Many times you will see fans wearing the jerseys of their favorite players in professional sports. But in Bolivar, you will find a four-year-old sporting the number 4 wherever he goes.
Bolivar Senior quarterback Hayden Burks decided to do his A-Plus tutoring with a Little Liberators group.
“I come in here and it feels like being a kid again, I get to color, we don’t ever get to do that at the high school, it is all business at the high school.” Burks explained.
Burks soon had a mini-me… named Cam. Cam wants to be a Bolivar Liberator football player when he gets older.
“I think with him wanting to be a football player it has helped me get to ask him questions that we get to connect better with.” added Burks.
“The kids are obsessed with Hayden, they pray for Hayden, they talk about Hayden, and so now it is to the point of anything Cam does “well Hayden does it like this.” said Samantha Johnson, Cam’s mother.
Cam even decided to change his Halloween costume last minute.
“We had a Captain America outfit picked out and then last week he came to me and said mommy I don’t want to be a superhero anymore, I want to be a Liberator football player like Hayden.” Johnson explained.
Except the costume was missing one thing, a white football helmet like the Liberators wear. That is where head coach Glen Johnson stepped in to help.
“He gave Cam a Liberator football helmet that was signed by Hayden.” Johnson explained.
“He wrote a little note, I wrote a little note and brought it to him.” Burks added.
“As a mom it was tears of just a moment for myself,” Johnson continued. “For coach Johnson and for Hayden, an 18 year old, to go above and beyond what I ever expected just changed how I view high school seniors in general.”
And although we haven’t reached Halloween yet…
“Cam wears that helmet into the gas station, we wear it into the car, we wear it into the bathroom.” said Johnson.
“Just coming over here and having fun with them, getting to go outside and play with them, all that sort of stuff, it is awesome.” Burks added.
