Junior Builds Playoff Fundraiser Around Teen's Cancer Legacy
Mike Papouras is organizing a Gold Out at University School's Friday game, three years after a similar display in Mentor where Jack Sawyer was named honorary captain.
By Lucia Herrera ·
The tension sits in a request: a junior cornerback who never met the teenager wants to honor him, and the teenager's mother has agreed to stand on the field. Mike Papouras organized the childhood-cancer fundraiser "Some Things are Bigger than Football" with the CK Foundation for University School's playoff game against Howland on Friday night in Warren. The stated aim, he said, is to "raise money to support families in the fight right now."
The date of the game, Oct. 23, places it three years and three days after a night in Mentor. On Oct. 20, 2023, the Mentor High Cardinals named Jack Sawyer, then 17, honorary captain while he was fighting Ewing sarcoma. The stadium announcer introduced him. Euclid players, wearing yellow, handed him a shirt that read "Some Things are Bigger than Football."
Jack died shortly after that game. Mike's father was superintendent of Euclid City Schools then, and the scene stayed with him. "I was 13 at the time, and I realized, you know, there are kids who have to deal with things way harder than what I'm going through," Mike said. "I would like to make it a little easier for them."
This fall Mike wrote to Jack's mother, Dawn, asking for her blessing. "I never met Jack, but I keep thinking about a kid my age who loved football, loved being a cardinal, and still found a way to lift other people up," he wrote. "I want other kids to hear that too." Dawn called the letter and the effort an amazing gesture, and said she is deeply touched and proud.
Friday's game will be a Gold Out, the official color for childhood cancer awareness, with players wearing decals and gold laces. Dawn is expected to join Mike on the field.
The 2023 Mentor game also carried a note from Jack that the announcer read aloud: "Remember my motto, PACE: Positive Attitude Changes Everything." Mike said he hopes others will hear that motto and carry it with it.
Mentor High's football team will wear yellow socks against Euclid on Friday night. Dawn said a Cardinals player contacted her to say the seniors made a point of finding a way to remember Jack. She also credited Justin Hodge, a former Mentor student now at Miami University, with keeping Jack's legacy alive.
Source: News 5 Cleveland (WEWS)
