VIDEO: Cleaves’ journey a reminder it can always wait

Brought to you by AT&T It Can Wait

Fletcher Cleaves did everything he could to control his destiny.

As a senior at Cordova High School, he was too undersized to earn a college football scholarship. What did he do? He trained until he puked.

When he was crossing over the middle of the field, he was due to take a monster hit. What did he do? He stopped on a dime and pulled off a 360-spin to reach the end zone.

When Cleaves was driving down a one-lane road, he faced a drifting vehicle. What did he do? He couldn’t do anything.

There’s no stopping a motorist on a cell phone. Cleaves learned that the hard way. As a result, he paid the ultimate price. He was paralyzed from the chest down following the crash.

Gone was the football scholarship he killed himself to get. Gone was the fun, charismatic personality that made Cleaves who he was.

And for what? A text? Cleaves’ life forever changed because of one text message. That was the same day he was named a starter at Lambuth University. He thought that was going to be the thing that changed his life forever.

Instead, a text message got in the way of his destiny. No text is ruining a future over. It can wait. It can always wait.

Brought to you by AT&T It Can Wait

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.