SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — Bobby Klinck's mindset as a player at Jenks, Oklahoma, and Tulsa, and now as the head coach at Sand Springs, was shaped by his father, Bob Klinck.
"When I was playing football, he would always tell me hey, no son of mine is going to run out of bounds," Klinck said. "That was just kind of the deal. It was always about toughness. You don't take the easy way. You turn up field, even when maybe the easiest path is to run out of bounds, and it may be safer."
WATCH: 'I can't avoid this anymore': Sand Springs coach deals with father's disease
And it's that same mindset the Klinck family brings into an off-field battle, as Klinck's father fights early-onset Alzheimer's.
"I always kind of just thought that that'd be the worst thing that could ever happen, and then it happened to my dad," Klinck said. "And I'm like dang it, this sucks."
The diagnosis came over five years ago. Initially, Klinck tried ignoring it.
"I'm a guy that, my dad is the same way, with feelings and stuff, you just press that stuff down and not deal with," Klinck said. "That's kind of how I treated it for a long time."
That is, until recently, when "Pops" was over at the house coloring with his grandsons.
"So, he asks questions a lot and repeats himself. And my oldest son got annoyed with him and said, I already answered that question, pops," Klinck said. "And I think it was at that time I was like, okay I can't avoid this anymore."
So, he's doing something about it. Klinck, his mom and other family members, participating in Tulsa's Walk to End Alzheimer's on the 20th. His team name, fittingly called "Stay in Bounds."
"There's a lot of people dealing with this and going through the same thing you're going through," Klinck said. "So, I think that's part of the reason we're doing this walk is just to meet other people, hear their stories and see how they're dealing with it. I think that'll be a good thing."
The Klinck family, turning up field, not taking the easy way out.
"Ultimately, it's a death sentence, but there's still a lot of life to live, still a lot of hope," Klinck said. "The older you get, you realize that time is so valuable. And that's what we're really happy about."
The Sandites play a video on the jumbotron with a QR code for donations to Klinck's walking team. If you'd like to donate, that link is here.
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