Posted on 06/24/2009 10:37:53 PM PDT by xjcsa
This is an extraordinary video feature from ESPN, aired in September, about Aplington-Parkersburg football's role in Parkersburg's recovery from the devastating EF-5 tornado that struck the town last May. The football team, and particularly coach Ed Thomas, was one of the keys to the town maintaining its identity through the tragedy.
Over 200 homes, dozens of businesses, and the high school were all destroyed by the tornado on May 25, 2008. The tornado killed 8 people and destroyed nearly half the town.
Coach Ed Thomas, a living legend, was instrumental in the rebuilding process. The high school coach of four current NFL players and the 2005 NFL High School Coach of the Year, coach Thomas served as the public face of Parkersburg through the disaster and the rebuilding process. He was widely loved and respected, an elder at his church and mentor to countless players over the years.
Wednesday morning, June 24, 2009, coach Ed Thomas was murdered by one of his former players while supervising students in the school's weight room. The killer walked into the weight room with a gun and emptied it into coach Thomas; he was arrested a short time later. Coach Thomas was pronounced dead after being flown by helicopter to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Iowa.
Watch the video; the man was an inspiration and a credit to his town.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
What an incredible, salt-of-the-earth human being. Unspeakably senseless tragedy. God rest his soul.
Senseless evil.
God, please help Ed Thomas’ family and community. They’ve been through so much.
What motivated this guy to kill the coach? There may be more to this story...
Bipolar disorder, methamphetamines, and whatever real or imagined slight he may have remembered from his high school years. The coach, his wife, and the killer's parents had spent time together praying for the killer recently, as they were aware he was having serious problems. There's not much more to the story.
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