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Coach Inspiration
Mary and Harold Hardin meet Colts Coach Tony Dungy through 'Never Too Late'
LuAnn Mason
Columnist
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| Ninety-two-year-old Helen Hardin's wish - to meet Tony Dungy, coach of the 2007 Super Bowl Champions, the Indianapolis Colts - came true. Accompanying her to the Colts complex for her 15- to 20-minute brush with fame were her husband, Harold Hardin, 94 (pictured), and their children Sara Stout and Philip Hardin.
LuAnn Mason photo. |
November
6, 2007- How many of you are Colts fans? Have you met the coach? The Hardins of Morristown have, and all they did was make a wish.
"There are so many things I want to do yet and see, but I don't know that I will have time to do it," 92-year-old Helen Hardin said realistically, despite the fact that she is in exceptionally good health. Her husband, Harold, falls into the same category at age 94.
They are passionate fans of the Indianapolis Colts. Well ... kind of. It's actually Coach Tony Dungy who draws them close to the television set to watch the games. "We watch the Colts because of the coach," Helen Hardin said. Wouldn't it be great, then, to be able to meet him?
"They won't ask for anything," Sara Stout said about her parents. "The little things are important and fun." So, when she read a newspaper article about longtime Colts radio announcer Bob Lamey, and Bob Haverstick, founder and executive director of the Never Too Late Foundation, granting an elderly gentleman's wish to meet Lamey, she went into action to submit her mother's wish to meet Coach Dungy.
It was a longshot, but it was certainly worth a try, according to Stout.
Founded in January 2000, the Indianapolis-based Never Too Late Foundation operates with a simple mission administered by a corps of volunteers: "to fulfill the wishes of seniors." Haverstick has stated many times that "this program is about taking people who feel invisible and forgotten and showing them we care, just because they are alive and with us. It is not about what they bring to the table or what they can do for us. It is about our remembering them and honoring them for all they have ever done or been all of their long lives."
In no time at all, Stout learned that her mother's wish to meet Dungy in person would be granted.
"He surely does some wonderful things for people," she said about Haverstick. Instantly, Stout recalled telling her parents to hold Oct. 8 and to make no plans. She outfitted her parents in Colts shirts, and she and her brother, Philip Hardin, drove them to the Colts complex in Indianapolis.
"We didn't know what they were doing," Harold said about the surprise their children had planned. Of course, when they pulled into the Colts complex, they knew the outing had something to do with the Colts, but what?
"When we first walked in and met the secretary, we knew something was up," said Helen while releasing a gentle laugh. "We didn't have time to get nervous."
But emotions were truly engaged from the beginning to the end of the Hardins' 15 to 20 minutes of fame. "When she saw him (Dungy) down the hall, her eyes welled up with tears," Stout recalled.
"He took my arm and helped me down the aisle - my left arm - by his office. I'll never wash this arm again," Helen laughed as she touched the very spot held by Dungy. "He had the biggest smile on his face that you ever saw. Ohhhh, he was sooo nice."
Harold, a former teacher in Arlington, Carthage and Morristown schools, described Dungy as a "real interesting individual."
Just what did Helen ask the Coach?
"I told him how much we enjoy the football games. We were all so dumbfounded, we didn't know what to say!"
Dungy actually did most of the talking, as he showed the Hardins around his office.
"He's just a man, but we were so awestruck," Helen said. "We sure watch him on television. Oh, my goodness ... We got to shake hands with him! His personality's A-plus."
Calmly, Harold responded, "It was very interesting. I thought he might be a little distant, but he was real friendly. We didn't even talk about the Colts."
Helen said she told Dungy she hoped he won the rest of the games.
"They've had such a great season. I like the way he is at the ballgames. He walks up and down very calm, and never gets angry at his players."
Noting that he was dressed in black pants and a teal sport shirt during their visit, Helen commented that he was fairly tall.
"Of course, everyone's taller than us," she laughed, adding that while she is 5-foot-2, Harold is 5-foot-4. "And he's a very religious man, gentle, soft-spoken, a nice person. He treats you on his level. He is famous, but you wouldn't know it to talk to him. I was thrilled to death. He was so gracious and nice-looking."
Quite comparable to the photo on the cover of his book, "Quiet Strength," she said, while pointing out that Dungy looks better in person than on TV.
It was the release of the book that seemed to heighten her desire to meet Dungy, too.
"She wanted an autographed copy," Stout said. She had intended to go to a site where a book signing was taking place. "But when I called to see how long of a wait it might be, there were 2,000 people in line, and I knew I couldn't wait that long."
So instead, Stout purchased the book for her mother at a different location.
"I'm reading it for the third time," Helen giggled. "It's not just a football book. It's a book of faith."
It seems "Quiet Strength" went along with the Hardins during their visit to the Colts complex, because inside its cover Helen now has a tangible memory of Dungy. It reads: "To Helen & Harold: Thanks so much for all of your support. You're great Colts fans! Tony Dungy."
It's the only material memento the couple has from the Colts complex.
"We were so excited, we forgot to take a picture with him!" Helen said. "We were still in a daze when we left!" Stout admitted she had the camera, but just forgot to use it.
There might just be another opportunity to snap that photo, though.
"Mother told him he could come swing on the porch if he'd come down to the (Kopper) Kettle (Restaurant)," Stout said. It's another longshot, but the Hardins know firsthand that wishes sometimes do come true.
"I was thrilled that he took the time to see us," Helen said. "I would love to live long enough to see the new stadium."
To submit a wish request for someone, to volunteer or make a monetary donation to help make wishes come true, contact the Never Too Late Foundation, either at www.nevertoolate.org or by phone at (317) 823-4705.
LuAnn Mason is the health and wellness coordinator and media specialist for Shelby Senior Services. She has lived in Shelbyville for 23 years. She is a 1977 graduate of Indiana University and has worked in numerous newspaper reporting positions.