Blessed

To Carson Jones and his teammates on the Queen Creek High School football team in Arizona, it was no big deal. Still isn't.

They befriended a sophomore girl with special needs in an effort to protect her from bullies.
Even so, few could have predicted how the details of their small kindness would reach the national media, be translated into foreign languages and warm countless hearts. Their actions have certainly made a difference in their school and community.

"These are great kids. They stand for what is great and they try to do the right thing," said Joe Germaine, head football coach at Arizona's Queen Creek High and a former Ohio State and NFL quarterback. "Because of what they have done for this young lady, a lot of attention has come to it, but I don’t think they have let that overshadow the fact that they just tried to do the right thing in the right situation. I think they need to be applauded for what they’ve done."

At the beginning of this school year, a concerned mother, Elizabeth Johnson, asked Jones, the Bulldogs' starting quarterback, to track down the names of some students who were bullying her daughter, Chy Johnson, who suffers from a brain disorder. The bullies were calling her daughter names and throwing trash at her.

Jones, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, started to investigate the matter until a better opportunity presented itself. One day he saw Johnson in the cafeteria and invited her to sit with his group. She accepted. As they visited, Johnson soon felt right at home with "her boys."

"It (confronting the bullies) probably would have created more problems than it would have solved," Jones said. "(Inviting her over) wasn't something I put a lot of thought into. It just worked out. She is always laughing and fun to be with. Now everybody knows Chy. They probably wouldn’t know her as well if this didn’t happen."

As their friendship deepened, Jones and his teammates took turns walking Johnson to class and looking out for her in the halls. No thought was paid to how it might affect their "social status."

In turn, Johnson, a much happier person, became the team's biggest fan. When Queen Creek played on Friday nights, Johnson proudly displayed her school colors and waved signs in the bleachers.

With her daughter's spirit renewed, Elizabeth Johnson was overwhelmed with gratitude for the team's thoughtfulness.

Blessed is the person who sees the need, 

recognizes the responsibility, 

and actively becomes the answer…