It is one thing for a kid to know he’s part of something big, but it is altogether another to know that something big is only a part of the kid. With that I hail my latest champion, the South Pittsburg High football player Jonathan Blevins.

Jonathan, a leather-tough tackle and linebacker, has been an integral part of the Pirates’ wildly successful season where Vic Grider’s bunch went all the way to this year’s state finals. In order to do that, he once wore the same pair of clothes each day for an entire month, walked eight miles to school some days, and even slept at night in the school’s drafty press box rather than dare let anyone know he was homeless, penniless, and totally alone.

As I said, South Pittsburg’s Friday night brilliance is just part of it; in no way can the Marion County school’s on-the-field success match the heart that beats within Jonathan Blevins. It’s like he told WTVC’s Karen Zatkulak on Tuesday’s news broadcast, “I won't never quit, I keep coming, keep fighting, to make sure I do good."

WTVC and other media outlets are getting in the act because now the gritty kid, who struck out on his own when he could no longer watch his mom do drugs, has just been chosen as a semifinalist for this year’s High School “Rudy” Award. He is now one of 36 football players chosen from across the nation who best exemplify the values of inspirational football legend Daniel 'Rudy' Ruettiger.

You’ll remember that one of the greatest movies of all time is “Rudy,” the story of how Ruettiger would never quit, never buckle under, and who turned 27 seconds of actual playing time as a member of Notre Dame’s famous football team into one of the most inspirational stories ever told. Now a nationally-acclaimed motivator, the “original” Rudy urges millions to embrace "The Four C’s": Character, Courage, Contribution and Commitment.

The drawback of the award, of course, is that the other 35 semifinalists have also overcome the very worst of odds in their individual climb of their own mountains. Go ahead, visit the website, www.HighSchoolRudyAwards.com , and you will become immediately overwhelmed by the promise of tomorrow.

Jonathan Blevins is just 5-foot-7, but, believe this, he has been a star for the Pirates. Danny Wilson, an assistant coach, summed it up beautifully for the Channel 9 cameras. “He has a non-stop motor. When the ball is snapped, he’s 100 miles per hour until the whistle and he’s that way on every play. Opposing coaches have to know where he’s at in order to do anything. It has nothing to do with his ability, but everything to do with his heart.”

Yes, please go to the website and vote for this great example of the timeless adage, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” You see, from the time he was in the sixth grade until his sophomore year in high school, no one knew what the kid was privately enduring. "I was too embarrassed, I didn't say nothing, I just trusted in God that someone would find me."

Perhaps that might be best revealed in the nominations letter that South Pittsbugh principal Allen Pratt wrote to this year’s selection committee. It reads, in part:

“Many people in our town did not know what he was dealing with; our town did not understand his life. The only way to understand is to read a portion from the article that opened the eyes of the town of South Pittsburg,” the principal began.

“Jonathan Blevins has overcome a lifetime of turmoil in his 17-year life. As his mother sank deeper into drug addiction, Jonathan's home life was filled with drug dealers and loneliness. He remembers as a 9-year-old watching his mother take a severe beating from her former boyfriend.

“He and his mother lived in a hotel for six weeks, where he would often wash his school clothes in the sink, using a bar of soap, hanging them to dry on the railing outside.

“Too ashamed to tell anyone of his predicament, he often walked the eight miles from school to the hotel after football practice and, when he could no longer bear seeing his mother doing drugs in front of him, he began sleeping in the press box at his high school. "I would climb the steps, curl up on the table in the press box and, I'll admit, there were a lot of nights I would just lay there and cry," Jonathan said.

“He did this for several weeks before a local man, Rance Castle, took him in, adopted him and gave his life hope. South Pittsburg coach Vic Grider said the structured home led to an immediate change in Blevins. "The difference was like night and day," Grider said.

“’All that baggage he had been carrying was gone. He became a better student and a better teammate to the point that he's a leader for us now. Ninety-nine percent of his problem was his anger over the situation he was in and the sad thing is none of us really knew just how bad he really had it.’

“It is with great pleasure that I recommend Jonathan Blevins for the High School Football Rudy Awards. He is living the ultimate underdog story of life. He is an example of how the kindness of a stranger and entire town turned the hand of fate to the positive for one young man. If anyone is deserving of this award it is Jonathan Blevins. “

The award winner will be announced on Feb. 3 and the winner will get a $10,000 college scholarship. But if Jonathan should win, remember that he has already conquered a far-bigger mountain. To be the national winner would admittedly be a great honor, but Jonathan Blevins has already attained more after wearing the same clothes, crying at nights in a school press box, and walking alone.

“I just trusted God that someone would find me,” he said. Someone did. Nothing will ever equal that moment in Jonathan Blevins’ life because it was only then did Jonathan become what he is today. Please vote for my hero.

royexum@aol.com