A Passion for Children continued
Scott & White is planning to do, will mean
so much to so many people.
A fighter’s heart
During the University of Texas
championship game against Alabama last
January, my shoulder was injured in the
first quarter. I couldn’t play after that and
we lost the game. Any negative emotion
you can think of, I probably felt it. I had
worked for that moment my whole career.
My strong faith in the Lord got me
through. I believe that when things are
taken away from you or the unexpected
happens, you don’t question it, you just
dust yourself off, get back on your feet,
and find something positive in it. I decided
if I couldn’t play, I would be the best
cheerleader for my team that I could be.
The injury I experienced and the
emotions I went through might be similar
to those of a child who’s sick. I look forward
to reaching out to some of Scott & White’s
young patients and encouraging them to
fight and believe that they can win too.
Growing up and lessons learned
I’m a small-town boy. I grew up in several
of them because my dad was a high school
football coach and his career was always
Colt McCoy helps kids set up a game in a playroom.
14
THE CATALYST Fall 10 | sw.org
moving forward—in Hobbs, New Mexico,
where I was born; then San Saba, Kermit,
Hamlin, and Tuscola, all in Texas. My mom
found teaching jobs wherever we went. I
still have friends from all those places.
On a Friday night in a small town
everybody’s at the game. My brothers and
I, like kids in every small town, played
every sport just so the school could field a
team. Actually, my mom says the first word
I ever said was “ball.” With three boys in
our family—I’m 24 and my brothers,
Chance and Case, are 22 and 19—that
sounds about right.
Football runs deep in my family. My
granddad played and coached football for
30 years at Abilene Christian University,
where Chance plays football now and
where my mom played basketball. My
uncles on both sides were coaches. Case is
going to be quarterback at UT in the fall.
I’m not sure if my mom’s a fan of it all—
she’s photographed covering her eyes a lot
when we play.
My dad taught me not just how to play
the game but how to be a good man too.
Whenever he’d drop me off at school or
take me to a game, he’d say two things:
“Do your best” and “Be a leader.” I
understand now what he really meant. If
you do your best in everything, what you’re
doing will be positive and people are going
to follow you. You will become a better
man. His advice continues to be pretty
powerful for me.
I’m a very competitive person and work
as hard as I can to be the best I can be. I hope
I’ve inspired children from small towns to
know that anything’s possible and also