'86 Chronology-Rewarding Experience

Event Date: January 18th, 1986

Event Description: 'Gades Reward Sportmanship

Source: UPI

The owner of a U.S. Football League team was so impressed by the apologetic actions of a college player who accidently knocked down his son on a sideline that he drafted him, the player's coach said.

Pat Franklin, a 6-foot, 225-pound running back at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, was picked this week in the second round of the USFL draft by the Orlando Renegades, owned by Donald Dizney.

Southwest Texas State coach John O'Hara said Wednesday Dizney told of his admiration for the player in a letter about an incident during a Southwest Texas State-Central Florida game in Orlando, Fla.

Dizney and his son were watching the game from the sidelines, O'Hara said.

“Pat had the ball and was running on our sideline and got run out of bounds. He hit the man's son and knocked him on the ground. He picked the young boy up and helped dust him off and apologized to him -- just really went out of his way to make up for hitting the young man,” O'Hara said.

“The owner was so impressed with Pat's gesture he came up and said, “That's the best display of sportsmanship I've seen in a long time, and I would love to have that young man play football for us,” O'Hara said.

O'Hara said he received the letter from Dizney a few days later, again expressing his pleasure with Franklin's actions.

“He said, “That's the kind of person we want to play for us. We're going to draft him,” O'Hara said.

“They had to be impressed with his ability, too, or they wouldn't have picked him in the second (round),” O'Hara said.

Franklin had been picked in the 7th round last week by the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals.

“It looks good for Pat right now,” his coach said.