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22 Oct 08
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(CNSNews.com) – Legendary football coach Gene Stallings made history as the youngest college coach at the helm of his alma mater, Texas A&M, and a perfect 12-0 season during his reign at the University of Alabama. But he says raising his son Johnny was his greatest reward.
“My life wouldn’t have been nearly as rich without Johnny, no question about it,” Stallings told CNSNews.com of his son, who was born with Down syndrome in 1962. -
The two saddest days of my life were when he was born and when he died,” Stallings said. “When he was born, I was devastated, and when he died, I was even more devastated.”
Coach Gene Stallings and his son Johnny (Photos courtesy of Paul W. Bryant Museum/CNSNews.com)That’s because, Stallings said, he did not know then what he knows now.
“If the good Lord asked if he could give me a perfectly normal child or Johnny, I’d pick Johnny every time,” Stallings said. “No doubt about it.” -
He added that ignorance must account for the fact that 90 percent of women who are pre-natally diagnosed with carrying a child with Down syndrome choose to abort the child.
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“They just don’t know what they are missing,” said Stallings, who now works on his farm in Powderly, Texas, and gives motivational speeches. “Johnny was 46 years old and didn’t know a bad word. He saw the good in everyone. He loved going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays, and he remembered everyone’s name.”
“When we got to church, there would be 20 women lined up to give him a hug,” said Stallings. -
In an obituary for Johnny that ran in the Dallas Morning News, Laurie Vanderpool, one of Johnny’s four sisters, said her brother was special.
“He just had a genuine impact on people, really because he cared,” she said. “He would focus on the people for who they were.”
Johnny became a fixture in the stadiums where Stallings coached, which included the Dallas Cowboys and the St. Louis and Arizona Cardinals.
At the University of Alabama, the football equipment room is named in honor of Johnny. And a playground for the campus’s RISE program for disabled children where Johnny volunteered is named for him.
A deeply religious man, Stallings said the wish most parents have for their children has been granted him for his son Johnny.
“There’s no question he will be in the presence of God forever,” Stallings said. “He was a precious, precious child.”
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