Claremore Football Teams Lends A Helping Hand To Damaged Home

The Claremore Zebras football team put in work off the field Friday, helping clean up a heavily damaged property of a well-known business owner in town.

The coach said even with some of his own players affected by the tornado, they wanted to give back. A couple dozen players put on their gloves and went to work on the property, raking, hammering, and clearing debris from a home all to help a woman who has spent her career helping others.

Nearly 30 Claremore High School football players were hard at work.

This time, they’re not trying to win a game, but they’re still coming together as a team. Senior Tripp Jackson said seeing his hometown destroyed like this isn’t easy, but it feels good to give back.

"It’s been long definitely, but we’ve got it all done," Jackson said.

Coach Jarrett Hurt said people are hurting, including kids on his own team.

"We’ve got several kids today with us that have had their own property destroyed or ruined, and they’re here today trying to help somebody else," Hurt said.

Players raked up debris, rebuilt a fence, and made sure to haul away what they could.

“The creativity that’s come into that," said homeowner Christina Largent. "Right now I’ve got a cinder block as a hammer.”

Largent said the fence means her dog can live here again. She owns Darrell’s Barber Shop and cuts the hair of one of the coaches which is why the team was out there. The tornado destroyed her home and the shop.

“It means I have been valued," she said. "That what I do for a living is worth it. For that, I will rebuild.”

It was a winning gesture – for a hurting town.

Largent said she has a lot of work to be done at work and home, and she wants people to know the need is still great.