George came from a family whose success was based on hard work and helping others, and that was how he lived his life. His team knew that he could always be counted on to help someone else. He would take the shirt off his back and give it to someone in need. George didn't live for himself; he lived for his team and for others. It was no surprise that George was named a captain in his senior year. But George's leadership didn't stop in the locker room or on the field.

When we weren't in season, he volunteered as an assistant to a Little League team on weekends in the Cornell polo barns. He had played baseball and been coached by volunteers when he was a kid, and wanted to give back in the same way.

After the 2004 season started, Ladeen Case, who was the wife of our athletic trainer, Jim Case, and taught at a school in downtown Ithaca, asked me if our players would be interested in reading to elementary school students. George happened to be standing next to me and I asked him if he would set this up. George quickly organized a group of his teammates to read to the students and they planned to make their first visit after our next game.

George wasn't sure what he wanted to do after graduation, but he had started to seriously consider teaching. The desire to teach became stronger after visiting his high school teammate and college friend Brigham Kiplinger, who was a teacher with Teach For America in Washington, DC. George had the opportunity to work with children in Brigham's class during his visit and he was hooked. He officially applied to the Teach For America program with a desire to teach on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Lakota Sioux reservations in southwestern South Dakota. At Cornell, George was fascinated by the courses he took related to Native American culture and wanted to serve the children there.

George was so excited about this teaching opportunity that he was very nervous he wouldn't be selected for the program. He had to write an essay and go through a formal interview process to be selected. The night before his interview, George went into the room of his friend and teammate Scott Raasch and took a seat in the recliner. Even though he was a man of few words in team settings, he talked more in one-on-one conversations. He shared with Scott how nervous he was about the Teach For America interview the next day. When Scott assured him he had nothing to be nervous about, George explained that he was never comfortable in situations where he had to talk about himself and his accomplishments.

The next day, Scott was walking through campus between classes and bumped into George, who told him he was heading to the interview. When Scott asked him if he was nervous, George responded by raising both arms over his head to reveal two giant, armpit sweat stains showing through his tan suit jacket. Scott and George laughed together before Scott wished him luck and told him he would see him in the locker room before our game that night. A few hours later, another friend and teammate, David Coors, saw George walking down the hill from his interview and asked him how it went. George, in classic fashion, didn't say a word. He just lifted his arms and with a big grin showed David his armpits as well. Neither David nor Scott ever got the chance to talk to George about his interview. When they arrived at the locker room before the game, George was already sitting quietly in front of his locker, intensely focused on one thing: beating our opponent.

The game was supposed to take place the night before, on Tuesday, March 16, but due to snow it had been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 17. As nervous as George had been about his Teach For America interview, he was probably equally nervous about the game that night. It was early in the season, our team hadn't been playing well, and, as a captain, George felt personally responsible. He knew the team was missing something, but he wasn't sure what it was.