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How a holder is making special teams special for Kirkwood's JV football team

He catches 100s of footballs every day, and all that work led to something you've probably never seen before, a wheelchair on the football field during a game.

KIRKWOOD, Mo. — On the surface, Mack Reed appears to be just like any high school football player you may know. He loves to bench press with passion.

“How I can push myself to be better than I was the week before or the day before,” said Mack Reed.

Like all players, Mack Reed wants to put the helmet on and have collisions. His parents Tamara and Tom don't miss a game.

“So proud that he has taken the initiative to get out and do something that he absolutely loves, that he took the initiative to reach out to coach and ask coach if he would give him a chance,” Tamara said.

“We didn’t talk about a position at that time,” Kirkwood Head Football Coach Farrell Shelton said of the meeting. “A couple weeks later, he came to the football meeting to talk about holding and special teams and he showed in the summer. And once he found his niche, he was down there with the kickers and long-snappers.”

All that work led to something you’ve probably never seen before, a wheelchair on the field.

Because of his spina bifida, Mack needs it to get onto the field so he can be the holder for the JV football team.

And let it be known, Mack does his job magnificently. It’s a testament to all his hard work.

"We didn’t want to put him out there until we knew he could do it, and he worked hard every single day,” said JV Football Coach Matt Krapfl. “He’s catching 100s of footballs, he’s gotten better every single day, and so now I trust him to do it every single day."

The only help he ever asks for? A little push onto the field.

He’s not hard to spot at any game, and he’s not trying to make a statement. He just wants to play the game.

“I’m just a normal person.”

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