[00:00.29]14.The All-Leather, NFL Regulation, 1963 Chicago Bears-Inscribed Football

[00:09.34]The year was 1964. The place was Chicago.

[00:13.58]A man I worked with had acquired a couple of all-leather, NFL regulation,

[00:18.81]1963 Chicago Bears-inscribed footballs and was selling them at a real good price.

[00:25.23]My first son was on the way.

[00:27.95]I bought the football, as my son’s “coming home from the hospital” gift, and it was truly special.

[00:34.05]Several years later, young Tom was rummaging around in the garage when he came across the all-leather,

[00:40.48]NFL regulation, 1963 Chicago Bears-inscribed football.

[00:45.16]He asked if he could play with it.

[00:47.51]With as much logic as I felt he could understand,

[00:50.34]I explained to him that he was still a bit too young to play carefully with such a special ball.

[00:55.79]We had the same conversation several more times in the next few months, and soon the requests faded away.

[01:02.11]The next fall, after watching a football game on television,

[01:06.13]Tom asked, “Dad, remember that football you have in the garage?

[01:10.48]Can I use it to play with the guys now?”

[01:13.00]Eyes rolling up in my head, I replied, “Tom, you don’t understand.

[01:17.78]You don’t just go out and casually throw around an all-leather, NFL regulation, 1963 Chicago bears-inscribed football.

[01:27.04]I told you before; it’s special.”

[01:29.11]Eventually Tom stopped asking altogether.

[01:33.14]But he did remember, and a few years later he told his younger brother, Dave,

[01:37.82]about that special football kept somewhere in the garage.

[01:41.08]Dave came to me one day and asked if he could take that special football and throw it around for a while.

[01:46.86]It seemed like I’d been through this before, but I patiently explained, once again,

[01:52.96]that you just don’t go out and throw around an all-leather, NFL regulation, 1963 Chicago Bears-inscribed football.

[02:02.54]But it wasn’t special anymore.

[02:05.37]I stood alone in the garage.

[02:07.65]The boys had long since moved away from home, and suddenly I realized that the football had never been so special at all.

[02:15.06]Children playing with it when it was their time to play is what would have made it special.

[02:20.83]I had blown those precious, present moments that can never be reclaimed, and I had saved a football. For what?

[02:28.90]I took the football across the street and gave it to a family with young kids.

[02:33.61]A couple of hours later I looked out the window.

[02:37.11]They were throwing, catching, kicking and letting skid across the cement my all-leather,

[02:44.87]NFL regulation, 1963 Chicago Bears-inscribed football.

[02:49.47]Now it was special!