Kaleb Eulls is a 6 foot 4, 255 pound, do-everything, ambidextrous QB and DE for Yazoo County HS in Mississippi. Did I mention he also handles the punting duties as well as kickoffs and extra points?
He received scholarship offers from football powerhouses like Florida, LSU and Georgia. He committed this summer to play for Mississippi State. He has the kind of ability that makes the recruiting message boards light up and the antennae on Mel Kiper and Todd McShay's future stars list begins to do a little shimmy-shake.
Did I mention that he is also a great student? So what must this already well-recognized and honored football "hero" do to garner national attention?
ROLL THE TAPE!!!
FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS YOU TUBE SITE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37LBPtT5Am8
Was that the type of highlight film you expected? The voice coming from the back of the bus saying "I've got the gun" was from Kaleb. Probably the most important "forced fumble and recovery" he will ever make.
READ MORE INCREDIBLE DETAILS OF THE STORY FROM MOSPORTS.RIVALS.COM
http://mosports.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=985823
Doesn't the title of the story just say it all?
Kaleb Eulls' heroic action a decade in the making
Although on the surface, this seems like the prototypical man bites dog story--people just don't make this type of heroic action normally, do they?--if we look to the world of academia, maybe that perception doesn't have to be so.
Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford professor, coined the term "Banality of Heroism" to describe the phenomenon in his book "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil".
In the book Zimbardo illustrates through his shocking Stanford Prison Experiment how easy it is for "normal" people to commit heinous acts when put in a unique cauldron of circumstances. This highlighted the "Banality of Evil" concept described by Hannah Arendt in her work titled "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil"
http://www.lucifereffect.org/heroism.htm
Although much of the Lucifer Effect text revolves around the negatives of human behavior, salvation comes in the final chapter (16) where I flip the coin and celebrate what is best in humanity-- those among us who move from passive observers to take heroic action. In celebrating heroism, I challenge the traditional view of heroes as extraordinary people, as super-special agents of noble deeds. In doing so, I distinguish between those rare people whose whole lives are centered around sacrifice for the good of society or for the well being of their fellows, chronic heroes, and those ordinary folks who are moved to an heroic deed in a specific situation at a particular time.
Their heroic deeds are always special, but these heroes are just plain folks, ordinary citizens, who “do what they had to do” when moved to action by some call to service. Typically, they say, “It was nothing special;” “I did what anyone would do in that situation.” And some add, “and what everyone ought to do.” I refer to this phenomenon as “the banality of heroism.” Doing so, obviously trades off of its similar opposite in the phrase coined by Hannah Arendt, “the banality of evil,” that she used to describe why modern criminals, like Nazi Adolph Eichmann were so frightening precisely because they are “terrifyingly normal.”
We also want to believe that there is something IN some people that drives them toward evil, while there is something different IN others that drives them toward good. It is an obvious notion but there is no hard evidence to support that dispositional view of evil and good, certainly not the inner determinants of heroism. There may be, but I need to see reliable data before I am convinced. Till then, I am proposing we focus on situational determinants of evil and good, trying to understand what about certain behavioral settings pushes some of us to become perpetrators of evil, others to look the other way in the presence of evil doers, tacitly condoning their actions and thus being guilty of the evil of inaction, while others act heroically on behalf of those in need or righting injustice. Some situations can inflame the “hostile imagination,” propelling good people to do bad deeds, while something in that same setting can inspire the “heroic imagination” propelling ordinary people toward actions that their culture at a given time determines is “heroic.” I argue in Lucifer and recent essays, that follow here, it is vital for every society to have its institutions teach heroism, building into such teachings the importance of mentally rehearsing taking heroic action—thus to be ready to act when called to service for a moral cause or just to help a victim in distress.
MORE FROM ZIMBARDO REGARDING THE BANALITY OF HEROSIM:
http://www.november.org/BottomsUp/reading/banality.html
Historical inquiry and behavioral science have demonstrated the "banality of evil" -- that is, under certain conditions and social pressures, ordinary people can commit acts that would otherwise be unthinkable.
But because evil is so fascinating, we have been obsessed with focusing upon and analyzing evildoers. Perhaps because of the tragic experiences of the Second World War, we have neglected to consider the flip side of the banality of evil: Is it also possible that heroic acts are something that anyone can perform, given the right mind-set and conditions? Could there also be a "banality of heroism"?
The banality of heroism concept suggests that we are all potential heroes waiting for a moment in life to perform a heroic deed. The decision to act heroically is a choice that many of us will be called upon to make at some point in time. By conceiving of heroism as a universal attribute of human nature, not as a rare feature of the few "heroic elect," heroism becomes something that seems in the range of possibilities for every person, perhaps inspiring more of us to answer that call.
It's clear that we will always have this battle of "good" vs. "evil". It illustrates the importance of having a solid base of character development so that we understand when the proper time and place to stand up and say "NO!!" arises, whether it's confronting a teen with a gun or an authority figure asking to do that which you know is wrong, you will have the strength to act heroically.
Too often we are almost comforted by the fact that perceived "evil-doers" are "not like us". We don't want to hear that we may all be capable of perpetrating similar crimes if we were put in similar settings. The works of Zimbardo and the famous Milgrim experiments at Harvard clearly demonstrates the fallacy of clinging to those inconvenient truths.
By the same token, we are too often led to believe that these heroic actions are anomalies as well. We couldn't do that, COULD WE? Well, why the heck not?
The quote from Kaleb's high school coach wraps it up best:
“I’m very proud of him,” Eulls’ football coach Matt Williams said. “He doesn’t have to score any more touchdowns or make any sacks, he is probably the greatest kid I’ll ever be a part of.”
HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!
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