Natick Football Stars Take the Field

In what may conceivably be their last organized game together, Liam Porter & Andrew Siden, captains on the 2010 Natick High School football team,  dressed to play the in the 33^rd Shriners High School All-Star Football Game.  Even as the field they played on for the past four years is being replaced with a new astro-turf field, these two grid iron warriors continue to represent the proud town of Natick.  The game was played on Friday night, June 17 in Gillette Stadium.  It featured the top football players in their positions from all over eastern Massachusetts.

According to the program book the game began in 1979.  The game is used to help in the support of the Shriners Hospitals for Children.  Thousands of dollars are raised.  The publicity generated keeps the public informed of the free, expert care available in the twenty-two hospital network.

As I watched Liam & Andrew standing on the field together I was wrapped up in the nostalgia of Natick football…and that is in spite of the fact that I am from Braintree and a parent of players of Natick’s rival in the Bay State Conference.  Natick Football is heaped in tradition and these two friends made their mark in it.  It was a thrill watching them on this muggy June night, under the bright lights of the infamous Gillette Stadium, completing their high school football careers in what is one of the greatest venues & honors of the post season contests.

They follow in the footsteps of Natick players Doug & Darrin Flutie who both went on to play pro football.  Matt Hasslebeck,  Jermaine Wiggins, Steve DeOssie and many other professional players also played in Shriners All-Star Game.  In the words of William Shakespeare, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”