A photo of two football players in North Texas has gone viral on social media after a family member captured the two praying after the game.
Gage Smith, a wide receiver at Sherman High School, made several key plays to help lead his team to victory during a game against Mesquite West.
However, it was what happened after the game that has caught the nation’s attention.
Smith said he knew West Mesquite player Ty Jordan from playing football with him during the Summer but found out his mother was battling cancer via Twitter.
“I was on Twitter one night and saw about his mom so I decided to hit him up and let him know that everything would be alright,” said Smith. “I sent him a message asking if we could talk before the game.”
However, the two players didn’t get a chance to visit before the game so Smith approached Jordan afterward and asked if they could pray together.
“Whether or not you know the guy or not or are teammates, you can still show compassion for someone’s situation and I wanted to let him know someone was there for him and he has someone to turn to and has hope,” said Smith.
While in prayer, Jordan’s aunt posted the touching image to Facebook writing, “This melts my heart.”
Since then, the post has gone viral and has been shared over 150,000 times.
“I had no idea the picture was even being taken and didn’t find out till the next day,” Smith said. “It wasn’t for publicity, it was for him and his mom and family to let them know he has someone there.
Since then, Smith and Jordan have spoken almost every day and while neither expected their story to go viral, Smith said it’s good that sometimes things get shared.
“It’s bringing more attention to this situation and now more people are praying over his situation than just me.”
J.D. Martinez, the head football coach at Sherman High School, told KXII-TV that Smith is a leader on and off the field. Martinez said his wife took the viral photo and shared it with Smith’s mom, who then passed it on to Jordan’s family.
“It’s pretty special that kind of everybody gets to see really what he is,” Martinez said. “He’s that type of kid all the time. It’s just not in front of the cameras or anything like that. He’s like that every day.”
With a heart for serving others, Smith said once he graduates he wants to go to college and study Education and Math so he can be a teacher and ultimately, one day, a football coach.
