Monday November 19, 2007

Dear Aaron Kelly,

Dear Aaron Kelly,

You may be down right now and might have heard or read some things about the game Saturday but I just wanted to say thank you and to tell you how much we love you and support you.

At the end of the Central Michigan game my four-year old niece came down to the front row of the stadium and was trying to get the attention of the Tiger mascot. There were about 10-15 little boys that were down there asking for you and your teammates’ sweatbands and autographs. I can’t tell you how much it meant to a four-year old little girl when you gave your sweatband to her instead of the boys. She still has it today and wants me to get you to autograph it for her.

She lives just outside Columbia and is surrounded by Gamecocks but one of her best friends at school is a little Clemson Tiger fan and he dressed up as a Tiger football player for Halloween. My niece, Isabella, was telling me about it and I asked what number he wore. “Number one,” she said. I asked her if she knew who was number one for the Tigers and she said, “James Davis.” I asked her if James Davis was her favorite Clemson football player and she replied, “No way. Aaron Kelly is the best!”

Isabella is fascinated by Clemson, the hill, Howard’s Rock, the band, the cheerleaders, the Tiger Twirlers, Tiger Paws and Tiger Rag. She spells out C-L-E-M-S-O-N at the end of Tiger Rag better than some of the adults that sit near me in the stands. She knows Tommy Bowden when she sees him on TV. When asked about USC she claims “The Gamecocks stink!” I was channel surfing over the weekend and she asked if we could watch the Gamecocks lose on TV.

She knows James Davis and C.J. Spiller but she loves Aaron Kelly. When you broke the record for touchdown receptions for a single season at Clemson she did not fully grasp the idea of the record but she knew you scored a touchdown. She has learned to spell her name and recently learned how to dial her grand parents’ number on her mother’s cell phone but she can now count higher because she knows Aaron Kelly is number 80.

I just wanted you to know that my niece loves Aaron Kelly. You can drop every ball ever thrown to you for the rest of your life and she would still love Aaron Kelly.

They say that kids understand life because they are usually full of bliss. They don’t worry about bills or mortgage payments. They don’t have to worry about their jobs or school. They don’t have to concern themselves with all of the stuff we overemphasis as adults and truly just enjoy life for what it is. I know we could always learn a lesson about what it means to live a life full of bliss from toddlers and small children.

I think we all could learn a lesson from my niece Isabella. We love you and want you to know how much we support you.

I personally should be embarrassed that I don’t know you but that is best because of my jobs and your status as a student-athlete. But because I don’t personally know you does not mean I have not kept up with you and have not been watching and paying attention. I know you could have signed with a lot of different schools but I am very thankful you chose my school over Wake Forest and Georgia. I am glad you chose Clemson and I will joyfully always think you as a Tiger. When you make it to the NFL you might be a Seahawk, Charger or Jet but you will be a Tiger to me.

I also talk to your position coach, Dabo Swinney, and I am paying attention to what kind of person you are. I am paying attention when people around you tell me how important your faith is to you.

I talk to some of the administrators in Vickery Hall and I am paying attention when they tell me what a good student you are. I have talked to the managers, trainers, doctors and other support personnel and they let me know what great person you are.

I also am paying attention to the ACC stats right now and know that you have twice as many touchdown receptions as anyone else in the ACC this season and more than any player in Clemson history in one season.

I also understand you come from a good family and I know they will continue to be supportive as will your teammates and your close friends.

I just wanted to say thanks for everything you have done for the football program and for the university. Thanks for choosing Clemson. Thanks for the work in the weight room. Thanks for the work during matt drills. Thanks for the summer conditioning. Thanks for the two-a-days. Thanks for breaking the school record for touchdown receptions in a season. Thanks for your hard work in the classroom. Thanks for representing all Clemson fans with class and dignity.

But most of all thanks for making a four-year old little girl understand what a hero is all about.

Go Tigers!

Mickey Plyler

864-834-6060

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency