By Sabrina SHELTON

When asked to think about a football player, an image of a big, burly, and intimidating man comes to mind. However, in the case of José Brewer, the image changes to a kind and warm young man with a beaming smile.

Brewer, a 15-year-old freshman at CV High, joined the football team this year with about 35 other boys.  But there is one big difference between him and his teammates; Jose has Down Syndrome. Although Down syndrome can look different in each person living with it, the majority of people diagnosed may experience developmental or speech disabilities.  For these and other reasons, it’s uncommon for a person with Down syndrome to get involved with team sports, especially contact sports like football. But Jose and his family had different plans.

The Brewer family approached CV freshman football coach Paul Schilling last spring and asked if the team would be willing to bring on Jose as a player.  He had never played football before, and yet their question was met with an enthusiastic “YES”.

“It brings me to tears,” said José’s mother, Krista Brewer. “It makes me feel so honored that they said yes and that he’s just one of the guys.”

She added that even though José has never experienced bullying or exclusion because of his disability, it still feels wonderful to have her child be a part of the team. José was adopted, and the Brewers feel blessed and like he was a gift given to them.

Once the school year had started, Jose’s mom checked in with Coach Schilling on how both José and the team were getting on. She was pleased to hear that José’s teammates had developed a special camaraderie that wasn’t predicated on the fact that José has a disability. Everyone treats him wonderfully, even going so far as to walk with him from 5th period to the locker room and helps him get changed and organized for practice. And when practice is over and the team parts ways, José is always sent off with high fives and goodbyes from the other players.

Although he has yet to play in a game, he was asked to be a team captain during the recent CV-Newbury Park game. He walked onto the field with the other captains and participated in the coin toss. 

When asked if José likes being on the team, his mother said, “I think he would say ‘I love it’, but let me go and ask him.” Mrs. Brewer says that her son is a man of few words, usually responding with short answers, or sometimes no response.  She asked him how he felt about being on the football team. José, staying true to character, responded with, “good.”

  Sabrina SHELTON