PEABODY — Football players around the North Shore have been abuzz this week, with teams hitting the field and getting their first practices of the season in.
That excitement is no different in Peabody. Once the Tanners found out the spring football season was ago, they flocked right to the field and started shoveling. Thankfully, a few days in the city made the job a bit easier with some plows.
But even the game on the field the Tanners, especially their seniors have still missed out on plenty of traditions. The thought of that happening is what inspired Jessica O’Hara and a group of team mothers to do what they could to make their sons’ last year on the football field possible and memorable.
“We weren’t sure if there was even going to be a football season not too long ago,” O’Hara said. So a group of moms got together and started writing letters and calling the mayor and school committee. We were just voicing our concerns and they were really good with it. Then the MIAA approved the season.”
But making the season possible wasn’t their only goal. Every year Peabody’s senior football players and cheerleaders, like many others around the country, receive letterman jackets as a representation of their time spent with the team. During the pandemic traditions like that could easily become an afterthought, but not in Peabody.
“In the meantime we wanted to make the jackets happen for those kids,” O’Hara said. “We ended up speaking to Luso American Credit Union and they made it happen with a huge donation to get the kids these jackets.”
Luso put up the funding for 30 jackets in total and Wednesday night after football practice, team Boosters surprised those seniors with the jackets they may otherwise have never gotten.
Among those seniors are captains Jonathan Teixeira, Kyle Maglione and Cam Cuzzi. It’s safe to say they’re not only happy to get their jackets, but have a season at all.
“It feels amazing to be honest,” Teixeira said. “We’re getting back into the groove of things for sure.”
Teixeira himself was anointed captain after practice that night when coach Mark Bettencourt said he’s gone above and beyond for the team. It’s quite the honor for a player who just transferred to Peabody High last year. He thanks his co-captains for making him feel welcome.
“I only came here last year and I have to say I’m blessed to have these two captains share the field with me,” Teixeira said.
Both Cuzzi and Maglione share his excitement for Wednesday night’s surprise and the season.
“It feels amazing,” Cuzzi said. “It is such an honor to get rewarded with this and this season for how hard we’ve worked. It’s our senior year and it feels great. It’s coming to an end this year and we just want to play hard and see what we can do with it.”
“It’s really been about just getting back into the flow of things and meeting all the conditions and standards that we have to follow,” Maglione said. “But the whole team is working hard and we want to go out with a bang this season.”
It may just be a jacket to some but being able to put it on is a representation of the hard work all the seniors have put in to now make their final season possible.
“Most of us have played this sport for eight or 10 years and it has all been the best time of our lives,” Maglione said. “Now in high school it really feels like you’re one unit, a family. It’s been an honor to be playing here and definitely really amazing that we got to play this year and get these experiences.”
