A look back at the life of one of Kokomo High School’s athletic heroes

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(Editor’s note: sportswriter Scott Spires approached Mr. McCoskey about writing an article, and he responded by providing a written recollection of his sporting life. Rather than pick quotes from it for an article, Spires asked the Lantern to run McCoskey’s words in their entirety.)

Most of my young life was spent growing up in the project known as Gateway Gardens in Kokomo, Indiana. My mother was a single parent. I did not meet my biological father until age 16, and it was a brief, 10-minute, one-time occasion. He was never a part of my life.

I was introduced to football and basketball while living in Gateway! In the 6th grade, I played my first organized basketball at Jefferson Elementary. I was on the bench and scared to death, hoping the coach wouldn’t put me in. I decided to start working at it that summer and spent a lot of time on the courts. I started my 7th, 8th, and 9th grade years at Washington and Elwood Haynes schools. I played and lettered for three years of basketball in high school at Haworth under coach Harold Cox. We made it to Semi-State in Fort Wayne my junior year.

I didn’t play football until the 9th grade at Elwood Haynes. I planned on playing but broke my wrist the first day of school in a pickup football game at Highland Park. My 9th grade Coach Max Smith convinced me that to be a running back in high school. I needed to learn to block the defensive end. He was an excellent coach and teacher. I played running back at HHS and lettered all three years.

My high school guidance counselor was Ed Kameyer. He convinced me that I could go to a small college and play football. I went to Anderson College and played wide receiver and place kicker. Two of my biggest athletic accomplishments there were an 88-yard touchdown pass and a 44-yard field goal. The TD was a record that stood for nearly 20 years, and it was for the win the last game of my senior year against Manchester College. The winning field goal score was my senior year against Earlham for the Homecoming game.

The biggest accomplishments of my life while there were giving my life to Christ and meeting my wife (of 48 years this October.) Both of those events were life-changing and continue to sustain me in every area of my life from that point on!

When returning to Kokomo, I continued to participate in sports. I played three years with the Kokomo Chiefs of the National Amateur Football League. I played tight end and did the place kicking. I did make the NAFL all-star team twice. I also played city league, church, and YMCA league basketball for several years. I also played slow-pitch softball for 20 or more years and modified pitch softball at Foster Park for several years.

I ran long-distance road races competitively until about age 40 with the Club Kokomo Roadrunners. I ran 40 to 60 miles per week. I ran the Indy Mini Marathon 14 years in a row. My best time was 1:22:07, or 6:13 per mile, for 13.1 miles.

After a knee replacement, I began working out at the local YMCA, and by age 50 I reached my personal best on the flat bench at 350 lbs. I was able to continue benching 300 lbs. every year on my birthday up to age 62. My goal now is to bench press 250 lbs. on my 75th birthday.

I think my best efforts in life have been 26 years as an employee assistance person for General Motors for 26 years and as a Probation Officer for 17 years for Howard County. At nearly 44 years of continuous sobriety and recovery, I’ve been able to give back and help others find recovery from mood-altering substances, like alcohol and other drugs. I have been helping to facilitate faith-based recovery meetings at Southcreek Church of God for the past 22 years.

At the age of nearly 66, I decided to retire and spend more time with family, including six beautiful grandchildren. Nowadays, in my spare time, I golf three to four times a week, workout at the local YMCA, five to six times per week, and volunteer in the recovery community.

In my life I’ve had no regrets. God has been with me through it all. He has been guiding and directing me throughout. With everything that has happened in my life, God has allowed it all, so the work of God might be displayed in my life. I’m thankful and grateful for it all!