I was very curious about the hard hat, and asked Jeff what it was all about. He said, “A few years ago we got together as a coaching staff, including our head coach Dave Pietramala, who is currently the head coach at Johns Hopkins, and realized we wanted our culture and program to be defined by our toughness, selflessness, and hard work. Hard hats are usually worn by construction workers, and we decided to use it to symbolize the blue-collar work ethic we wanted our program and teams to possess.”

“The idea is that our players will come to practice, punch the clock, and give a blue-collar, workman-like effort every day. We tell them, ‘Come to practice, do your job, and work as hard as you can.’ To ingrain the hard hat symbol and character traits into our culture, each season we select a freshman to carry the hard hat for the year. The player selected is someone who we feel demonstrates the blue-collar approach to the game of lacrosse. He sets the example for others and is driven and selfless. He may not be the most talented player on the field but is consistently the hardest worker. He puts his team first and embodies how our players are supposed to act on and off the field.

“The player selected to carry the hard hat is expected to bring it to practice and games. We want our guys to look at the bench and see the hard hat. It's in every team picture, as well. We want each young man to see it and remember why he came to this university and chose to be a part of this program. We want to remind them what we stand for as a team. We want them to live and share our values each day. We want our culture to build them into better men and, in turn, have them continue to build a better culture. Most of all, ever since George, we want the hard hat to remind them to do everything they can to be great teammates. George embodied everything the hard hat stood for, and now the hard hat embodies the teammate and person George was. You can't talk about the hard hat without talking about George, and you can't talk about George without talking about the hard hat. They have become inseparable.”

I saw tears well up in Jeff's eyes as he spoke about George and wanted to hear more, but didn't want to pry. I could tell there was a lot more to the story, so I was thankful when he walked me into his office, showed me a picture of George, and said, “You want to know why we have become the program we have, let me tell you about the heart of a leader and the spirit of a team. Let me tell you about the greatest teammate I have ever played with or had the honor to coach. Let me tell you about George.”