"That was the whole idea behind Biff and Joe's ironclad rule that no Gilman football player should ever let another Gilman boy - teammate or not - eat lunch by himself. If you can put yourself in another man's shoes, that's a great gift to have for a lifetime.' 'Not feeling for someone, but with someone. "'Feeling what the other person feels,' said senior Napoleon Sykes, one of the team captains, a small but solid wide receiver and hard-hitting defensive back who had already accepted a scholarship to play college football at Wake Forest. "The boys would also make an impact by breaking down cliques and stereotypes, by developing empathy and kindness for all. " 'We are a program of inclusion,' Biff said. Because every single one of them has something to offer. If you're one of us, then you won't walk around putting people in boxes. Well, if you let that happen now, then you'll let it happen later. You name it - always gonna be people who want to separate by that stuff. 'That's almost a law of nature - gonna happen no matter what, right? The rest of the world will want to separate you by race, by socioeconomic status, by education levels, by religion, by neighborhood, by what kind of car you drive, by the clothes you wear, by athletic ability. " 'The rest of the world will always try to separate you,' Biff said. "For one thing, they would make an impact by being inclusive rather than exclusive. "How would the boys make the most impact? Almost anything Biff ever talked about could be fashioned into at least a partial answer to that question. 'And the way we measure greatness is the impact you make on other people's lives.' " 'I expect greatness out of you,' Biff once told the boys. 'If you're here, then you're one of us, and we love you. " 'I don't care if you're big or small, huge muscles or no muscles, never even played football or star of the team - I don't care about any of that stuff,' Biff went on to tell the boys, who sat in the grass while he spoke. "I would quickly come to realize that this standard exchange - always initiated by Biff or Joe - was just as much a part of Gilman football as running or tackling. 'To love each other,' the boys responded. " 'And what is your job?' Biff shot back. The younger boys, new to Gilman football, would soon catch on. The older boys had already been through this routine more than enough times to know the proper answer. " 'To love us,' most of the boys yelled back. " 'What is our job?' Biff asked on behalf of himself, Joe, and the eight other assistant coaches. It started with the signature exchange of the Gilman football program - this time between Biff and the gathered throng of eighty boys, freshmen through seniors, who would spend the next week practicing together before being split into varsity and junior varsity teams. "What happened that first day at Gilman was entirely unlike anything normally associated with high school football. And the requirement that players constantly base their thoughts and actions on one simple question: What can I do for others?: And its coaches have a few unusual rules - such as an ironclad rule that no Gilman football player should ever let another Gilman boy - teammate or not - eat lunch by himself. As reported by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jeffrey Marx, Gilman High School in Maryland has an unusual and highly successful football team. Today's encore selection - from Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx. We are celebrating our ten year anniversary! All month we will be sending encores that our subscribers picked as their favorites, starting with the top ten excerpts. #4 - football and eating lunch alone - 6/10/15
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