newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MATT SUGAM

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

EWING – For Special Olympians, walking out for the opening ceremony is the equivalent of a college football player running out of the tunnel on a fall Saturday. Yet the smiles on the Rutgers football players who were escorting the athletes out at the Special Olympics New Jersey Games were just as wide as the smiles of the Olympians.

What has become an annual event for the Rutgers football team is as meaningful to the players as it is to the athletes.

“It’s unbelievable. There’s really nothing like it. It’s an unforgettable experience,” sophomore defensive back J.T. Tartacoff said before the ceremony at Lions Stadium on The College of New Jersey campus. “Whether it’s signing autographs or just hanging with the kids — you can’t even put it into words. Very few things match up against it.”

But even for young men that are used to playing in front of 50,000 people, it can be nerve-wracking at first. There’s no game plan or practice for what they’re about to do.

With what may seem like a simple task, there can be uneasiness for some at first.

“For me it was stepping out of my comfort zone when I was coming here last year,” redshirt sophomore linebacker David Milewski said. “At first it was uncomfortable, but as soon as you start talking to people and meeting everybody, it’s totally different. You loosen up and you actually see the inspiration and motivation behind everybody. It was an awesome feeling to help.”

Still, this year was different.

Head coach Kyle Flood was named the Honorary Head Coach of the Olympians. An appointment that means more to Flood than most.

Growing up with a special needs sister, Flood has been a part of the special needs community for as long he can remember. An experience that has changed his outlook on life.

“I think what it teaches you is to be grateful for what you have,” Flood said. “When you see the challenges that these Olympians are overcoming every day you certainly will not see the same challenges in your own life, and I think it gives you a realization of how fortunate we are.”

It is why the first-year head coach wanted to get his players involved.

“I said I don’t know many of you have done it. If you have done it, I hope you had a positive experience,” said Flood, when addressing the team about signing up. “If you haven’t done it, I encourage you to do it one time because it will change your life.”

In turn, the team rallied behind their new head coach. The 35 players escorting the 6,000 athletes are more than Rutgers has ever had.

“I promise you this,” Flood said in his speech to the Olympians. ”It may have appeared that my players led the precession out here tonight, but the most important thing that happened this evening was the inspiration that you’ve given them to go forward and do everything they’re going to do in their lives.”

For more Rutgers football coverage, follow Matt Sugam on Twitter @MattSugam and on Facebook.