Redbank Valley football coach starts decal fundraiser for Martin family
NEW BETHLEHEM, Clarion County — Few people will notice them from the stands.
Nobody is going to miss them on the field.
Redbank Valley football coach Blane Gold is working with Vinyl Graphics Unlimited in Shippenville, Clarion County, to have decals printed for teams’ helmets that read M2M and feature the symbol for breast cancer awareness.
It is designed to pay respect to Karns City senior quarterback Mason Martin, who collapsed on the field last Friday night with what was later diagnosed a collapsed lung and bleeding from the brain.
His mother, Stacy, has been battling cancer for years.
“I figured Karns City would get around to some type of decal at some point,” Gold said. “We just wanted to take one thing off their plate. The players will notice each other wearing them on the field. That’s the important thing.”
While Mason continues the process of a long recovery, Gold could not forget what he saw. Gold was on the opposite sideline when Mason collapsed last Friday during Redbank Valley’s 35-6 win over Karns City, which was stopped in the third quarter following the injury.
“I’ve been playing or coaching football for 20 years; I’ve never seen anything like that happen,” Gold said. “This the most exhilarating game on the planet. But it has such a fine line.
“Every time you put on that helmet, you assume the risk. But Mason is all about playing fearless and going all out. That’s the way we should all play this game.”
When Gold approached Vinyl Graphics Unlimited with the decal idea, the company designed it and offered to print them free for any District 9 teams that would wear them. In one day, Gold heard from 15 teams.
To receive the decals, each team must donate $100 to the Martin family.
“I’ve heard from some teams in District 10 requesting them, Armstrong from the WPIAL ... I’m not sure how far that company wants to go with this,” Gold said. “The response has been incredibly quick.
“DuBois has 70 players, Armstrong 60 players ... Some of these rosters are big.”
Karns City football coach Joe Sherwin said he’s overwhelmed by the outpouring of support shown to Mason, his family and the Karns City community.
“I’ve heard from teams on the other side of the state, teams from other states,” Sherwin said. “This is the football community and that community sticks together and supports each other when something like this happens.
“This is a wonderful thing Redbank Valley is doing.”
Gold said he thought about the helmet decal right away because “that’s the ultimate sign of respect in football.”
“We honor the military with helmet decals, wear breast cancer awareness decals in October, the Steelers wear a decal on their helmet when there’s a death in the organization,” Gold said.
“The football world is thinking about Mason Martin. His family needs to know that. When that kid went down, it stopped being Redbank vs. Karns City. It became a brotherhood of football players.”
Gold added that after the game, one of his players was crying in the showers. Another was praying in the parking lot.
“This isn’t going to go away anytime soon,” he said.
