Instead of retiring a number and putting a jersey behind glass, the Stow-Munroe football program will honor its late assistant coach, Sean Flaherty, by having his number live on.
Going forward, one player will be selected each week to don the number and wear it on the field as an ongoing tribute to Flaherty.
"I think about him as we are walking out of the tunnel and going onto the field every Friday," said Stow Football Head Coach Martin Poder.
According to Poder, the decision to have a player wear the number came down to longevity.
"I wanted something to have a lasting impact," Poder said about seeing Flaherty's number on the field at future games.
Flaherty was the assistant coach for the Bulldogs and someone who his players looked up to.
"Coach Flaherty is the type of dude I want to grow up and be like," senior Jake Harrington said. "I think the way we are honoring him is the perfect way to honor him."
Senior Andrew Rickelman said when the team heard about Flaherty's death, "it broke a lot of hearts."
"Just being able to honor him and know that he's always watching us and rooting for us means a lot," Rickelman said.
Flaherty died in June, having coached and mentored players for nearly two decades.
The team's special way of honoring the coach will continue into future generations at the Stow-Munroe football program.
"But it's in that locker room 10, 15 years from now when that head coach has to stand up there and say, 'This is who Sean Flaherty was, this is what he meant to the program, this is what he meant to the school, this is what he was about,' I think that is the best way we can honor and remember him," Poder said.
CLICK HEREto read Flaherty's obituary.
