That Quarterback's a Hero!

"If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another." ~Tenzin Gyatso

Well, it's BCS week, so you had to know there would be a football blog this week. However, this one has very little to do with the game or the players that become heroes when their teams become bowl champions. Instead, it's mostly about a player being a hero off the field.

If you watched the Orange Bowl, you might have seen the 30 second mention of this story. If you ask me, it deserved top billing at the beginning of the programming, halftime, and after the game. We hear stories all the time about athletes and coaches screwing up, making bad decisions, and doing bad things. This is the kind of story that should be getting attention.

Meet Iowa Hawkeye quarterback, Ricky Stanzi. And meet four year old cancer patient Jenna Waters.

Jenna was diagnosed in early 2009 with a rare form of liver cancer. Stage 4. She's gone through 13 rounds of chemo, several surgeries, and a liver transplant. She's on the mend, but it's been quite a fight.

Stanzi is the junior starting quarterback for Iowa. He lead the Hawkeyes to a BCS bowl game this year after passing for 2,186 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. He's also helped change Jenna's life.

The two met when the football team visited the hospital, which is located across the street from the football stadium. They became fast friends, and talk or text every day. Jenna texts him a picture of her in her Iowa shirt before every game. Ricky wears a pink bracelet that says "Pray for Princess Jenna" all the time, including on the football field.

Maybe Stanzi puts it best: "Anything can happen. You have to really cherish the time you have. In the position we're in as athletes, a girl like Jenna can really make you see that. Once you see it from that perspective, it kind of makes you enjoy it a little more. You can only play football for so long and here you're looking at a 4-year-old battling cancer. We all have to take what we have and be very thankful for it."

P.S. - The Hawkeyes won the 2010 Orange Bowl. Sometimes, the nice guy finishes first.