Tommy
“T-Gunz” Sullivan strapped on his pads, laced his cleats, and lowered his
helmet onto his head. Adrenaline coursed through his body. He ran onto the
brightly lit field, the number “10” clearly visible on his crisp uniform. Tommy
was ready for the game.
The players huddled close together and
anticipation filled the air. Despite a boisterous crowd just yards away, the
huddle was nothing but silence and barely constrained nerves. In the silence,
the huddled players took a moment to reflect on the team and the events that
brought them to this moment. Tensions were high, the players distracted.
Lacking direction and unity the they were a defeated unit, ready to face
another loss.
Entering
the huddle, Tommy took a moment to reflect on the team that he loved. A team
that had suffered the loss of a friend and teammate, Henry Thevenin. Tommy
addressed the players. He made an emotional plea, reminding them that the
struggles they faced should not defeat them, but unite them and make them
stronger. He asked them to rise above their emotions and play as they had never
played before. He reminded them that they are a family who love, support, and
protect one other. Tommy Sullivan is part of the close-knit Stonehill College
football team.
“Henry
was a big part of Tommy and the rest of the team’s life,” said Gabrielle
Peruccio, Tommy’s girlfriend of the past two years. “When he passed, I saw
Tommy and the rest of the boys come together to get through it. It changed them
for the better.”
Henry
Thevenin was a freshman football player at Stonehill from Brockton,
Massachusetts. According to fellow teammate and senior, Chris Rooney, during
April of last year Henry was unexpectedly diagnosed with Leukemia. “The entire
team was devastated,” said Rooney. “We all came together in support for Henry.
We made trips to the hospital for visits and even bought bracelets and sold
them to students in support for him. Everything we did, we did together for
Henry.”
Henry’s
teammates and friends believed that he would recover and be back to school
soon. They were wrong. Fellow classmate Kathryn Ragonese described Henry as, “…
someone who constantly put a smile on your face. He was always positive and
happy. He was such a strong person and we all thought he would be able to fight
this and come back to us”. Sadly, on June 14, 2011, Henry lost his battle with
Leukemia.
Before
Henry’s passing, the team had a number of problems that adversely affected
their play . “There were a lot of cliques and we weren’t able to come together
and play as a team. It caused us to loose a lot of games,” said Neal Dotterer,
a fellow teammate of Sullivan. With players from all different towns, states,
and backgrounds, personality clashes and disagreements are inevitable. These
divisions created a huge obstacle for the team. “Our coach tried everything to
get us to bond. We had ice breaker games and even went on group activities like
paintballing,” said Dotterer. Despite the coach’s best efforts, the team
remained divided and the losses mounted.
“Losing
Henry was a huge turning point for the guys on the team,” said Jesse Vardaro, a
friend of Sullivan’s. “Tommy is a caring guy who really took Henry’s death
hard. But instead of letting it ruin the team, Tommy stepped up and used it to
bring the team together,” said Vardaro. Soon after Henry dies, Sullivan teamed
up with the coach to help organize events in honor of Henry. In September, the
football team held a pep rally, the first in a number of years for the team.
Teammate Tyler Williams recalled the emotional pep rally that was the first
step in uniting the team. “I remember Tommy talking to the entire team in a
huddle before we went out for the rally. It was the first time someone spoke up
and reminded us that we are a family. Tommy helped us see that we were one
team,” said Williams.
Losing
not only a teammate but a friend is a difficult thing to go through. Luckily,
the Stonehill football team had players like Tommy to put Henry’s death in
perspective and the channel the emotions of his teammates in a positive way.
“We always reminded ourselves of the type of person Henry was. And we always
think ‘what would Henry be doing if he was here? what would he want us to
do?’”. From orange pins in honor of Henry, to motivational speeches to keep
Henry’s spirit alive on the team, Tommy was able to play a huge role in
bringing the team back together. “You need guys like Tommy on a team,” says
Kyle Norwood, a member of the Stonehill football team. “He made us ignore our
differences and come together for Henry. We honor him and think about him every
day”.
Henry
is gone, and although the team misses him every day, they remember what an
impact he had on their lives. “It was an extremely emotional year for the team.
He was not only a great player, but a great person. And it truly brought the
team together from every aspect,” says Sullivan. Reflecting back now on his
time at Stonehill, he can finally sit back with a smile on his face and know
for sure that Stonehill is the place for him. “I absolutely love it here,” says
Sullivan when describing his two years at Stonehill. “It’s exactly what I
wanted in college. From academics to social life to football, it’s everything
that I wanted.”
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