JOR 221 Project 3
Multi-Media Reporting
The Game Plan
By Jackie Roughan
Samuel Murray, a 5’10”, 19 year old, stocky college student with dirty blonde locks and green eyes that hold a tale to his past that he carries with him every day. Murray was born and raised in North Andover, Massachusetts, to Brian and Laurie Murray.
The Murray’s are your every day, middle-class, American family where happiness was a key component in the household and money was never an issue. Mr. Murray works as a full-time civil engineer while Mrs. Murray was a part-time accountant.
Mrs. Murray was always around for Murray due to her job being part time, and for the only child of the family, Murray loved that. Having such relaxed and supportive parents as an only child,
Murray felt as though he had a lot of things handed to him and he was not adapted to “real life”, it wasn’t until Murray joined football that he realized that if he wanted something, he had to work hard for it.
In middle school, Murray joined the football team as an offensive linemen. He stayed that position all throughout high school too. Murray quickly grew a passion for the sport and really excelled as a player. Persistence was a key factor in his drive.
It was football that taught him discipline and the essences of working hard. Never give up and keep persevering were life lessons that Murray learned in football but applies them to his everyday life.
“In my opinion, being a linemen is one of the more difficult positions on the field because the tempo of the game is dictated through you and the quarterback,” said Murray.
In eighth grade, the “A Team”, was the team to be on because it was the best team and only the best players were on it. Murray decided that he wanted – no, he needed to be on that team. He reran plays over and over again, put in hours and hours of drilling skills.
He put in everything he had to keep pushing through his exhaustion and fatigue. No matter how tired, sore or drained he felt, he kept pushing forward. After all of that hard work, he had earned his spot on the roster and Murray could not have been more thrilled.
It had been the first goal he set for himself and when he accomplished it, he knew that it had been because of his hard work and dedication.
When Murray went to high school he joined the school’s football team. He played on the North Andover High School junior varsity football team his freshman year and worked his way onto the varsity football team his sophomore year.
He then played the rest of his high school career on the varsity team. It was on varsity where he met Coach Rafferty, the man who would change Murray’s life forever.
Coach John Rafferty had been coaching North Andover High School’s varsity football team since 1999. He was the most well respected coach in the town. He “brought a unique, old school style of coaching to the program,” Murray said.
Murray clearly remembers his Coach’s techniques distinguishing the “men from the boys”. On Coach Rafferty’s team, the men who stuck around were the men that were going to work the hardest to be a part of his team.
In Murray’s sophomore year, he was suspended from school for 10 days in February on grounds of matters in which he is unable to discuss. Initially Coach Rafferty told Murray to steer clear of the football program and not to rejoin the following year.
The school nor did the other players, along with their parents agree with the coach’s decision, stating that it was “too harsh.” Though no action was taken to reverse the Coach’s it was a hard time for Murray.
It wasn’t until June, only four months after Murray’s removal from the team, that Coach Rafferty reached back out to Murray and asked him if he would consider being a part of the football program again. Of course Murray agreed and worked extremely hard to get back into shape over the summer.
The next football season, Murray’s junior year, did not go as planned. The team worked quite hard that year and still lost more games than they won. At the end of their season, after their last game in November,
Coach Rafferty gave his team a speech about how sometimes in life you can work hard and things still won’t work out, that all you need to do it move forward. The school board on the other hand did not feel the same way.
Due to the fact that the team had had such an unimpressive season, the school felt that they needed a fresh change. In January, the school deemed that it was time to let their beloved Coach Rafferty go due to multiple reasons. In the eyes of the administration,
Coach Rafferty was unjust in ways of handling his team members. Instances such as, Murray’s uncalled for suspension from the team a year earlier was the first of many grounds in which the administration stands on for their decision.
Another team member of Murray’s was arrested for possession and intoxication of alcohol. This player was the team’s quarterback and in result of the arrest, he was suspended from participating in the games but was not dismissed from the team – due to Rafferty’s decision to keep him around.
This was, as Murray had put it, “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Photo Courtesy of Jackie Roughan
"...distinguishing the men from the boys."
Coach Rafferty had called a meeting the following week in January, because he wanted to be the one to tell the team the news. The team, Murray included, thought the meeting was going to be about ‘offseason workouts,’ and they were blown away by the words that they’d never thought they’d hear.
Murray was in total shock, and he took it personally. “I felt guilty for it,” Murray said. In an instant he had his world turned upside down and he was not alone. He can recall his whole team, standing side by side, comforting one another - some furious, and others wondering, why?
The next Monday, after hearing the news, the team themselves called a meeting, they were going to fight the decision. The team, their parents and almost the whole town had come to the meeting and were all in favor of stopping at nothing to get Coach Rafferty back.
At the next school board meeting, all those who were ‘Team Rafferty’ showed up to the meeting and tried to convince not only the school committee but also the principal and the Athletic Director as well.
They questioned the schools decisions, shared stories and told tales of how Rafferty made an impact on not only his player’s lives but the whole community as well.
With all these people and their effort dedicated to bringing Coach Rafferty back, the school announced in March that they would bring their beloved coach back due to the effect he had on the town and his players.
Murray’s senior year, his football season was spectacular. The team was whole again and it felt so right to step onto that field knowing that this is where Murray knew he should be. His team made the playoffs for the first time in years at his school.
Though they lost their first playoff game, Murray’s team had come so far and they felt so proud. “It felt like a stepping stone because all the hard work we put in, paid off for senior year,” said Murray.
Without the support of his parents, Murray could not see himself going as far as he did. They were always on his side, they believed in him and would support any decision that made him happy. Coach Rafferty and football had shaped Murray into a hardworking and dedicated man that he knows he wants to be.
He couldn’t have asked for a better support system. Murray knows that he will forever live by his experiences and carry these values with him while continuing to grow into the man he is destined to be.
