|
Greg (left) and Bill Calvert will be on the sidelines tonight. Bill, a cancer patient, is designated the Colts' '12th man.' |
BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE
Today, Greg Calvert will paint his hair blue and don his Indianapolis Colts gear.
After all, every NFL fan knows such rituals can affect the game's outcome. So with the Super Bowl on the line, it's that much more important for the Fredericksburg man to show his colors.
But Greg's fandom is surpassed by his brother's.
Bill Calvert is so dedicated to his hometown team that he has a horseshoe-shaped scar on the side of his head.
And two weeks ago, at the AFC Championship game, he was the "12th Man Fan of the Game."
Bill received that honor thanks to his brother--someone he hadn't spoken to in more than a dozen years.
Greg and Bill grew up in Indianapolis with five other siblings. In 1984, when the Colts rolled into town, the Calvert family instantly switched allegiance from the Cincinnati Bengals.
"We became diehard Colts fans," Greg recalled.
Five years later, he moved to Virginia. And in 2003 he arrived in the Fredericksburg area. He's vice president of Kloke Mayflower movers in Spotsylvania County.
After moving away from Indianapolis, he and Bill had a falling-out "about something that wasn't worth fighting over."
But as the years went by, neither brother reached out, and the estrangement went on. In November, Greg learned that Bill had brain cancer. Doctors gave a grim prognosis--Bill might have two years to live.
Greg decided it was time for the silence to end. He called Bill and they talked a few times.
But Greg wanted to do more. He decided to fly out to Indianapolis to see his brother.
Scheduling the trip around the holiday was tricky, so the first day he could get to Indiana was Jan. 22.
As Greg waited to visit his brother, he continued to root for their beloved Colts.
Bill showed his devotion in spite of his illness. After recent brain surgery for the cancer, Bill jokes that he asked his doctors to stitch the incision in a horseshoe shape for his team.
The Colts made it to the postseason. And kept going.
Greg realized the team would be playing an important game the same weekend he would be in Indianapolis. It seemed like a coincidence. But Greg thought the timing might just be "a God thing."
He e-mailed the team's press relations department, and told them his brother's story.
The day before his flight, he got a call from the Colts' front office offering the brothers four tickets to the championship.
Greg couldn't wait to surprise Bill. He picked the tickets up that Friday morning, then planned to head over to Bill's house for a reunion.
On the way, Greg received another call asking if Bill could be the "12th Man Fan of the Game" and come down onto the field.
"I said, 'I'll carry him down on the field in that wheelchair if I have to,'" Greg said.
But the excitement paled compared with the joy Greg felt when he saw his brother.
"We embraced. There was a lot of emotion. A lot of tears fell," Greg said. "It was time for me and him to reconcile."
That Sunday, the two brothers went onto the field before the coin toss. The team gave Bill a jersey and a game ball.
And then the Colts beat the New York Jets to secure a place in tonight's Super Bowl against the New Orleans Saints.
Greg has no doubt Indy will pull off another victory.
Neither does Bill.
He told The Indianapolis Star: "I've got a lot of people praying for me. I love my brother so much. I can't believe he did this for me. My family is the best support group I could have. It's going to be a super Super Bowl, no doubt about that."
Amy Flowers Umble: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com
