+
upworthy
Most Shared

Players on this football team often face hard times. Here's how their coaches are helping.

Families don't have to look any one way.

True
The CW's All American

Neil Prescot didn't have the easiest time growing up.

His mom, Tia, raised him as a single parent, and they often struggled to make ends meet. They had to pack up and move pretty regularly, which left Neil without a stable sense of home.

Thankfully, when his home life situation became difficult, he had friends from the football team step up and offer him what they could.


“I didn’t really know much about Neil’s situation, but I just knew he needed a place to stay," says Edgar Geurrero, one of Neil's friends. “He’s pretty much family to me. He’s another brother.”

Edgar (left) and Neil (right) at Edgar's house. All photos via Upworthy.

And Neil's far from the only athlete at Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Maryland who's experienced tough times like this. Coach Kim is all too familiar with these types of stories.

“I’ve had a kid evicted the night before a game," Kim says. "I think about that, and god, that’s heartbreaking." Kim would often wonder if his players were food insecure, or afraid their family wasn't going to make rent. He knows it can't be easy not to know where you're going to live the next week.

However, Neil rarely alludes to the issues that he's facing. When he's at practice, he's there to play football, probably because it's a welcome respite from everything else.

On the team, Neil's a linebacker on defense and a kicker with special teams, but he's also someone the other players look up to. He's a leader.

"His teammates really do watch him, and those who do know his story really take him to heart," says Bryn Crower, one of the team's athletic trainers.

Neil (center) with his teammates.

But football hasn't just made him a leader among his teammates. Neil's learning the importance of giving back to the community thanks to his coaches.

Coach McCabe does motivational workshops with the team every Wednesday, and coach Ali's been getting the players involved with coat drives and other community service activities. It's all to help remind them that they can make a huge impact if they just try a little harder and give a bit more.

“We try to help the community as much as we can," says Neil.

These endeavors also help unify the team. It's such a comforting environment for kids like Neil who may not have the same experiences at home.

And through it all, they have coaches and teachers who root for them as if they were their own kids.

"He’s an awesome kid, he really is," says Crower about Neil. "And I hope everybody here takes a little piece of Neil and just keeps it close to their heart, and they can grow and try to be like him as well."

To learn more about Neil's story, check out this clip:

True leadership on and off the field

Despite the hardships he's faced throughout his life, this student-athlete is a role model for his teammates and his entire community.

Posted by Upworthy on Thursday, October 4, 2018

Angelina Jordan blew everyone away with her version of 'Bohemian Rhapsody."


At Upworthy, we've shared a lot of memorable "America's Got Talent" auditions, from physics-defying dance performances to jaw-dropping magic acts to heart-wrenching singer-songwriter stories. Now we're adding Angelina Jordan's "AGT: The Champions" audition to the list because wow.

Jordan came to "AGT: The Champions" in 2020 as the winner of Norway's Got Talent, which she won in 2014 at the mere age of 7 with her impressive ability to seemingly channel Billie Holiday. For the 2020 audition, she sang Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," but a version that no one had ever heard before.

With just her Amy Winehouse-ish voice, a guitar and a piano, Jordan brought the fan-favorite Queen anthem down to a smooth, melancholy ballad that's simply riveting to listen to.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

People are applauding the dad who bought a Mustang for his teenage son living with cancer

“Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.”

A 2020 Mustang.

Many parents swear that a child’s first car should be a “beater.” First, it teaches them to have something to strive for in life. Second, the kid will probably put some nicks and scratches on the car, so it’s best to start with something where no one will care. Third, the insurance will be cheaper.

Finally, a kid should have to earn having nice things and starting them off with a brand new Mercedes isn’t going to instill much work ethic.

Even though a large number of parents say a teen’s first car should be a clunker, many are applauding Joe Tegerdine, a father in Springville, Utah, and his wife Kerry for buying their son Joseph, 18, a 330-horsepower 2020 Ford Mustang.

Unfortunately, Joseph has osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer and has already outlived his prognosis.

Keep ReadingShow less
@lindseyswagmom/TikTok

This daughter knew exactly what to get her dad for Secret Santa


Many people dream of somehow being able to pay their parents back for the sacrifices made for them during childhood. Whether that’s something physical, like paying off their mortgage, or simply being the best version of ourselves to make them absolutely proud.

For Lindsay Moore, it was finding a “prized possession” her dad once gave up to help the family, and returning it to him once again.

Moore still vividly remembers being only seven years old when she saw her father walk into a comic book store to sell a Dan Marino rookie football card from his first season with the Miami Dolphins.
Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Veterinarian lists things pet parents do that 'give him the ick' and they are spot-on

Though meant in good fun, these 'icks' could be helpful pointers for pet parents everywhere.

Representative Image from Canva

Vets are some of the people we'd least like to give "the ick" to


Ally McBeal first brought us the phrase “gives me the ick” back in 1999. And it’s recently had a resurgence, thanks to, you guessed it, TikTok. And while it’s mostly reserved to the dating world, the term can and has been used to describe virtually every red flag or pet peeve under the sun.

And now, thanks to Dr. Frank Bozelka, we can enjoy a veterinarian version of “icks.” And just to be clear, the icks in question don’t come from the patients themselves…but the pet parents.

While Dr. Bozelka is clearly just poking fun, he doesn’t shy away from highlighting some of the choices that pet parents make that cause some serious problems for their furry friends.

Keep ReadingShow less
Science

Yurok Tribe in California becomes first indigenous tribe to co-manage National Parks land

The Yurok had 90% of their homelands taken during the Gold Rush. Now they're getting some of it back.

The Yurok Tribe has lived among the redwoods for thousands of years.

The history of colonialism and the stealing of lands from indigenous peoples in the Americas is fraught with pain and suffering that has gone unseen by many. A growing Land Back movement has been fighting, in part, for indigenous people's reclamation of their ancestral homelands and the restoration of land management based on Native knowledge and practices.

One small but significant move in that direction has taken place in the redwood forests of northern California. The Yurok Tribe, who had 90% of their homelands stolen during the Gold Rush, has joined the Redwood National and State Parks and the nonprofit Save the Redwoods League in an agreement that will give ownership in 2026 of 125 acres (50 hectares) of land near Orick, California to the tribe.

According to the AP, the land is named 'O Rew in the Yurok language, and the tribe's cultural resources director Rosie Clayburn said the return of the land is proof of the “sheer will and perseverance of the Yurok people."

"We kind of don't give up," Clayburn said. The Yurok Tribe has been living along the Klamath River for thousands of years and is currently the largest indigenous tribe in California, with over 6,300 members. It is one of the few tribes in the state that lives on a portion of its ancestral lands.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

People are gushing over penguins picking out the perfect 'lucky charm' for their mate

“Oh to be a little penguin picking out a pretty rock for my love."

@detroitzoo/TikTok

This is too adorable.

Humans weren’t the only ones celebrating St. Paddy’s Day last Sunday. Penguins at the Detroit Zoo got in on the fun as well, only with more Valentine’s vibes.

“Love is king during penguin nesting time,” read the onscreen text for a video posted to the zoo’s TikTok, as the aquatic love birds scanned through a pile of colorful pebbles, searching for the perfect gift to present their partner. How romantic.

Out in the wild, this adorable courtship ritual is pretty standard, at least for Gentoo penguins. Male gentoos find a polished stone or pebble to offer their potential mates—Mother Nature’s engagement ring, if you will.

Keep ReadingShow less