Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Former Broncos Player Speaks At Gurdon

Steve Fitzhugh played an interesting game with several Gurdon High School Students.

Fitzhugh, a former safety with the Denver Broncos, had a number of young men and women come to the gym floor Thursday, Sept. 14, during his talk. He had them line up boy-girl-boy-girl and put them through their paces.

First, he designated the top of one key as agree and the other disagree. Then the questions began sending the students into a frenzy of decision-making.

His questions ranged from it's all right to smoke just one cigarette to wanting to be a virgin when graduating from high school.

This was done to get their attention and make them think about the decisions they make with their lives.

Fitzhugh, speaking for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FCA, said FCA, to him, stands for Faith, Commitment and Accountability.

He urged the students to be themselves and not follow others. Fitzhugh told the story of a promising 16-year-old he worked with at one time.

The youth was approached by two 17-year-old friends who talked him into going to rob a couple of men who were taking target practice in a nearby field.

He said they went to the field, talked to the men, seemingly befriending them. The two men even showed them how to shoot the shotguns they were using.

After changing a target, one of the 17-year-olds told the 16-year-old to "do it." As one of the men took aim at a target, the 16-year-old shot him in the head, turned and shot the other man.

The second man begged for his life and tried to crawl away, only to be shot by one of the other youths. He was left there to die.

But, Fitzhugh said, he didn't. He was able to crawl to his truck and call 9-1-1, then identified the 16-year-old from photos in a high school yearbook.

All three of the youths were sentenced to two 99-year terms in prison.

Fitzhugh shared personal tragedy with the students as well. He told of his mother dying from cancer caused by smoking, and his older brother, who had a chance to play college football as well, drink the opportunity away. His brother died at the age of 41 from drug and alcohol abuse.

Reaching the students on their level, Fitzhugh performed a rap song he'd written. The song, called "Nasty", told of the problems caused by smoking, including bad breath, having clothing smell like smoke, yellowed teeth, etc...

He also talked to the student body about using seat belts when in cars and trucks. Fitzhugh reminded them about the vehicle accident that killed NFL great Derrick Thomas last year, because he wasn't wearing his seat belt at the time.