Story Published:
Nov 4, 2011 at 7:14 PM MDT
Story Updated:
Feb 15, 2012 at 9:03 AM MDT
BILLINGS - The Billings West High Golden Bears hit the grid-iron Friday Night. They took on Kalispell Flathead for the first round of the post-season playoffs.
While the team is the first seed, they haven't always seen triumph. More than two years ago, the son of a local high school football coach died tragically in a car accident. Though many of the coaches and athletes at Billings West High are still healing from Michael Guelff's death, out of tragedy, a tradition was born.
At just 5 feet 7 inches tall, Michael Guelff was a powerhouse on the grid-iron. "He wasn't the biggest guy," said current team captain Jayc Van Zee. "He had to use his feet and run pretty crisp routes to get himself open."
For Michael Guelff, football was just as much a part of living as breathing. You could say it was a family tradition: his dad, Steve, has coached at West High since 1982.
An All-State football honoree, the West High graduate had plans to make football his career. He planned to join the coaching staff at UM-Western, but in August of 2009, those dreams were shattered when Michael was tragically killed in a car accident.
"We had just finished football camp where Michael had helped coach," Steve Guelff said. "And that ended two days before his accident. So it was all right at the beginning of football season."
His death rattled both the coaches and players at West High, but the game had to go on, and out of tragedy, a tradition was born. "I don't really want to see the number retired," Steve said. "Because I want to be able to go to games and see the number out on the field."
Coaches decided they would best honor Michael by keeping his high school jersey number alive; passing it down each year to a student that excels on and off the field.
"These kids, the kids that have been picked to wear those numbers, just play with their heart, and everything that they want to put into the game comes from within them, and they leave it on the field that way, and Michael was a lot like that. He bled football," Steve said.
The jersey tradition does more than honor Michael's passion for football. Michael's dad says it also helps the family heal. "Football is more than just a game," Steve said. "I don't know that my wife and I and our other son would have gotten through all of this as well as we did without the game. It really helps with the healing process. You know, you look out there on the football field and you see the number four running around."
For the athlete chosen to don number four comes a special sense of responsibility and pride. In 2011, team captain Jayc Van Zee has the honor of carrying on the tradition. Playing the same position on the field, Jayc's connection with Michael goes beyond the field.
"I actually drive the car that Michael drove when he was in high school," Jayc Van Zee said. "Michael drove it his whole high school career and then my older brother drove it his whole high school career and now actually I drive it."
As the third person in a long line of students that will receive the uniform, Jayc says he hopes the tradition will help his successors remember the athlete Michael was on and off the grid-iron.
"I hope that they remember him on how good of a person he was," Jayc said. "I mean, he was an outstanding football player, but I mean he always, pretty much whenever you saw him, he never treated people badly. He was just a very good person."
Ironically, the last time the Golden Bears took home a state championship was in 2005, Michael Guelff's senior year. Now, the Bears still have a ways to go before they can lay their hands on that trophy, but it all starts with the first game Friday.
;)
