By Andy Walter

Tony Glenn was just an 18-year-old kid in 1973 and special-needs kids didn’t exist in his world.

So when his Blue-Gold All-State Football game coach said that some special-needs children were coming to practice to interact with the players, Glenn remembers being a little intimidated.

“I became very scared,” he said. “In my neighborhood growing up, there were a lot of kids but you just didn’t talk about that.

“The young person who ran up to me. ... kind of smiled at me and grabbed my helmet — which surprised me. And he said, ‘Catch me.’ I can’t tell you about the next 20 or 30 minutes but it was just fun.

“I didn’t see lightning and thunder but it opened me up,” Glenn concluded. “I started thinking about, ‘What was I afraid of?’ It did something.”

In that brief encounter was born what has become a lifelong passion for Glenn.

Five decades later, he’s still a part of the Blue-Gold game and the DFRC, the organization that runs the contest while raising money and awareness year-round for Delawareans with intellectual challenges.

Glenn’s dedication has earned him the Herm Reitzes Award from the Delaware Sportswriters & Broadcasters Association. The award recognizes an individual for their community service and will be awarded at the DSBA’s 73rd annual banquet at noon on Feb. 21 at DuPont Country Club.

Also being honored are the Delmar High field hockey team, former Wesley College and Caesar Rodney athlete Alexis Howerin, St. Mark’s volleyball coach Nancy Gritkowitz along with the state’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year for 2021.

(Tickets may be procured at http://www.delasports.org/ for $38 each, with a table of eight available for $290).

Glenn recently retired after 21 years as the DFRC’s executive director. But that doesn’t mean he won’t still be heavily involved with the group as a member of its board of trustees.

A former Delaware football player and later a high school coach, Glenn has also always felt uncomfortable with awards. He says he’s already been rewarded more than enough by what he’s gotten back from his experiences.

Besides, there are plenty of other members of the DFRC “family” who have also worked for decades behind the scene.

But what Glenn is excited about is what the 67-year-old Blue-Game and the DFRC has accomplished over the years. The DFRC has distributed $6.3 million — including $3 million in the past 21 years — to various support programs and services.

More important than even that to Glenn, though, is the Blue-Gold Hand-in-Hand program, which matches up game participants with special-needs children. They get to spend time with each other in activities leading up to the game.

It’s that connection that often opens people’s eyes and can lead to real change in attitudes said Glenn.

That’s how it happened for Glenn 50 years ago.

“At the end of the day, it’s about lives,” said the Conrad High grad. “It’s fun to watch over the course of a Blue-Gold season the different activities and how the kids get closer and different things happen. And then they’re in their 20s and 30s and still seeing and talking to their buddies.

“Does it happen enough? No. But it does and it’s an opportunity for that to happen.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.