LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (THV11) - For the Joe T. Robinson Senators, 12 is much more than a number. It's a legacy.
It's a story that is told to every player that steps on the field. Matthew Burdick was a senior quarterback for the Senators in 2003. On his way home one September afternoon, Matthew was injured in a car accident.
"It was one of those things that we were taking things for granted," said head coach Todd Eskola. "We did assume we'd see him the next day. We had just watched film, we'd just beat Hall the Friday before, we'd just had practice on Monday and it was hey, get your tail back to practice on Tuesday and let's get better, then you get a call that he'd been in an accident, and he's not doing good."
Burdick was hospitalized immediately, four days after his accident Matthew passed away on Friday, Sept. 12.
Matthew's parents Tom and Lynnette remember like it was yesterday.
"The whole team came up to his room," said Lynnette.
In the days and weeks that followed, the number 12 began to emerge.
"Remember September 12th, number 12, 12 victories," she said. "Even now the number 12 surrounds the Burdick family. Everyday almost something pops up with the number 12. We had just found out we were going to be grandparents for the first time 12 days before his accident, and on the 12th of January we found out it was going to be a little girl. We were married on the 12th. Our granddaughter's birth date, when you add up the date it's 12. It's just weird, but in a wonderful way."
In 2016 Robinson memorialized Matthew Burdick forever, placing his retired number 12 as the center of their new field.
"That was the only thing we asked," said Coach Eskola. "When the district talked about putting in turf, that was our only request. We didn't care what color it was, we didn't care what went in the end zones. The only think we asked, was as a program and as a community, can we have the 12 on the field."