For 30-plus years now, Mike Leal has prowled the sidelines at Central Catholic, a longtime football assistant coach at his alma mater for three different head coaches.
The past 16 or so of them, his son, Joe, has been there, too, first as a preschooler, weaving around the “big high school players,” to get a close-up glimpse of the action on the field, and more recently as a starting defensive back for the Division 1 state semifinalist Raiders.
Thursday morning, Joe and Mike walked off the turf at Veterans Memorial Stadium for the last time together.
Joe, a Central senior, is heading off to college next year and says he is, 95 percent sure he’s played his final football game. And while Mike will continue his work on the faculty at Central and remain the head coach for the school’s boys track program, he’s decided to give up football.
“When John (Sexton) got the (head-coaching) job, I told him that it was pretty likely that I’d be done when Joe was done,” Mike said. “It’s been a lot, doing the three sports for 30 years.”
As you could imagine, emotions flowed on Thursday morning. Closing out his Central career with the big win over Lawrence caught Joe off-guard.
“It takes time to hit you. Football has been such a big part of my life, from watching the Patriots growing up to playing in high school,” Joe said. “It’s a truly special part of my life. As each day passes, I think I’ll miss it exponentially more.
“Sharing those moments with my teammates and my dad as a coach is something I won’t be able to re-create.”
The emotions of a high school football season – especially at such a high-level program at Central – are to say the least, volatile. It’s hard to imagine the range from knocking off Xaverian in the regular season and KO’ing Natick in overtime during the playoffs, only to be routed by St. John’s in the semis.
Sharing those times together, not just as a father-and-son but as a coach-and-player, bring a whole new dynamic to the equation.
“The wins and losses, the highs and lows, sharing it together, was so special,” Joe said. “The fact we’re feeling it, and we get to share it together, being in it together, the whole way was something we won’t forget.”
Mike was a football and track star at Central (Class of ‘94). He won the prestigious Brother Florentius Award. Joe knew he had big shoes to fill, coming to Central but never attempted to be something he was not.
On the football field, he matriculated his way up the ladder, overcoming some tough injuries along the way.
“I let the freshmen coaches coach him, and JV coaches coach him. They do such a great job,” said Mike, who watched those games from the stands with the other parents.
“This year, I had to coach him as a starter in the defensive backfield. He’s a great kid to coach. He loved being a part of the program as a toddler. And I have a lot of respect for the way he handled himself as a coach’s kid.”
Joe played a huge role in Central’s success this fall. For a while, he flirted with Mike’s school record for interceptions in a season.
“It’s funny, I never really felt the pressure at all. My dad was an excellent athlete. Junior year, I was primarily a JV player, and I didn’t feel the pressure that I had to be a starter,” he said.
“Being able to make some big plays in big games this year was cool. Seeing the comparisons to him, chasing his interception record was cool. It was a little thing we had going.”
But this past week was a tough one around their house in Pelham, N.H., knowing it would all come to an end.
“There’s just been a lot of emotions,” said Mike. “We’re lucky that he’s been surrounded by great people and great coaches at the school. I tried my best to separate dad and coach, tried not to take it home with us and let the coaching happen at school. There were some exceptions to that. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him.”
Joe noticed something different from his dad in the Raiders’ final practice on Wednesday.
“I could tell it was hard for him, letting it go. Central football has been such a part of his life for so long,” he said.
That carried into Thursday morning.
The Leals, per usual, stood next to each other for the anthem then enjoyed the usual pre-kickoff hug.
Neither wanted the game to end.
“We said, ‘I love you,’ … a lot this year,” Joe said. “There’s always a special moment, embracing before and after the game. (Thursday), we took it slow, because it was our last time.”