Giving Back On Christmas Eve

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

HOUSTON – Looking at Johncarlo Valentin joyfully tugging on the pulleys for the Kid Lift at the Houston Children's Museum, it was hard to tell whether he or the kids had the bigger smiles.

"Just putting a smile on their face and seeing how happy they were just to have our presence there, that's what made me happy that's what got me going," said the Baylor junior offensive lineman of Tuesday's museum visit and scavenger hunt during the Texas Bowl week. "I love events like that. I'm a big people person, a big people pleaser, and I just love kids so much."

After competing in Sunday's Rodeo Bowl at NRG Arena, Baylor and Vanderbilt made separate team visits to the children's museum in downtown Houston before their respective workouts.

"It was fun to see our guys take all those little kids and give them a great experience," Baylor coach Matt Rhule said. "My kids were there, so they jumped in with a couple groups. As I said to our players, you don't realize the impact you're having on a kid until you see it. As I stood back, I could see it. There are a lot of wonderful events here, but it's really important that we give back, especially to kids. That's one of the key tenants of our program, so it was good to see that today."

The Bears, who wrapped up the day with a Christmas party back at the hotel, will wrap up their bowl prep with lighter practices on Tuesday and Wednesday before Thursday's 7 p.m. matchup against Vanderbilt in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium.

One of the top-ranked punters in the nation a year ago, Baylor freshman Issac Power will likely see his first game action in Thursday's Texas Bowl. With senior Drew Galitz undergoing ACL surgery following the regular-season finale against Texas Tech, Power or junior kicker Connor Martin will handle the punting duties.

"I'm nervous about everything. That's my job is to be nervous," Rhule said. "But, I have confidence in Isaac. We recruited him for a reason. . . . And you know what, he's been doing it his whole life. Going back to my whole thing about being in the moment: You catch the ball, you take your two steps and you do it like you've been doing it since you were 8 years old. If you make it more than that, then you don't have any fun and you're nervous. I told him to go have fun with it and let it rip."

Baylor's seven blocked kicks this season is tied with Toledo and Auburn for the most in the country, with BJ Thompson freshman Christian Morgan leading the way with three and two blocks, respectively.

"I think it just comes down to the willingness of the players to buy into not just playing special teams but the amount of practice you have to put in," Rhule said. "If you want to be good at doing it in games, it requires physicality, it requires effort, and you have to do it full-speed in practice. And we've had that from a lot of our guys. It almost becomes contagious. When one guy blocks one, then another guy wants to block one."

Rhule credits Morgan for being "an unbelievable athlete" with a knack for blocking punts. "For a true freshman, he just doesn't know any better other than just to go all-out. Sometimes, guys don't block punts because they're worried about this or that. He just lets it go."

Rhule believes one of the keys to winning a bowl game, with all its distractions and events outside of football, is "wherever you are, to be there."

"I tell our guys, when we go, we go. When we practice, we're going to practice. When we meet, let's meet. When you go to a function, be engaged in the function. And when it's time to go have fun, go have fun. That's true for all of us – coaches, players, everybody. I think the key to life is to always be in the moment. I think we've done a good job of that so far. We've had some great experiences, but we've also worked really hard."

Monday's Christmas Eve practice visitors at the University of Houston practice facility included John Eddie Williams, a longtime benefactor who earned his undergrad and law school degrees from Baylor after playing football under then-coach Grant Teaff. In 2012, Williams provided a major gift for the naming rights to John Eddie Williams Field at McLane Stadium. A native of Pasadena, Texas, Williams is an attorney and founding partner of the Williams Kherkher law firm in Houston.

Also watching Monday's practice was Houston Texans defensive end Christian Covington, a fourth-year pro who was a sixth-round draft pick out of Rice in 2015. Covington, who returned late Sunday night from the Texans' game at Philadelphia, had a personal invitation from Baylor defensive line coach Frank Okam, a former GA and defensive line coach at Rice.

Giving Back On Christmas Eve

Players Mentioned

Drew Galitz

Connor Martin

Christian Morgan

Issac Power

BJ Thompson

Johncarlo Valentin

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Giving Back On Christmas Eve

Players Mentioned

Drew Galitz

Connor Martin

Christian Morgan

Issac Power

BJ Thompson

Johncarlo Valentin

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