9/11: Something good was born on a very bad day
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
A decade after he first led his football team onto the field carrying the American flag Wyomissing grad Jack Wertz looks back on the experience as one that shaped his life.
“It stuck with me,” said Wertz, a senior lineman for the Spartans in 2014, of the experience.
Four days after thousands died during terrorist attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, lineman Brian Shoop became the first to lead the Spartans onto the field waving Old Glory. The tradition has remained in place for every game since.
The nation was stunned, gut-punched, by the loss of nearly 3,000 lives on America soil that radiant September day.
People were confused, scared.
Many thought it was appropriate to play sports at a time of national mourning. The NFL postponed its games that weekend. Major League Baseball postponed games for three days. Many high schools suspended sports.
Others realized it was important for the fabric of their communities to return to normalcy as soon as possible after should a fateful day. Wyomissing moved forward, hosting Fleetwood at the A-Field that week.
“We wanted to do something (to recognize the tragedy),” said Bob Wolfrum, the Spartans’ coach then and now, of introducing the American flag to the pregame rituals.
“(Once we did it) I really liked the idea, so I thought: ‘Why not do it every week? Why shouldn’t we?’ ”
The practice has carried on for nearly a quarter century, adding a treasured layer for the tradition-rich program.
Each year a player is selected by the coaches, or team captains, to be the Spartans’ flag bearer; he serves in that role the entire season. It’s always a senior — but generally not a team captain. Wolfrum thinks it’s important for it to be someone with a military connection, either someone with a family member who served or a student considering a military service.
It has become a coveted role within the team.
“It gave me feelings of unity and patriotism that not many people get to experience,” said Cooper Young, a senior who carried the flag in 2022. “It filled me with pride and adrenaline as I ran out onto that field.”
“It was a very special moment every game,” recalled Wertz.
Fox Peters, a lineman picked to carry the flag this season, feels likewise. He calls it a privilege and an honor to lead his team; it will be one of the things he remembers most from his high school days.
“It really sets the tone for me and the team before every game,” he said.
Peters relishes the emotional buildup leading to each opening kickoff. The motivational songs the Spartans play in their locker room before each game – including Lee Greenwood’s patriotic anthem, “God Bless the USA,” a Wolfrum favorite; the short walk down the macadam path from their locker room to the end zone; the huddle and chants the players make in unison before crashing through the paper sign held by cheerleaders on their way onto the field.
“Even though it’s warm (at this time of year), you feel chills,” Peters said. “It’s intense.”
Ten years ago another layer was added to the tradition. Phil Schadler, the long-time PA voice of the Spartans and the program historian, suggested the team honor a military veteran before each game.
Wolfrum, whose father and father-in-law served in World War II and whose son Andy graduated from West Point and served in Iraq following 9/11, loved the idea.
The first to be honored, in 2014, was Ret. Air Force Col. Charles James Smith Jr., the father of long-time Wyomissing coach Ty Smith.
Wertz, who presented the flag to Col. Smith, said including veterans in the pregame ceremony added a whole other level of pride.
“To hand it off to a veteran . . . I thought it was an amazing act of support to the community,” he said. “(It was great) to recognize a veteran in the community, (to) thank them for their service.”
Said Young: “It was always great to honor their service and sacrifice and to see their look of gratitude when I handed them the flag.”
One of Young’s motivations to earn the job was to honor his grandfather, Army 1st Air Cavalry Specialist 5 Raymond Kirkner. Young was able to present him with the flag in the Spartans’ home opener two years ago. His mother and grandmother beamed with pride.
“There was a certain sense of pride that came with that,” Young said. “That was a special moment for my family.”
In 2015 Robert McCarthy presented the flag to both his grandfather and great uncle.
“Our fans automatically stand when I begin reading the bio (of the veteran being honored),” Schadler said, “and I’ve noticed the visitors have followed suit. The reception (for the veterans) now is greater than ever.”
Schadler said members of every branch of the service, with the exception of the Coast Guard, and from every U.S. war or conflict dating to World War II have been honored over the past 23 years. The list of honorees includes former Wyomissing players and grads, their moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
The 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds who currently fill Wyomissing uniforms weren’t born in 2001 but they understand and appreciate the importance and impact of that fateful day.
“It’s a very heavy thing for our country,” Peters said. “We take it seriously. An event like that . . . it’s impacted everyone. For that reason, we all mourn together; it’s what makes us a people, what makes us a country.”
A day doesn’t go by that Young doesn’t reflect on his experience as the Spartans’ flag bearer. The background photo on his phone is of him running onto the field with the flag.
“I reflect on it a lot and plan on carrying that forward with me as long as I live,” he said. “I’ll always carry that respect for the flag, country, and the men and women who served with me. It was a responsibility that has made me a better man.”
Peters isn’t in the Spartans’ starting lineup but feels his role leading the team is an important one, on a level with the captains and top players.
“I feel impactful for the team,” he said. “I may not play the whole time, I might not get all the blocks, I might not get all the sacks, but it’s the little things that matter. That’s what Coach Wolfrum has always said. It all means something. It all (contributes to) the bigger the picture.”
