Now you can call him ‘Coach Connor’ after ground-breaking Fort Mill football game

The play was “Florida Left, Ajak 45 Fake,” a toss sweep off left tackle. The result was a yard, maybe two, but the impact was huge.

It was rivalry night on Oct. 27 at Bob James Stadium as Fort Mill hosted Nation Ford in the finale of the JV season.

After the Falcons got the ball first and went three-and-out and punted to Fort Mill, it was the Yellow Jackets’ turn to move the ball. Fort Mill offensive coordinator Eddie Therell would usually make the call – he’s been doing it for more than 30 years – but this time he knew he needed some help.

Therell had read a story in the Fort Mill Times about Connor Monteruil recently. He knows Monteruil, the spiritual leader of the Gold Hill Middle School eighth grade football team, approaches every day with a giant smile and a love for the game, but he didn’t realize he had a chance to make a different in Monteruil’s life.

He called Monteruil’s mother, Andrea, two days before the game to ask if he’d be interested in making the first play call of the game.

He was.

“Andrea took him up on Tuesday to ask if he could do it. He was pretty geeked about it,” said Kelly Monteruil, Connor’s father.

“He’s very passionate and loves the game. He has such drive and motivation, more than 10 other guys put together. He was absolutely ecstatic at the opportunity to fulfill one of his dreams.”

Monteruil has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and is non-verbal. We walks with the aid of a walker and communicates with handshakes, a communication device and hand gestures, but from the moment he strolled down to the west end zone with the Yellow Jackets on Thursday, his giant smile was all that was to be seen under his hat.

Therell had printed out a special play call sheet for Monteruil before the game. It was his call to make the first play, and he knew what he wanted it to be.

“I read the article and it touched me and I knew I had to do something,” Therell said.

“He approaches everything with such joy and it said in there he wanted to be an NFL coach and how much he loves football. I knew there was no way we could do anything in the varsity game, but I started asking around and everyone agreed he should be able to make the first call of the (JV) game. I think it meant the world to him. You could see how excited he was and he couldn’t get to that huddle fast enough.”

After Fort Mill fielded the punt, Monteruil scooted over to the offensive huddle, carrying his trademark huge smile and the play sheet.

When he touched on what play to dial up, the Yellow Jackets ran it.

As usual, Monteruil cheered wildly.

Therell said he spoke to Andrea following the game and she said it meant everything to her son, who stayed up late the night after the game, too excited to turn in for the evening after getting to call a play in a game for the first time.

“It’s a little thing for me to let him call the first play of a JV game, but for Connor and people like him it meant everything,” Therell said. “I was happy to help. I’ve been calling offensive plays for 32 years and it was time to have someone give me some help.”

Monteruil cheers for the Clemson Tigers, Carolina Panthers and has a love for NASCAR, but it’s football that really gets him going.

He checks stats on his iPad and dreams of one day being an NFL coach.

“Words can honestly not describe our appreciation and our excitement of him getting that opportunity,” Kelly Monteruil said. “It’s amazing hearing people say how he’s affected them in a positive way and the impression he leaves people with.

Therell isn’t putting anything past Monteruil and his dream of becoming a coach.

“The last thing in that article I read said he just has so much love and passion for the game,” he said.

“He said he wants to be an NFL coach and I’m not going to say that he can’t do it. He has so much enthusiasm and so much drive that I wish we could get all of the players at Fort Mill to follow. If he wants to be a coach, I’m not going to say he can’t do it.”

Kelly Monteruil said his son was so happy to call the play, but he’s proud of how Connor faces his life challenges head on and uses them to inspire others.

“For a non-verbal kid to be the one inspiring people is truly amazing,” he said.

“He has a gift in the way he motivates people. It’s really something.”

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Now you can call him ‘Coach Connor’ after ground-breaking Fort Mill football game."