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[Madison High] Ray Seals Named 08 High School Coach of the Year

Discussion in 'Houston Texans' started by ryan17wagner, Jan 28, 2009.

  1. ryan17wagner

    ryan17wagner Member

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    I didn't see anything posted on this. A great man, a great coach right here in our own city.


    Seals heading to Super stage to accept national honor


    Ray Seals has coached thousands of players in his 44 years of football. Madison’s football coach sits in his office, which is no bigger than 13-by-13, with files piled high, pictures of former players taped to his walls and he does more than just game planning for next week’s opponent while he’s in there.

    You see, Seals is more than a coach for his kids. He’s like a parent. Always coaching in the game of life; always giving advice on life’s challenges while shaping his kids’ minds to do what’s right as they venture past the hallways at Madison High as they seek something greater after graduation.


    “My philosophy changed awhile back,” Seals said. “When I first started coaching , everything was about winning. You try to win, but not at all costs, but you try to win. And then as you get older, you see what’s important. It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s trying to get the kids to grow up to be better men, good father’s and treating wives the way they should be treated.”

    Thursday, Seals will fly to Tampa Bay where he will be honored by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as the 2008 NFL’s High School Coach of the Year.

    Seals will also receive two tickets to Sunday’s Super Bowl and a $5,000 cash prize and a much needed $10,000 grant which will be used for his school’s football program.

    Seals was nominated by former players Moran Norris (Detroit Lions) and Vince Young (Tennessee Titans). Both wrote extensive essays on how their former coach was an inspiration and motivator. Seals was selected over 60 other nominees.

    “It was kind of hard to believe when they told me I won it. I couldn’t stop grinning,” Seals said. “It’s a great honor. I’ve won a lot of awards, but never anything national. When they pick just one person, it says a whole lot about our community, it says a whole lot about our coaching staff , about the kids that we have. It’s just not about me. It‘s about all of us.”

    The program was started by the NFL in 1995 to give players a chance to show how their lives have been affected by a coach who is willing do more than what’s expected. This year, Seals’ efforts were finally recognized on the national level.

    “It’s all about life,” he said. “I think football is a good sport where a guy can understand what life is all about. It (football) teaches you how to get knocked down and bounce back up. It teaches you to overcome adversity, disappointment. It teaches you how to work in groups and in unity. Things you meet in life, you’re going to meet on the football field.”

    For his career, Seals has had 198 of his student-athletes receive athletic scholarships.

    http://www.athletesconnection.com/content/view/4021/10086/
     

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