Jeffrey Garrott

Picture this: In the midst of one of the happiest moments of your life, you see a complete stranger who is hurting. Almost without thinking, you stop and take a moment to console him. You return to the jubilation, dismissing the incident in the chaos of celebration.

Amidst the hubbub, only one person witnessed this fleeting act of empathy. Thankfully, she had a camera and the wisdom to use it (thus, the phrase “picture this”).

This snapshot in time, formerly known as a Kodak moment, was captured last fall and focused on Jeffrey Garrott, then a senior cornerback for Hueytown High School. His Golden Gophers had just clinched a 35-28 overtime victory over the Pelham Panthers in the first round of the Alabama state football playoffs, so he and his teammates were in the mood to celebrate. In between handshakes and high-fives, though, Jeffrey spied a youngster in tears, alone and inconsolable.

“It was like an instinct, something deep inside,” Jeffrey says. He trusted that instinct, left his happy teammates and approached the young stranger. He put one arm around the boy, the other hand under his chin. “I told him to keep his head up, because I know how it feels to lose a game like that.”

A moment later, Jeffrey rejoined the celebration with his teammates, who at the time had no clue he had briefly gone missing. The party went on for a while, and even Jeffrey didn’t give the interlude another thought.

Unbeknownst to Jeffrey, the youngster was William Newton, who just happened to be Pelham’s ball boy and the son of Pelham coach Ross Newton. Also unbeknownst to Jeffrey, the only witness to his kindness was Tracy Franklin, who just happened to be a photographer. Tracy captured the moment and quickly posted it on Facebook.

After savoring the victory, Jeffrey slept in the next day, only to be awakened by teammates who had seen the post. “I was surprised,” he says, “but I guess it got attention because you don’t see too much like that going on in football.” Again, Jeffrey thought the incident had passed.

Despite the bitter defeat, the Pelham sports community wanted to show its appreciation. As luck would have it, the school’s basketball teams were scheduled to face each other a week later. Jeffrey was convinced to attend, as was the Newton family. Between the boys and girls games, the public address announcer called Jeffrey, the Newtons and Tracy to the court, where Jeffrey and William were presented with framed copies of the photo.

“I didn’t know there would be a ceremony. I had no words,” Jeffrey says. “In the moment, I was happy that I was recognized, but I couldn’t have imagined being recognized for something as small as that.”

After the ceremony, Jeffrey checked in with William from time to time, but it’s been more difficult since Jeffrey accepted a scholarship to play at Garden City Community College in Kansas, 1,000 miles from Pelham. “There were a couple other offers,” he says, “but I chose this because it’s different.”

His reaction after overtime was different, too − in all the right ways. A year later, Jeffrey’s perspective hasn’t changed. “In the moment, I was just being me. It’s who I am.”

It’s easy to picture him staying exactly the same for a long time.