Letter from Teammate

Put simply: Jon Kleier may have been the best teammate I’ve ever had. Jon and I played varsity football and lacrosse together for 3 years and in that time, he exhibited all of the qualities that one could ever ask for in a teammate.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Jon wasn’t some bubbly cheerleader, organizing bake sales and making signs out of poster board. He was a player. An athlete built like a medicine ball and that hit like a brick. In tackling drills, you would count down the line to make sure you weren’t set to face Kleier, because he was going to make you hurt. Snot bubbles were the standard.

Kleier didn’t take plays off. Not in games. Not in practices. And it wasn’t because he was kissing up to the coaching staff hoping to get more playing time. It was because he loved it. He loved everything about Horace Mann football from the contact to shouting out “Yeeeeeeeeaaaahh Lions” from the sidelines.

Jon was the rare breed of leader that led vocally and by example. You could always tell when Kleier blew a play because he would be absolutely destroying someone on the next play. For Jon, it was all about pride. He took pride in himself, he took pride in winning, and he took pride in his teammates. He expected the best from those who surrounded him and pushed them to achieve it. In the defensive huddle, he would look the line in the eyes and ask “who’s going to make this play?!” It wasn’t a question; it was a challenge. It was a call to action by the team’s leader to step up and bring it from whistle to whistle the same way he did.

While I miss Jon and wish he could be here today to bellow out his trademark “YEEEEAAAAH Lions,” I can take some comfort in knowing that when it comes to playing football, Jon passed with absolutely no regrets. He left it all on the field. He took on every hit like it was his last hit. He ran every play like it was his last play. He hustled every game like it was his last game. From the second he put on his helmet to the second he took it off, Jon did anything and everything he could to win. He was a champion. And now Jon can rest in peace knowing that there are some kids who played for Riverdale, Fieldston, and Dalton who walk with a limp because they chose to take on Kleier, rather than team up with him.

My advice to you all this day, as you get ready to take the field, is play like Kleier. Play loose, play fierce, play hard. Challenge yourself to make every play. Put some snot bubbles in a kid’s nose. Let them know that what Kleier stood for weren’t just the qualities of one exceptional athlete, but a football program that takes pride in every play, every snap and every hit. Go out there and play like it’s your last game, because when that game comes and goes, you’ll want people to be able to say this about you.