Not just a number

Watching a son take the field wearing a football uniform for the first time would make any father's chest swell with pride. That moment is even more special for fathers who played the game themselves.

Thomas Walsh never got to see his son strap on a pair of shoulder pads or buckle a chin strap. Walsh, a former standout football player at Villanova University, would have really enjoyed that day.

Unfortunately, Michael Walsh couldn't play organized football until the fifth grade because he was always too heavy for the local Pop Warner League in Newtown, Pa. By the time 10-year-old Michael finally suited up for the Lower...