Rams kicker helps special teams coach pull off unforgettable gender reveal
Back in the old days, parents learned the gender of their baby the old-fashioned way, when the kid emerged from Mom and the doctor said, “Congratulations, it’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!”
These days, however, with improvements in technology, a good ultrasound technician can tell the gender of a baby-to-be at as early as nine weeks after conception, when the couple might not even have told family they’re expecting.
Many parents are choosing to find out the gender of their child well in advance, to do things like buy blue or pink paint and décor for the nursery, start picking out names for the kid and share a stronger bond with the growing baby as it becomes easier to assign a concrete identity and personhood to the unborn child as “our son” or “our daughter.”
With a piece of knowledge comes the fun part of sharing it with the world — and that’s where the fun new trend of the gender reveal comes in.
Expecting parents get to invite their friends to show off, and often this takes the shape of something like a piñata that could be filled with blue- or pink-wrapped candies or balloons filled with confetti that, when the balloons are popped, showers the room in blue or pink.
Or, if the father is Rams special teams coach John Fassel, the couple can enlist the help of a couple of close friends to truly do the gender reveal in style.
Fassel got kicker Greg Zeuerlein, long snapper Jake McQuaide and holder Johnny Hekker out onto the practice field to kick a field goal while Fassel’s wife, Elizabeth, and their two daughters looked on.
When Zeuerlein connected with the football, the world learned what gender the fifth member of the Fassel nuclear family turned out to be.
.@JakeMcQuaide snaps it back, @JHekker with the hold, Zuerlein on the kick…. IT’S A GIRL!! 🙌
Baby girl Bones coming soon! 🎀☠️ Congratulations to the Fassels! #FathersDay pic.twitter.com/vlYR3SHYtd
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) June 17, 2018
The kick is up … and it’s a girl! Pink dust flew out from a ball that had been filled with it, a spectacular twist on the more mundane balloon reveal.
Commenters on Instagram had some fun with the event, poking fun at No. 58, who ran into the frame and promptly did a pratfall, and expressing a bit of mock sadness that Fassel will have “no boy to train to play football.”
This isn’t the first time a sports figure has had a high-profile gender reveal with the help of his team.
During the 2017-18 NBA season, former Pacers player Damien Wilkins learned the gender of his child during a timeout with some help from Boomer the blue panther mascot.
It's a boy! Congrats to @dwilkins3000 and his fiancée Jasmine! https://t.co/9syNAi8sq0
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 28, 2017
Wilkins, who had no idea what was about to happen, got a priceless reaction on the sideline when his fiancee Jasmine announced the couple was having a boy, and now that Wilkins is out of the NBA, he’ll have plenty of time with his new family.
Fassel, meanwhile, gets about four weeks to digest his latest family news before the Rams get back to the task of trying to win the NFC West again and try to make a deeper playoff run than they managed in 2017.
But then again, it’s only June; by the time January rolls around, Fassel will have what we all hope is a healthy baby girl to come home to and dote on during the offseason in 2019.
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