September 11, 2001, is a day that has shaped countless lives. In a film by Shoshana Bedrosian ’19, Joe Spor ’20 talks about how the death of his father on that fateful day molded him into the person he is today. His father, Joseph Patrick Spor Jr., was a firefighter in New York City, and he was a first responder on the scene at the Twin Towers that day.
“Knowing that he died doing something that he loved…he wouldn’t want to go out any other way,” said the business administration major.
Shoshana Bedrosian '19 created the video as a television and radio student. She is now a multimedia journalist for WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama.
Spor, who was a defensive back on the Ithaca College football team, also talked in the video about how playing football was a big part of his relationship with his family.
“Football was his outlet,” his mother says in the video. “Whenever he was on the field, playing with his friends, that was his escape from everything.”
Spor said his father’s heroism motivates him.
“If my dad could climb the Twin Towers twice within a couple of hours, anything is possible,” he said.
The people at the National Football Foundation were so inspired by Spor’s story, that they shared Bedrosian’s video today as an example of how football can help victims of a tragedy find healing.