Saturday wasn’t about points on the scoreboard, making a first down, or beating an opponent on the field for the Wabash football team. For 20 members of the Little Giant squad the day was about helping the Indiana Special Olympics organization.
The team members participated in the third annual Indiana Special Olympics Plane Pull, sponsored by FedEx. The players pulled a 145,000-pound 727 FedEx airplane 12 feet in 5.321 seconds, the fastest time of the day by any of the 35 teams that participated in the event. More importantly, however, the players raised over $1100 dollars in donations for Special Olympic athletic programs.
"This is really important to us," said senior wide receiver Brandon Clifton. "We’ve been involved in food drives, toy drives, and this winter helped out with the Special Olympics basketball tournament. This is just another way that we can try to make a difference in the community and show some support to people who are there for us every Saturday in the stands or follow Wabash football during the season."
The team also participated in the spirit contest, dancing on the tarmac at the Indianapolis International Airport to the Macarena along with a team of Special Olympic athletes.
Wabash alumnus and Special Olympics Assistant Director of Sports Operations Scott Furnish ’90 watched the Little Giants outpull the competition, but was even happier to see the continued the involvement by the team.
"I had the chance to work with several of the players at the basketball tournament held at Wabash in the spring," said Furnish. "I’m continually pleased to the see the amount of time that these players have committed to getting out in the community. They really get involved and make each event a priority. These guys have given up an entire Saturday morning to come out and be a part of this."