The Power of "Victory Day"
Before the wins and/or losses pile up each season for Iowa State's football team, this simple act of service warms the coldest of hearts and breeds broad smiles
AMES — Seven years ago, I experienced my first Victory Day at Iowa State. Then-first-year Cyclone head coach Matt Campbell had brought the annual event to Jack Trice Stadium from his previous stop at Toledo. No one — me included — knew what to expect, but once it started, smiles bloomed and even the hardest of hearts melted.
Seven years later, Victory Day is as powerful as ever.
But what exactly is it?
Victory Day provides 60-plus children with disabilities and other challenges an opportunity to participate in on-the-field drills and score “touchdowns” as their names boom over the public address system. ISU’s players cheer them on, beaming from sideline to sideline during the roughly hour-and-a-half-long event.
“Man, I love this,” senior defensive tackle J.R. Singleton said. “I could do this all day with them.”
Singleton and his fellow players will have to settle for doing it once a year, but the underlying elements of Victory Day never change.
It’s earnest. It’s selfless. It’s infectiously joyful, yet humbling for all involved — players, coaches, children, and parents alike.
“When you can serve and make a difference in the lives of others it’s like your true fulfillment in life,” Campbell said. “I think that’s still one of the great things you can learn between 18- and 22-years-old — how do you make a difference in the lives of other people and how do you serve other people? I think at the end of the day all these wins and records that you may break, or great days and great games, people forget that, but they’re not going to forget how you treated people.”
Nor will anyone forget Victory Day’s emotional impact. No matter the year, no matter the triumphs and travails of any given season.
“Hopefully they’ll remember this for the rest of their lives,” former ISU standout quarterback and linebacker Joel Lanning said of Victory Day when it debuted in Ames in 2016. “It’s just awesome to give back to these kids because they deserve every minute of it.”
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This is a wonderful story!