SFA Football From Baghdad And Back
5/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 18, 2004
NACOGDOCHES, Texas-- United States Army SPC Paul Chrismer visited the Stephen F. Austin State University athletic fieldhouse Tuesday morning to return a football which he carried with him to Baghdad, Iraq last March. Chrismer was in Baghdad with the 123rd Signal Battalion of the 3rd ID Mechanized out of Fort Stewart, Georgia. The ball was signed by Chrismer and others in his unit and is now on display in the Purple Room of the fieldhouse.
His mother, Alicia Chrismer, works in the Purchasing Office at the university and in a conversation with her son during his stay overseas asked if there was anything he needed. He replied that a football would be nice to help the soldiers in his outfit pass the time. She contacted Robert Hill, Associate Athletic Director at SFA, and a game ball from SFA's 30-21 victory over Southwest Texas in 2002 was sent to Iraq.
"The ball really helped us keep our sanity. It gave us something to do. We were in Baghdad near the Petroleum Institute and we would go out into an open area near there and throw the ball around. There were some Iraqi kids from nearby who would watch us play football and would come over and throw the ball around a little. I'm sure it was the first time the Iraqis had ever seen a football and they would watch us from a distance while we threw it around," said Chrismer.
The ball was inscribed with the score from the 2002 game before being sent to Chrismer and the writing on the ball gathered some attention. Chrismer said that a lieutenant saw the ball and asked who was from SFA. "I told him that I was and he told me that he had graduated from SFA. Another one of my good friends has a sister that was a Southwest Texas graduate. He saw the score and just laughed," said Chrismer.
Chrismer said that he recently learned that the 123rd Signal battalion will be re-deployed to Iraq in the near future. When he goes, he'll be equipped with a new ball and the thoughts of those in the SFA athletic department.
