By Bob Grotz
The 40th Delaware County Hero Bowl All-Star football game Thursday night was a lot like the 39 preceding it.
The game was entertaining and, judging by the sea of humanity stretching into the jammed parking lot at Cardinal O’Hara, the scholarship fund benefitting children of police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel killed in the line of duty, will be better off.
Long before the Red beat the Blue, 28-23, there was a reminder of how Hero Bowl memories can be so much fun one year and so very, very difficult a few years later.
So it was for the Colson family, parents James and Sheila, grandfather Jim and younger brother Turrea, all recognized before the game started. They were there to show support for those families of police, fire and emergency personnel as they can identify with their personal tragedies.
James and Sheila Colson’s son Jacai, played quarterback in the Hero Bowl in 2005. Sheila Colson doesn’t remember a specific play, just how much fun it was to be part of that event after Jacai’s senior year at Chichester High.
James Colson, a retired Upper Chichester police sergeant, also played at Chi and completed his high school career in the Hero Bowl in 1981. He was a wide receiver.
