Baylor Football's Childhood Cancer Awareness Game: Bigger Than Just Football
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During media availability this week, Coach Dave Aranda as well as several players were asked about this Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech. While they all gave their individual thoughts on the game and their expectations, they all had a collective agreement: Saturday's game is bigger than just football.
A Special Game Requires Special Artwork.
Baylor will be wearing a special helmet for its Childhood Cancer Awareness game during the Louisiana Tech game on September 19th. The helmet decal, designed by a pediatric hematology/oncology patient and was inspired by artwork created during a recent visit to McLane Children’s Medical Center in Temple.
Several Baylor football student-athletes and pediatric patients spent time personalizing versions of the Baylor Bear Head together. The selected artwork was designed by 6-year-old ILaria Ramirez
of Cameron, Texas. The “Helmet of Hope” she helped to create (also including the words "victory," "strength," and "faith") will serve as a symbol of support for the children and families unfortunate enough to be facing pediatric cancer. Each helmet for every Baylor player will have the sticker decal attached for this game.
The fans in attendance will also be encouraged to wear gold/yellow as a co-theme for this Saturday's game is "Gold Rush" serving as a tribute to children battling cancer and the resilience they demonstrate every day.
Coach Aranda (not said during media availability, but from a different point in time): “Our football program is honored to support the incredible children and families at McLane Children’s,” and “Our players are inspired by their courage and resilience, and it’s a privilege to wear a helmet that represents them during our Childhood Cancer Awareness game this September.”
6-Year Old Ilaria Ramirez Designed the Decals for this Game; Is this Game "Bigger than Just Football?"
Coach Aranda: It is, yeah. Ilaria is one of us, and so we represent her and want her and her family to know that we're fighting along with her. And so that was a really special day. I know a couple guys have mentioned this game coming up just because of her.
Kyler Jordan: Yeah, really cool. I mean, it's a great cause, you know, and we're happy to go play for that. I mean, we're way more fortunate than a lot of other people in the world, so I think bringing light to that is really cool, and it was really good to meet her
Michael Allen: For sure. Ilaria and her family came and visited us during one of our fall camp walk-throughs, and, yeah, like you said, man, it's way, way bigger than football, right? And so to see, you know, her excitement when we had that decal and the helmet and to be able to represent her and her family and just let them know that, you know, we're thinking about them, we're praying for them, just a really cool opportunity for us and the platform we have to show them some love and just let them know that we're with them during this time.
What This All Means
Nearly 1 in every 285 Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer prior to their 20th birthday. An unfair but brutal reality for many families, friends, and loved ones. This Saturday though, the Baylor faithful in Waco will show their solidarity with young Miss Ramirez (and all the other children going through diagnosis and treatment) who is fighting cancer as hard as she can. And this Saturday, Baylor, a team filled with weight room enthusiasts and otherwise fully grown men are going to try and fight as hard as a six year old girl.
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Brad is a writer and contributes to the Baylor Bears on SI, with aspirations to share his own unique thoughts and perspectives with fans. Whether through the facts and figures of the past or the untold potential and triumphs of the future, sports have always been a large influence on Brad's storytelling and life overall. His inspiration to write began while watching sports when he first noticed the highs and lows of each game, each quarter, each play; there's a story in each of them worth telling, and he wanted to tell them.
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