REALLY special opening statement by P.J. Fleck (worth the ENTIRE listen):
- Wore this blue wristband, our community has been through a lot, thatās why Heather and I love it here so muchā¦today was a special win, we had Fletcherās 3 buddies, and his brother join us yesterday from the Annunciation shooting. Fletcher (Merkel) was one of the young people that lost his life. Their Dads came and spent a lot of time with us yesterday.
- One of Fletcherās greatest memories was the USC game last year, which was talked about his funeral.
- Itās the most unthinkable, tragic, catastrophic feeling you probably could ever have, losing your child.
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@MikeWierzbicki did a tremendous job of hosting them, and bringing them into our family
- They all got a game ball, kids are really resilient, but we donāt know how that will really impact young people
- This is what Row The Boat is all about. Canāt bring Fletcher back, canāt make it easier, but I hope that for 45 minutes in my office, for pre-game, to that locker room, they could smile, and I thought they did.
- This goes way bigger than football, everybody. I get paid to win, but I understand my role as a head football coach, I understand the obligation I have, the job I have to do and who I represent.
- People can say Row The Boat is corny, itās 13 years everybody, move on, find a new word, almost 100 winsā¦corny? Itās never give up. Itās what we just talked about with Team Fletcher, if youāre going to call that corny, you have issues and problems.
- What our team showed tonight was resolve and the resiliency of what RTB is all about. Iām so darn proud of them. I donāt know if Iāve been a part of a win like that, that meant so much, and you didnāt even know it.
- Coming off of a loss like that, they found a way to win.
- #1 reason I love being a football coach is changing lives.