An interesting short film will be making its debut on the big screen at the LDS Film Festival at 5:00 p.m. on March 7, 2015 at the Scera Theater in Orem. "Never Give Up" is the miracle behind the miracle of the 1980 "Miracle" Bowl. While many people remember the "hail mary" pass from Jim McMahon to Clay Brown that tied the game between SMU and BYU after regulation time had expired, few people know about an obscure team manager named Mel Farr and his contribution to the team the night before the big game.
Here is what many coaches and players have said about the event that took place that night:
Vai Sikahema: "It's been 30 years . . . and anyone who was in that room that night remembers it. . . . That feat is remembered as fondly among the 1980 team as Clay Brown coming down with that ball."
Tom Holmoe: "I kept a piece of that in my wallet for years."
Jim McMahon: "We couldn't disappoint Mel after the effort he had just given us."
LaVell Edwards: "There was as much celebration there that night as there was the next night when we threw that touchdown pass."
Kyle Whittingham: "Every team needs a Mel Farr on their team."
Mel Farr Junior began his life as a healthy baby 22 inches long, eight pounds, ten ounces on Sept. 22, 1955. According to his father, Mel Farr Senior, "He cost $9," because he was born on Hamilton Air Force Base near San Rafael, California, while Mel Senior was in the service. "He was an active baby, wide-eyed, fast and grew at a normal rate," said Mel Senior.
Shortly after Mel Junior's birth, the Farrs moved to Maryland and after about a year, Mel Senior noticed Mel Junior wasn't growing like he should. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital examined Mel Junior and determined there was nothing wrong. "My son is smaller too," noted one of the examining doctors, "He'll grow out of it."
But Mel Junior didn't grow out of it. When he was six years old, he was in Utah and a doctor diagnosed him with Perthes Disease, where the rounded head of the femur (the "ball" of the "ball and socket" joint of the hip) dies. Mel Junior spent the entire year of his first grade in traction. His father remembers the little first grader asking his mother, "Mom, why does life have to be so hard?"
The long-term prognosis or Perthes, however, was good. Most children return to normal activities without major limitations after treatment. Unfortunately, when Mel Junior was 7, the doctors at Primary's Children Hospital in Utah determined he did not have Perthes Disease, affecting just one hip, but rather a much larger condition called Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia, which in minor cases can affect the growth plates in the arms and legs and in more severe cases can affect the cartilage and bone formations throughout the body, including malformations of the hands, feet, fingers, toes, knees, curvature of the spine and development of the mouth, nose and ears.
At the time, the Farrs and their physicians hoped for the best and presumed that Mel Junior's dysplasia was limited to his limbs. After three more months of hospitalization, the spunky active boy was ready to get on with life and started to join friends in sports activities and make the most of his life notwithstanding his physical challenges.
Mel Junior was much smaller than his classmates. Although he loved sports, He never grew to be taller than 5 foot 4 inches. He was befriended and admired by many. However, as in most schools, there were also bullies. Mel Junior found himself pushed in a locker and locked up inside on more than one occasion. In the ninth grade at Churchill Junior High in Salt Lake City, the basketball coach saw how hard Mel tried, that he played with heart and courage. According to Farr, the coach was a drill sergeant and required his players to get a crew cut to play on the team. Mel wanted to play so bad, he immediately went out and got his haircut. Notwithstanding his size, the coach put him on the basketball team.
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