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SPECIAL REPORT

STAFF REPORTER DENNIS MORRIS

 

 

Semipro Teams Mourn Death

Father of 5 girls died playing game he loved

BY MARK MONROE
TOLEDO BLADE SPORTS WRITER

 

Dave Coleman of Napoleon, Ohio, died Saturday, after being injured in a semi-pro football game.  Dave Coleman died doing what he loved most, playing football with his younger brother.

 

Coleman, a 32-year-old truck driver, was an offensive lineman on the weekends. The Napoleon resident played semipro football with his brother Anthony for the Jay County Panthers, a team based in Portland, Ind., located 50 miles south of Fort Wayne, Ind.

On Saturday, Coleman's part-time passion ended in tragedy on the football field at Springfield High School. On a punt return, Coleman attempted to get in on the tackle only to be blindsided on a legal block from a player from the Northwest Ohio Knights.

 

Coleman initially struggled to get to his feet but then collapsed. EMT workers at the game immediately rushed on to the field but could not revive the 6-foot-1, 235-pound lineman.

Anthony Coleman, who also was playing in the game, was on the sideline when the devastating block on his brother took place.  "At first I thought he got his bell rung. I thought he would get back up and be all right," Anthony Coleman said. "But after a few moments, they rolled him over and I knew something was seriously wrong."  Coleman, a father of five young daughters, was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital.  "It's a little surreal," Anthony Coleman said. "He just wanted to play for the love of the game. He loved being out there."

 

The brothers, who are both Patrick Henry High School graduates, were participating in a preseason semipro game that was a charity event established to raise funds to find a cure for ALS. 

Anthony Coleman, 27, said he encouraged his older brother to join the Panthers team in 2010.

"I got to connect with him more," Anthony Coleman said. "We traveled all over the Midwest.

"With football we set our real lives aside. You don't have to worry about your job or bills.

"We all know the risks you take when we sign up for this. But I've never seen anything like this occur. It was a pretty vicious hit. But I want to reiterate that it was a legal hit." 

 

Zeb Sutton, the coach of Jay County, also said the play was clean.  "If Dave would have gotten up he would have been the first to shake hands with the guy who hit him," Sutton said. "It's a one in a trillion accident for a hit to cause a death."

 

Sutton said the helmet of the Knights' player went directly into Coleman's sternum.

"He was out of the play pretty much but their guy was not trying to hurt him, he was just trying to make a big play," Sutton said. "We all want to make that big hit. It was helmet to chest. He just collapsed. It takes a special breed of person to [play semipro football]."

An autopsy is scheduled Monday.

 

The play occurred in the second quarter. The game was canceled after Coleman could not be resuscitated on the field.

 

Dave Calabrese, coach of the Northwest Ohio Knights, said the play was a crack-back block and that no flag was thrown on the play.  "He just didn't see him coming," Calabrese said.

The charity game was named for Calabrese, a former standout athlete at Maumee who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, also know as ALS, in the fall of 2008.

 

"Before the game, he and his brother posted on our Web site that they were excited to play in it because it was for a good cause," Calabrese said. "He was very polite and very excited about doing something for the ALS cause."  Calabrese played semipro football for 14 years.

"I live and breathe football. But this proves that football isn't everything," Calabrese said. "It's an emotional time. It's sad and somber."  Calabrese said two members of the Knights have decided to give up the sport. 

 

Sutton said his players participate for the love of the game and Coleman was no exception. Players pay to play and often rent equipment.

 

"When Dave's mom addressed the team, she told us that he had two real passions in life, spending time with his daughters and playing football," Sutton said. "The only good thing is that he died doing something he loved."

 

Sutton said he got to know Coleman on the team's lengthy bus trips to games.

"You couldn't ask for a more caring guy," he said. "He was a great father and great person to sit and talk to. He was always the first one to play wherever I needed him."

Sutton said he and officials with the Crossroads Football League, which the Panthers are a part of, have been contacted by more than 50 other leagues and 600 teams. Sutton said Coleman did not have insurance.

 

Calabrese said there has been a tremendous outpouring of support from the minor league football community on Facebook.  "They all wanted to express their condolences and want to help in any way," Sutton said.

 

Anthony Coleman said the family is in the process of setting up a fund to cover funeral costs and future expenses.

 

Dave Coleman was the oldest of six brothers. Anthony Coleman said his brother did not play football in high school because of ankle problems.

 

"Football was a shared passion," Anthony said. "Because of our age difference I never got the chance to play with him. I got to connect with him more. It's a really emotional time for the family. The most difficult part is the fact that he has those five little girls."

 

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade

 

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         Applications are now being accepted for the

American Football Hall of Fame

Class of 2013.  

 

Coach Ken and Jennifer Blankenship

 

  KEN BLANKENSHIP

Class of 2012

 

Hall of Fame Reflection

As I sit here tonight 48 hours after my induction into the American Football Hall of Fame I can't help but to think about what has truly transpired.  This nomination is by far one of the most prestigious awards I have ever earned and I am honored and humbled.  When Dick Suess told me he had nominated me for this award I couldn't help but to wonder why.  I have never won a championship, my coaching career record is just above .650 but yet I was nominated for this award after only 6 years in the semi-pro game. At the Induction ceremony we had coaches who have won multiple championships including national championships, one even had 109 wins with only 6 losses, an unbelievable feat.  We had NFL players, executives and minor league players inducted that evening whose resumes were far more impressive than mine. 

 

There are many coaches out there that have a much better coaching record than I do including championships that have not and probably will not make it into any Hall of Fame so how was I nominated, Considered and accepted into such an elite class?  I asked the president of the AF Hall of Fame that question and his response was "Being a HOF coach has nothing to do with records, it is based on what you have done to elevate American football".  I didn't really think much about it at the time but as I reflect on the weekends events it all makes sense to me now.  You see, football has been a part of my life as long as I can remember.  I started my coaching career as a mighty mite coach 16 years ago, coaching 7-8 and 9 year old kids.  I was playing semi pro football in northern Nev. and was asked by a teammate to help him coach his team.  He went AWOL so the league asked me to be the head coach 2 days before the first practice.  I was not prepared for that position and reluctantly agreed.  Since I am a highly competitive person my number one goal was to win and I was extremely aggressive.  About 2 weeks into practice with all the yelling and such, one of my assistants asked me to meet with him after practice and that was the night I learned the most valuable lesson ever. My assistant asked me if the cost of winning was worth a child's loss of the love of football.  He explained that most of the kids we were coaching where just learning their right from left, learning how to cut and paste, how to color inside the lines and how to tie their own shoes.  You see I was so focused on them as football players and winning that I forgot they were kids and all they really wanted to do was to play and have fun.  That night I made a promise to him that I was going to change my style and become a teacher and teach the fundamentals and not focus on just winning.  That year we went undefeated 10-0.  Since that season I have had the opportunity to work with and against many great coaches and a few not so good ones, but I have made the choice to learn from every one of them.  I have coached some really talented athletes and some not so talented ones and again I have learned from all of them.

 

Being involved in football I have had the opportunity to meet some of the best people in my life.  I have developed relationships one could only dream of and I have been able to do things with my family most people will never have the opportunity to do but not without sacrifice.  My wife often jokes that she is a football widow, we even scheduled the birth of our 3rd child, Kaden, around the playoffs.  We have given up many monetary items because we had players who couldn't pay a team fee or we didn't have enough sponsors to pay for a field and I had an obligation to my team to make it happen.  We have taken in players and given them a place to live because they had nowhere to go.  All of this is done without so much as a thank you most of the time but we wouldn't change a thing.  I am truly blessed to have football in my life.

 

So what have I done to earn the honor to be called a Hall of Fame coach?  Obviously it’s not my win/loss record.  I was nominated, considered and inducted for my commitment to football and community.  I am honored by the fact that the AFNT committee saw more in me than just records.  I have coached 22 seasons in 16 years, at one point I would go to high school practice from 3:30pm-5:45 then go straight to Pop Warner practice from 6-8pm and then semi pro practice from 8-10:30pm.  With all that I would still find time for community projects such as youth camps, going to the children's ward at YRMC, feeding the homeless and raising money for different organizations.  I have worked with the AZ Cardinals as a volunteer in youth development including being VP of the NFL Flag Football program for 2 years.  I have been a regional scout for the AFL2 and have helped many athletes get to the next level.  I am glad that the AFNT HOF looks past records and actually sees what we do as coaches and mentors with no monetary compensation.  It is a wonderful feeling to have your efforts recognized by such a great organization.

 

I am truly honored and humbled by the award I have earned and will forever cherish the day I accepted my induction into the American Football Hall of Fame but more importantly I will continue my commitment to the greatest sport on earth....... FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am certain I will eventually win a championship but if I never do I know I have left my mark on this sport and will be forever enshrined in the American Football Hall of Fame.

 

  THE HEISMAN TROPHY

The Most Prestigious Award in College Football

 

"AND THE HEISMAN GOES TO"

 

 

  FELIX BLANCHARD, THE 11TH HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER IN 1945. 

Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard is best known as the college football player who became the first ever junior to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and was the first ever football player to win the James E. Sullivan Award, all in 1945.  He played football for the United States Military Academy at West Point.

An All-American for three years, the 6-foot, 205 pound "Mr. Inside" scored 38 touchdowns and gained 1,908 yards on three powerhouse West Point teams that were unbeatable during the World War II years. The pulverizing fullback ran the 100 yards in ten flat.  In his very first game against North Carolina, he averaged 58 yards on kickoffs, punted once for 40 yards, and carried the ball four times for a 4.5 yard average, although he only played 17 minutes.

Because his father was a doctor, Felix Blanchard was nicknamed "Little Doc" as a boy.  After football, he served in the United States Air Force from 1947 until 1971 when he retired with the rank of Colonel.

 ___________________________________________________________________________             

     "BACK DOWN MEMORY LANE - WHEN THEY PLAYED ON REAL GRASS..

 

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