Father's Day is a special day for millions of people, and especially for sports fans.
On Sunday morning, we heard from dozens of callers that owe that fandom to the dads, step-dads, uncles, and grandfathers in their lives. Chris Goforth shared an awesome story that could pull at the heartstrings of anyone in this industry.
His dad wasn't an avid sports fan, but Chris was, and he knew from a very young age that he wanted to do this for a living. By the time he was 11, Chris figured out that he wasn't destined to play right field for the Braves or power forward for the Hawks, but he knew that he loved discussing sports. At the time, there wasn't a means like sports talk radio or other outlets like we have today.
But he wanted to be a sports anchor, and while his dad may not have been directly responsible for his rabid fandom, he did play a significant role in making that dream a reality.
"The whole talk show thing came about while I was in college," Goforth said. "After I got the first real radio job at a major station, I came home to tell my parents and dad was great. There are a lot of people that I went to college with that we all majored in the same thing and they caught a lot of grief from saying 'hey, when are you going to get a real job?' and my parents never did that."
But there was a problem for the then 19-year-old Chris Goforth. He didn't own a pair of headphones.
"My dad just said, 'Well what do you want?', Goforth remembered. "Well there are these Sony's at Circuit City and gosh they're a hundred dollars. I got up the next morning and there was a hundred dollar bill sitting on the kitchen counter with a note saying 'When you get out of class, go get those headphones.'"
It feels simple and a little small, but these sorts of gestures matter for a kid with a dream. Dads give us that confidence to go get what we want and this was one of those moments for Chris and these are the headphones he wears to this day.
"Those headphones that are 29 years old? Still wear them every Sunday for the Falcons games (that he covers for 92.9 The Game)," he said proudly. "I've had to put new pads on 'em a couple of times, but because he did that I bring those out as a tribute to him."
So here's to the dads that support their kids and leave them with memories that last a lifetime, whether that's the love of your team or the headphones on your head.
Happy Father's Day.