General info:
- Type of Lore: Verbal/Customary/Material
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: United States
- Informant: N.G.
- Date collected:11/4/2021
Informant Data: N.G. is a 5th year Senior at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. He has lived in Naperville his entire life. While playing for Naperville North High School, he would play one game a year at his current team’s stadium.
Context:
Cultural: North Central is a very successful division 3 football program with a national championship on their record from 2019. It is a private Christian university. The teams head coach takes the schools religious background very seriously.
Social: William Shatzer was a member of the North Central College class of 1942 where he was an All-American football player. He had an opportunity to go the NFL, but with the entrance of the USA into World War 2, he volunteered for the Navy Air Corp. in 1944 he was shot down over the Pacific and never seen again.
Item: Before each game, the team heads out the statue of William Shatzer that stands outside the entrance to the locker room. Here the coach speaks about the sacrifice Shatzer made and they take a moment of silence to reflect. After this the team is led in a prayer by the head coach.
Transcript: “Before every game we head out to this statue of someone who played here in the 40’s and was a fantastic player with a chance to go the league. Instead, he joined the Military and went MIA. Here our coach talks about selflessness, and we have a chance to reflect. He then leads us in our pregame prayer.”
Informant comments: “I think its really about being selfless. Here you have this guy that had a great opportunity for his future but gave it up to fight for something bigger than himself.”