THE STEVE SULLIVAN STORY, PART TWODecember 2001: Originally Published by RamFanatic.comby Steve Sullivan
I met Coach Bunting for the first time, thanks to Heelofaguy and the people at The Tar Pit. At the bash last summer, he saw the article and gave it to the coach and he told me what a great thing I had done and that he would love for me to come down to spring practice and meet everyone and to have lunch and supper with him and the team. He gave me his number and asked me to contact him, so I did. I got to go in the coach's office, workout room, locker room and down on the field with the team. It was great. It was like I had died and gone to heaven and just when I thought it was over, he said, "you are welcome to come to any game."
So I could not wait and my first game was going to be Florida State, but the night before the game, I started to have trouble with my kidney and I could not go. I laid in that room going crazy that day and it didn't look good for me. I said to myself, I bet I get better and I did.
So then came the SMU game and we know what happened then. My next chance came with the Wake Forest game. So I went and watched the game with Maria, Coach Bunting's Assistant, and her family. Maria has become like family to me and she made me feel like a part of her family. It hurt when I told her I was not doing good and that the SMU game might be my last. It made me cry and as I looked out onto the field one last time, it got to me.
So then came the SMU game and I got bad again, but I was going to go because it was my last chance to take my family and the person who made it possible for me to go, my wife.
You know, you really don't know what tomorrow holds but, for me, Coach Bunting made my dreams come true. He is a great man and a good person. You can hear it in his voice when we talk football.
I'm not going to the Peach Bowl, but I will be in front of the TV all the way.
P.S. People may think I am crazy because of my love for Carolina, but each time I get knocked down, they seem to help me up. You know, Coach Bunting could have just not contacted me but he didn't. This shows what kind of a person he is and I only hope I will be back next year when they are in the BCS. Thanks Coach Bunting for your support.
