouraging drivers across the United States to keep their eyes on the road, not their phones. Driving can’t be handled with a divided mind or a lack of attention to one’s surroundings. That tweet, that web link, that text message — they can all wait until you get in the driveway or arrive at the parking lot of a grocery store or restaurant.
It Can Wait… and if you do wait, you’ll severely reduce the chances that someone else — someone such as Fletcher Cleaves — will see his football career end before it ever had a chance to flourish at the collegiate level.
Rally With Fletcher — today, this weekend, and always.
THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY AT&T IT CAN WAIT
