Football Team Protects Girl With Special Needs - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

KHQ.COM - Chy Johnson is a prime target for bullies at her high school. Lucky for her, she has the best protection service she could ask for.

Chy is a freshman at Queen Creek High School in Arizona. She is the new girl, which automatically gains the attention of bullies, then throw in the fact that her brain only works at a third grade level due to a genetic birth defect and you have a recipe for disaster. Chy's mother, Liz, began to notice her daughter would come home from school and not be her usual bubbly self, "That permanent smile she had, that gleam in her eye, that was all gone."

Liz wanted to find a way to protect her daughter and teachers at Queen Creek High weren't helping enough. Instead of giving up, she took a different approach. Liz went to a young man who she was sure would help out, Carson Jones, senior quarterback of the football team. Carson had once escorted Chy to the Special Olympics, he was happy to help.

When Liz asked Carson to keep an eye out and report back to her the names of the students bullying Chy, he was a little uncomfortable reporting on his friends, so he called an audible. He started inviting Chy to join him and his teammates for lunch at the "cool kids" lunch table. Carson says, "I just thought that if they saw her with us every day, maybe they'd start treating her better."

That's not all though, Tucker Workman, the team's starting running back, started making sure Chy always had an escort in the hallways. Cornerback Colton Moore made sure she was sitting with the team in classes. These boys took in a girl most football players wouldn't give a second look to and made her part of their group. So much so that Chy calls them "my boys." Her boys are making a difference too. When talking about the other students at Queen Creek, Chy says, "They're not mean to me, because all my boys love me."

Other students are noticing too. "I think about how sweet these boys are to her," said volleyball player Shelly Larson, "and I want to cry. I can't even talk about it." But what happens at the end of the year when Chy's boys graduate and are no longer around? Carson's younger brother, who happens to be in Chy's class made it clear the other day, "mom" he said, "I got this."

This story written and filed by Colin McQuilkin (colin.mcquilkin@khq.com)