TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin raises awareness for Iowa State’s kid captain
Courtesy of Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin crouches to meet Abby Faber before the football game on Oct. 17.
October 22, 2015
Texas Christian quarterback and Heisman Trophy-hopeful Trevone Boykin crouched to meet Abby Faber in her wheelchair during the coin toss before TCU took on the ISU football team Oct. 17 at Jack Trice Stadium.
It was a small gesture, but it has brought many supporters to Faber’s youcaring.com page, which has more than $18,500 in donations as of Thursday night.
Fans around the nation have given an outpouring of support to Faber and her family because of Boykin’s actions.
Faber was diagnosed with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy at a young age, which mostly affects her legs, according to Faber’s youcaring.com website from two years ago.
Although the surgery was successful, Faber is still having ongoing physical therapy as well as vision therapy, according to her website.
She was named Blank Children’s Hospital’s “kid captain” for the football game between TCU and Iowa State, which gives children who face health adversities a chance to accompany the ISU football team onto the field during the coin toss.
Before the toss, Boykin crouched to Faber’s level, where a photographer, Paul Moseley for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper in Texas, snapped the shot that has been seen around the sports world.
Moseley moved closer to where Boykin shook Faber’s hand and heard Boykin ask one simple question: “What’s your name?”
It wasn’t a profound question, but, for Moseley, the way Boykin said it created a warm spot in his heart.
“It was the way he asked it that really impressed me,” Moseley said. “[Boykin] said, ‘What’s your name?’ He put the emphasis on her. I didn’t hear anything after. It lasted really just seconds.”
Moseley said Boykin stood up after mere moments, but it was enough to capture national attention.
“I don’t know why three words could impress me so much, except they were so sincere,” Moseley said.
The gesture on the field has garnered Boykin national attention, but he is also known in the nation as one of its best college football players. In the game, Boykin threw for 436 yards and four touchdowns. But this time, it wasn’t about what Boykin did on the field.
“He just seems like a genuine guy,” Moseley said. “I’m very impressed with what I see — very impressed. Let’s hope [Boykin’s generosity] continues, because I like sports figures like that.”
Moseley added that Boykin also stayed around after the game to meet and sign autographs for ISU fans next to TCU’s exit tunnel.
Boykin addressed the moment with Faber after the game on social media.
“It’s bigger than a game. I love touching young people lives,” Boykin said in his Instagram post of the photo.
The site continues to get support from TCU fans and has surpassed its goal of $15,000.
“Who would have thought that an innocent and honest act of kindness would come to all of this,” said Steve Faber, Abby’s dad, in a Facebook comment on the page. “We are truly humbled by all this attention and the outpouring of love fans [on] both sides have shown.”
For more information, visit Faber’s youcaring.com website.
To read more about Iowa State’s Kid Captain program, click here.
