01-09-2012, 12:24 PM
(Sent to parents of Stanford football players. It was sent to me by a former player)
Hello fellow Stanford families - this is Laura Burton, Jordan Williamson's mom.
I apologize for waiting so long to contact you, but we have been through such a fast moving array of emotions over the last 3 days that trying to express my thoughts and feelings to you was an ever moving target. I am glad I waited, as I feel as of this morning I can pretty much capture the gist of what I want to say.
First of all, let me express my utter sorrow for how things played out the other night. All of your families were affected, and despite the sincere and tenacious deflection of blame that the players have insisted did not fall on any one player, Jordan would give anything in the world to have contributed positively to the outcome of that game. He takes his job very seriously, and by far the biggest disappointment he has felt over the last few days has been that of letting down his teammates. As you can imagine, he has been brought many times to tears, and I have noticed that occurs most often when he or someone else begins to talk about his wonderful teammates. Someone in an effort to console him one day said "well Jordan - be glad you didn't hurt yourself again" and he said "are you kidding me? If I had made that kick and torn my groin again doing it I would be happy right now. I would trade anything to have made that kick for my team!"
The main thing I wanted to communicate to you all is that, while our family has learned many powerful life lessons over the last few days, one key message that has come clear like no other is "WE ARE IN A SPECIAL PLACE". Never in my life have I seen the kindness, maturity, and love that has been displayed by this Stanford family, and in particular your AMAZING boys. As you can imagine, Jordan felt he wanted to dig a hole and hide, and watching the players seek him out to give bear hugs and encouragement, despite their own disappointment, has touched us and warmed our hearts beyond believe. So many times he has shaken his head and said to me "people are just so nice. I just can't believe it". Now, more than ever, Jordan knows that he is among friends and he feels motivated to work hard, humble himself, and never EVER let them down again. Of course there will be missed field goals and bad days along the way, but his commitment to this team has drilled through to his core. With each day that passes I see less despair in his eyes, and instead an understanding that things happen for a reason, and a determination to learn what he can from it and prepare even harder to do his part in 2012.
To the seniors who won't be here with us, I can't thank you enough. The love and leadership displayed by those boys has been beyond compare. We are thankful to be in a community of special champions, both on and off the field, who understand that life is about higher level things than one football game, and that despite wishing things had played out differently, they are a family and a team that will go to great lengths to not let any one player fall. It has been a beautiful thing to observe and has touched our hearts beyond words. I wanted to say thank you to all of you for raising such an amazing group of boys.
Sincerely,
Laura and David Burton & the Williamson families
Hello fellow Stanford families - this is Laura Burton, Jordan Williamson's mom.
I apologize for waiting so long to contact you, but we have been through such a fast moving array of emotions over the last 3 days that trying to express my thoughts and feelings to you was an ever moving target. I am glad I waited, as I feel as of this morning I can pretty much capture the gist of what I want to say.
First of all, let me express my utter sorrow for how things played out the other night. All of your families were affected, and despite the sincere and tenacious deflection of blame that the players have insisted did not fall on any one player, Jordan would give anything in the world to have contributed positively to the outcome of that game. He takes his job very seriously, and by far the biggest disappointment he has felt over the last few days has been that of letting down his teammates. As you can imagine, he has been brought many times to tears, and I have noticed that occurs most often when he or someone else begins to talk about his wonderful teammates. Someone in an effort to console him one day said "well Jordan - be glad you didn't hurt yourself again" and he said "are you kidding me? If I had made that kick and torn my groin again doing it I would be happy right now. I would trade anything to have made that kick for my team!"
The main thing I wanted to communicate to you all is that, while our family has learned many powerful life lessons over the last few days, one key message that has come clear like no other is "WE ARE IN A SPECIAL PLACE". Never in my life have I seen the kindness, maturity, and love that has been displayed by this Stanford family, and in particular your AMAZING boys. As you can imagine, Jordan felt he wanted to dig a hole and hide, and watching the players seek him out to give bear hugs and encouragement, despite their own disappointment, has touched us and warmed our hearts beyond believe. So many times he has shaken his head and said to me "people are just so nice. I just can't believe it". Now, more than ever, Jordan knows that he is among friends and he feels motivated to work hard, humble himself, and never EVER let them down again. Of course there will be missed field goals and bad days along the way, but his commitment to this team has drilled through to his core. With each day that passes I see less despair in his eyes, and instead an understanding that things happen for a reason, and a determination to learn what he can from it and prepare even harder to do his part in 2012.
To the seniors who won't be here with us, I can't thank you enough. The love and leadership displayed by those boys has been beyond compare. We are thankful to be in a community of special champions, both on and off the field, who understand that life is about higher level things than one football game, and that despite wishing things had played out differently, they are a family and a team that will go to great lengths to not let any one player fall. It has been a beautiful thing to observe and has touched our hearts beyond words. I wanted to say thank you to all of you for raising such an amazing group of boys.
Sincerely,
Laura and David Burton & the Williamson families