High school football team awards disabled janitor with championship ring

GREENWOOD, Ark. - Jamie Freeman always wanted to play sports but couldn’t because of his battle with cerebral palsy.

But he felt a part of the Greenwood High School Bulldogs football team, more than ever, after the athletes awarded him a championship ring on Wednesday.

Freeman, 35, has worked as the team’s janitor since 2019.

"It’s really exciting and it says a lot about the boys that play for Greenwood that they would want to do this for me," Freeman told FOX Television Stations on Saturday. "It says a lot about their character."

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Freeman said he has suffered from cerebral palsy ever since birth. According to the CDC, cerebral palsy is a group of brain disorders that affects a person’s ability to balance and move.

"I wanted to play anything I could, but because of my disability, I was unable to play team sports," Freeman added.

According to the school’s district Facebook page, the Bulldogs won the 2020 6A State Championship after defeating Lake Hamilton High School 49 to 24 in December.
 

Freeman is also the father of five children, with his oldest child also suffering from a disability. Freeman is also the published author of, "Though He Slay Me: Seeing God as Good in Suffering" which came in 2014.

"It’s about the goodness of God even in the middle of suffering," he explained.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.