Sports

Football player with autism living his dream at Gateway

Robert Walker Junior always wanted to play football and he’s finally getting his shot during his senior year at Gateway High School.

"You know I just wanted to be out there with my friends is all," Robert said. "I just see it like a challenge."

Football, of course, is a challenge. However, Robert has autism, so playing the game never seemed possible for him.

"The coach assured us from the very beginning that Robert can protect himself," Robert’s mother Kitty Walker said. "'Don’t worry about him, we got him,' were his exact words."

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Head coach Donald Hall not only wanted to provide the opportunity to make a dream come true, but allow his team the opportunity to learn from someone different than them.

"Rob is one of those kinda guys who is really the reason we do what we do," Coach Hall explained. "He’s a great example. We have a lot of kids who really care a lot about him and protect him and look out for him and really love him, so it's been a really positive influence on our team."

On the field, Robert plays on the defensive line and picked up his first tackle a couple weeks ago against Plum.

"Really about to burst into tears because I didn’t think it was going to happen," Robert said. "They were there and I figured, why not just make a tackle? Nobody else was there, so I figured why not?"

Regardless of what the scoreboard says at the end of each game, what’s going on at Gateway is bigger than the game. It’s given one young man a sense of belonging.

"We wanted his high school senior year to be as exciting for him as it can be," Kitty Walker said. "Football, what they’ve done for Robert can’t be measured in touchdowns and yards. I think he’ll carry this for a long time."