Pride of the Panthers

There were numerous blue and orange “#8” Chicago Bears jerseys on display among the crowd at Bloomington High School South on Thursday morning. \nThe crowd of fans were anxiously awaiting a familiar face. \nThen, from the parking lot came former Indiana Mr. Football Rex Grossman wearing a purple polo. He returned to hs former school, Bloomington High School South on Thursday to take part in the Day of Champions celebration, benefiting the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington. Grossman, now the quarterback for the Bears, called signals for the Panthers from 1995 to 1998.\nThursday’s event included a youth football camp in the morning, followed by the retirement ceremony of Grossman’s No. 8 high-school jersey. The day concluded with a charity golf outing.\nMore than 130 kids participated in the youth camp in which Grossman visited all the stations to meet with the children. A few kids even got to catch some passes from Grossman.\n“This is something fun. Kids need heroes and Rex is a football hero and inspiration,” said Drew Wood, the current head coach at Bloomington South.\nAfter the camp concluded outside, everyone headed inside for the jersey retirement ceremony.\nGrossman’s coach at Bloomington South, Mo Moriarity – who is currently the head coach at Carmel High School – was noticeably emotional and called this a very special day. Grossman, he said, was very deserving of becoming the first player in the long history of athletes to come through Bloomington South to have his jersey retired. During the ceremony, Moriarity challenged the kids in the auditorium, telling them anything is possible. He said that Grossman once participated in the Boys and Girls Club, and now he’s in the NFL.\n“You have to dream,” Moriarity said.\nHe also went on to share how Grossman has not let the NFL and his successes change him.\n“What I’m most proud of is that he is a tough guy inside and knows how to handle himself,” Moriarity said.\nWhen the time came for Grossman to come onto the stage and accept the honor of having his jersey retired, the first word out of his mouth was “unbelievable.”\n“This is just an unbelievable honor for me being the first player ever to have their jersey retired (at South),” Grossman said.\nAs Grossman addressed the kids during the ceremony, he told about his experiences at the Boys and Girls Club.\n“This is where my first competitive playing all began, ” he said\nGrossman recalled a story that his high school career didn’t start out on a bright note, despite that in his senior season at South, Grossman led his team to a win in the 5A state championship. He also passed for 3,080 yards and 44 touchdowns.\n“When I first started my career at South, I remember coach Mo called to tell me I was going to be the starting quarterback as a freshman,” he said. “I came home and puked, although it was a dream come true.”