a COOL coach

Jarod Claybourn, Head Football Coach of Sterling High in N.J., had no idea what to do with the football from his team's first victory in two years. Mike Karp, Head Football Coach of Gateway High, watched as his team fell victim to Claybourn's team and extend it's losing streak to 17 games.

Probably more than a victory, both teams really just wanted to earn a little respect as the two were both 0-5 for the 2010 season. Going into the game everyone knew that there had to be a winner and a loser when the final gun sounded but Claybourn expressed that there was no reason why his team deserved to win any more than Karp's, "They just ran out of time. They deserved to win that game as much as we did, if not more."

So when the time on the scoreboard read 00:00 Jarod walked across the field to shake Mike's hand with the game ball tucked under his arm. He decided to give the ball to Gateway's Head Coach to honor him and his team for playing such a hard fought game with only 19 players on the roster, "For them to play as hard as they did, I just wanted to honor them in some way."

Mike Karp was truly honored, "I don't even know if i can put it into words. We're two struggling programs. Somebody had to lose, and we came up on the short end of the scoreboard. But for him to do that, it just shows that we gained some respect that night and it means so much to our kids. Classiest thing I've ever seen on a football field."

Here's to you Coach Claybourn for thinking of your opponent and showing others how to win with class-stay positive, stay generous, and STAY COOL!

What do you think of Coach Claybourn's act of giving the game ball to the losing team's coach?