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WAYNESVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A Tuscola senior is inspiring others through his passion and dedication for Mountaineers football, proving nothing can keep you from chasing your dreams.
Jared Feinberg was diagnosed with autism shortly before his third birthday. For a while, he was nonverbal and would often become upset with changes around his environment.
In the ninth grade, Feinberg joined the Mountaineers football team as the manager. But that wasn’t enough.
The following year, he decided to play.
Feinberg credits football for helping him transition into the teen he is today.
“It’s made me a better person, a tougher person than I thought I would ever be. It’s also helped in some ways with my disability,” Feinberg said.
Through the years, family and football helped him. The senior has come a long way since he first stepped onto the the field.
“It’s just a process I’m still learning as a senior,” he said.
“Sophomore year, he said he wanted to play and I said it wasn’t going to be easy,” Lara Feinberg said. “He just stuck with it.”
But what makes Jared special is his determination and drive to keep pushing forward no matter how hard the hits get.
“I try putting in the most effort I can on the practice field, and whenever I get the chance on the field,” he said.
“When he said he wanted to join, my husband and I said as soon as he takes that first hit he is done and back to wearing a jersey,” his mother said. “And he took that hit and kept going, and he has blown our minds.”
“Once we saw him do that, we thought, ‘This kid can do anything,’ Lara said.
There was a time Jared couldn’t talk, a common condition of having autism.
“He lost any words that he had, his food intake was limited, he didn’t sleep,” his mother said.
It was a diagnosis that left his mother wondering what would become of her son.
“Just like most parents, when they first get a diagnosis, you want every book, every article. You want to read it all and ask questions, and then you do that for a week or two, and then it hits and you fall apart,” Lara said.
But through the years, the support of his family and football has helped transform Jared.
“It wasn’t until he got involved with football that we started looking at the future,” his mother said. “Everything he does gives me hope.”
Jared said being on the team has helped improved his motor and socialization skills.
“I’ve learned different ways to calm myself if I got wound up,” he said.
The players and coach said he is an inspiration to the team, his effort and commitment are the true definitions of what it means to have a Mountaineer spirit.
“He has more passion than anybody out there,” said senior Brayden Monday.
“When we screw up, he will be, like, ‘You’re fine, but you’re all right, try it again,'” said senior Zayne Edwards.
“It’s been really neat to watch him grow,” coach J.T. Postell said.
For Jared’s mother, it’s not about the amount of minutes her son is on the field that makes her proud, it’s seeing him be there for his team through the ups and downs.
“To see him on the sidelines when someone misses a play or someone didn’t go right, he is the first kid to say, ‘Hey man, it’s OK,'” she said.
“To see that compassion he has for other people, when sometimes he might not get the time of day from somebody, that’s all I could want.”
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