TYLER, Texas — Back in 2019, a pair of UCLA basketball players went viral after Jaylen Hands reminded his teammate, Moses Brown, to keep his head up after a very costly turnover.
That video showed the world the ultimate form of sportsmanship, and that Hands was in fact his brother’s keeper.
That leaves many to ask, what if the player isn't a brother, or r a teammate? What if that player is on the opposing side of the ball wearing a different jersey and it's win or go home?
Over at Tyler Legacy that doesn’t change a thing.
Friday night, the Red Raiders took down the undefeated Garland Owls, 41-40, after a bad snap on the game-winning field goal.
Once the game was called, Tyler Legacy starting safety, Jordan Ford, was then seen comforting his opponent, and a garland fan captured the moment on camera.
It's not the most high-definition picture, but the message is pretty clear.
“I wanted to celebrate but just seeing that like, it touched me a little bit like what if that was me?” Ford asked. “So, I put myself in his shoes. I've seen nobody else was bringing anybody up and seen a lot of players down. I went over there and said something to him and told him keep his head up.”
When it comes to his leadership, Tyler Legacy head coach Joe Willis said this is something he exhibits on and off the field every day.
“Jordan, he's young man that will have a chance to play college football, and he's got some, obviously some great stats and film to put out there," Coach Willis said.” “But you know, going be a college coach somewhere that's going to notice that and understand that he's not just a good football player, but he's got great character, great leadership ability too.”
Ford finished the game with three interceptions and 13 tackles to help his team get the win.
Thursday, Tyler legacy will go on to play a very tough Cedar Hill team, who also eliminated the Red Raiders in the 2020 area round of the playoffs.
In the end, when it's all said and done and the scores have been tallied at the end of the night, Ford showed us no matter what team you root for, character always wins.