This is the only football jersey ever retired in my high school’s history. It belonged to Chris Mello, and was officially retired at 8:46 a.m. on 9/11/02, exactly one year to the minute after Chris’ flight from Boston was the first to crash into the World Trade Center.Chris was sitting up in business class, and one flight attendant's cell phone report of stabbings and Chris' instinct to compete, protect and fight the good fight exemplify the kind of man he was: a football captain, class vice president and Students Against Drunk Driving leader who died way before his time.
His death really rocked my town. Hopefully, seven years later, his actions still resonate.
