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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — The father of a disabled teen wrestler who inspired the nation last week spoke Tuesday about why Jared Steven's story was able to touch so many hearts.
When Phil Stevens pulled out his cellphone to capture a moment he knew he would be proud of, he had no idea the video he would end up with would be viewed by people around the world. He was simply trying to preserve his son's first wrestling match to show family and friends.
He put the video on YouTube, and things took off from there. The video has been viewed more than half a million times in the 10 days since it was posted, and local and national media told Jared's story. Stevens said he believes the video is so emotionally charged for men and women alike because of the courage and compassion of the two boys involved: Jared, 13, who has cerebral palsy, and Justin Kievit, 12.
The two were paired for Jared's first wrestling match because of Justin's compassion, and when the whistle sounded, Justin pulled Jared's arm over him, getting pinned. The crowd roared. The boys were happy, but thought that was the end of it.
Friends and strangers have reached out to the two, offering compliments and showing support. The overwhelming response, according to Stevens, has been that the video "just makes you feel good." And after that, the focus falls on the general goodness of the video — "there are good things going on; we just don't always see them," he said.
Stevens said the third type of response to the video has been that it "restores faith in mankind" and "gives people hope in this new generation after they had given up on them."
He said he thinks many people believe youth today are selfish and uncaring. "These kids are good kids, and they do good things," he said. "We just don't see it."
The two boys did not see anything special in what they did — "They just wanted to wrestle," Stevens said — but their story struck a chord with people, and Stevens said people talking about "restoring faith in mankind" with a wrestling match sends a message in itself.
"When you get those kinds of comments, it begs the question, what unanswered needs are there in our society?" he said.
For Jared's part, he just wants people to follow his lead and "do what they want to do." He wants to learn to scuba dive, according to his father — "My next challenge is to figure that one out," Stevens said — and is trying to decide which sports to be involved in next year.
"He's very social and likes just being involved," Stevens said. "He likes being in the team environment. He just wants an identity, just like every other person."
