I shared this story a few years ago. It happened almost exactly 5 years ago and I've been thinking about it a lot this week. I thought I would reshare.

Last year my 9 year old son and I took the trip up to the UMass game. I've had trouble over the years getting my son into BYU football. This seemed like a great game to develop some fandom. An opportunity to watch BYU score a lot and to be around a bunch of BYU fans, something he doesn't get on the East coast. We arrived at the game just a few minutes before kick-off. The UMass stadium is basically a high school field, just bigger (unless you're from Texas). You walk in at field level and there's a lot less separation between the field, officials, and coaches than what you'd get at a larger stadium. So as we're walking to our seats, I notice that some stadium employees are getting ready to rope off a path from a small building out to the field. I put two and two together and figured that the teams were about to run by, and thought it would be a great opportunity for my son to high-five a few players.

We positioned ourselves right by the "path" that the workers were about to create and waited. Eventually the workers raised the ropes so that no one could pass through. A handful of (mostly BYU) fans gathered. First out of the locker room came a few of the coaches including Kalani. Most of the coaches ran out to the field, but Kalani took time to give each fan a high-five or fist bump. I was one of the last in his path before he made it onto the field. At this point it was only a few minutes before game time. I was actually getting anxious about finding my seat and getting situated before kick-off. I was surprised to see Kalani making such an effort to give a second or two of his time to each fan.

I gave Kalani a fist-bump as he was running by, and then he surprised me by stopping and looking past me. I turned around and realized for the first time in all the excitement that my son was being shy and hiding a few feet behind me. Kalani said something like "Come on over here buddy," and stood there waiting for a few agonizingly long seconds while my son made his way over and gave him a fist-bump. It was a small thing, but a gesture that really said so much about the character of the guy.

In the 5 years since this happened I've thought about this experience many times. To this day my son, who has now grown into a huge BYU fan, always says "I fist bumped that guy" to his brothers when Kalani shows up on the TV. And to this day I continue to be touched that Kalani could have the patience and selflessness to give a few seconds of his time at a moment when no one would have blamed him for being in a rush.

I think about the times when I end up too busy or distracted to give my full attention to the ones I love. The times where a kid is asking me for something and I'm only half paying attention. Kalani was a humbling example of selflessness to me.

I guess this story came to mind a lot after watching the end of the Utah game. I admired Scalley congratulating Retzlaff after just watching the the guy drive the field on his defense for the win. There were others who didn't behave as admirably. I don't blame them. I get distracted and caught up in my own selfish goals far too often at the expense of others. But I do try and remember the lesson Kalani taught me to notice the people around me and give them the attention they deserve. We're lucky to have him as our coach.