Luke Gumm was ready to give up football.
It was the summer of 2015, before his sophomore season at Siloam Springs, just after the Arkansas Activities Association dead period ended in early July.
And Gumm, like most rising sophomores playing high school football, was looking at an upcoming season that would be spent playing on the junior varsity squad.
"Like a lot of sophomores, I'm sure he was a little apprehensive about moving up and playing in senior high," said Panthers head coach Bryan Ross.
At the time, Gumm stood 5-foot-5 and weighed just a tick more than 130 pounds.
But despite his small stature, Ross and the Siloam Springs coaching staff saw something special in Gumm, who had moved into the district from Phoenix, Ariz., before his freshman year.
"You know, it didn't take long for us to see that he had a little bit of ability," Ross said. "We could see that he had good hands and he could run a little bit. So we felt there was a future for him if he would stick with it."
So when Ross opened up his email on the morning of July 6, 2015, the first day back from the dead period, he was caught off guard a bit by an email he had received from Gumm:
Hey, coach it's me Luke and I would like to say over the past week especially, I've (been) praying for God to show me what he wants me to do and after going to camp this week, I feel like he wants me to get to know him better and I feel like to do that I must get rid of some things in my life and that's why I have decided to step down from football. I love the game and my team, but some things are just more important in my life. Hope you understand.
Sincerely, Luke
An email response
Ross will be the first one to tell you that coaches -- especially in football -- aren't all-knowing despite what some may think. And especially when it comes to dealing with teenage kids.
"As a coach, you don't know the right thing to say all the time or the right way to be because we're not mind readers and we're not perfect," Ross said. "I think if you speak from the heart and try to speak the truth, that people see that. Hopefully, I'm pretty transparent to the kids and just hope I have a positive impact on them."
Ross said the Panthers' coaches don't ever want to lose anyone from the program. But he said the kids who are there need to be 100 percent bought in because football is such hard work and requires dedication.
"You don't want kids here that are just here because somebody wants them to do it," Ross said. "It's something they have to want to do."
So with that, Ross sat down and responded to Gumm's email.
Luke, I truly believe that you can do both. My experience has been that we get to know God through how He works in our everyday lives and the lives of others. There is no doubt that our relationship with God should take priority over everything else, but I don't believe that it should keep us from limiting our activities. We all have to make our own choices, and I understand where you are coming from, but I think you can strengthen your relationship with God and have a big impact on some of our players at the same time. I hope you will reconsider, but we must each do what we believe the Lord has called us to do. I coach football because I enjoy it, but also because I believe it gives me a chance to impact lives for Jesus. Maybe you can play for the same reason :)
BR
Moving to Siloam Springs
Ross' return email to Gumm had more impact than he knows. Gumm kept the email, which he shared with the Herald-Leader.
Gumm decided not to quit football -- a sport he's been fascinated with ever since he moved to the United States in December 2008 when he and his sister, Beza, were adopted from the African country of Ethiopia by Mark and Julie Gumm.
"I think when I first came here, I'd seen some high school games and I thought (football) was just really awesome," said Luke Gumm, whose first name is Wendemagegn, his Ethiopian name. "Then I seen on TV all the commercials and everything and all the superstars. I was like, dang, I want to be like that someday."
The Gumm family -- now a party of six, including siblings Noah and Natalie -- lived in Phoenix at the time, and they moved to Siloam Springs in the summer of 2014 when Julie Gumm was hired at John Brown University.
Luke Gumm wasn't able to play football back in Arizona. The small Christian school he attended didn't offer football until high school, so his only experience with the sport to that point had been playing flag football. He did, however, play a lot of other sports, including soccer.
"I think when we first met Luke, it was obvious, one, that he loved soccer," Julie Gumm said. "He had a lot of soccer skills. So honestly, when I looked toward his future, I probably looked mostly that he would be playing soccer in high school. He's always been super athletic. He's played basketball. He's played baseball, flag football. Everything he's done in athletics, he's been very successful. When he first started expressing that love for football, I knew it was something he would excel at."
When the Gumms moved to Siloam Springs in the summer of 2014, he jumped at the opportunity to join the Panthers.
"I think Luke's transition to coming into our family and living in the U.S. was probably helped a lot by his personality," Julie Gumm said. "He's just kind of a super laid-back guy. It takes a lot to ruffle his feathers, and he makes friends easily, so (football) kind of helped him get friend groups. The football helped with that. When we moved to Siloam Springs, as a freshman, the fact that he was starting the summer being part of the football team, kind of made that transition easy for him too since he has friends right away when school started."
A year later, when Luke Gumm was wanting to quit football, it caught the rest of his family by surprise a bit.
"I was kind of sad because I knew how much he loved playing football, and we all loved going and watching him play football," his mom said.
Ross' response and encouraging words in the aftermath made Luke Gumm reconsider his decision, though.
"I think the key words were probably that he actually needed me," Luke Gumm said. "Not that year, obviously, but in the following years. I don't think I had ever been told I'm needed for something. I just decided to stay."
"I'm glad he stuck with it," his mom said. "I think being part of the team has taught him the value of hard work, that when you want something, you've got to spend a lot of time working on it, especially with his size. Trust me, he tried to eat his way to being way bigger."
Breakout season
Seven games into the 2017 season, there's no telling where the Panthers would be without Gumm, who is the team's top wide receiver and one of the more exciting playmakers in the 6A-West Conference.
Heading into Friday's game at El Dorado, Gumm leads the Panthers with 31 receptions for a team-high 597 yards, an average of 19.3 yards per catch. He's caught seven touchdown passes and also played well on special teams, returning punts and kickoffs, and kicking PATs and field goals.
Gumm still isn't very big. On the Panthers' roster, he's listed at 5-foot-7, 138 pounds, but it's not something Ross or the Panthers worry about anymore.
"Football is so much more than just physical stature," Ross said. "A lot of it is want to and having some ability. Yeah, we'd like every player to be 6-2 or 6-3 and all that. Players come in all sizes and shapes and heights and weights. If you can play, it doesn't really matter."
Gumm has filled up the highlight reel from the opening game of the year.
In the Panthers' season-opening 34-33 loss at home to Rogers, he caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown and also returned a punt 80 yards to set up another score.
In Week 3 against Van Buren, Gumm hauled in five passes for 171 yards as the Panthers defeated the Pointers 35-21 for their first victory of the season.
The next week, on the road at Sheridan, Gumm caught six passes for 84 yards and three touchdowns -- all in the second half -- including the game-winning TD catch with 13.7 seconds left as the Panthers escaped Sheridan with a 31-24 victory. Gumm also kicked a 22-yard field goal and all four of Siloam Springs' extra points in the victory over the Yellowjackets. The previous game against Sheridan in 2016, Gumm kicked a field goal as time expired to give the Panthers a 24-21 victory over the Yellowjackets for Siloam Springs' only victory in 2016.
Gumm had four catches for 104 yards against Benton in Week 5, and last week in a 34-27 loss at home to Lake Hamilton, he caught five passes for 71 yards.
Gumm is in the midst of a breakout season at wide receiver for Siloam Springs. In his previous two seasons, he caught three passes total for 43 yards, with 30 of those yards coming on a pass against Russellville last year.
"I think that's just really great that he's giving me that opportunity," Gumm said. "Sometimes, I think I could have done more last year, if I had gotten the opportunity or something. But come now, I feel like it's a bigger role and I like it."
Gumm spent most of the 2016 season playing defensive back in an injury-depleted secondary for the Panthers. He spent very little time on offense.
"We probably should have played him a little more on offense last year, but we had so many injuries and problems in the secondary, that is where we had to focus," Ross said. "I felt like at that time it, was probably a little too much for him to be going both ways."
Ross said he believed Gumm's best position would eventually be on offense.
"I felt like he could do some things that aren't necessarily easy to teach," he said. "If you could teach it, then everybody would have great hands and everybody would be a great route runner and all that."
State soccer champion
Luke Gumm has excelled on the football field in 2017, but his role on the Siloam Springs boys soccer team the previous season has had an impact as well.
Gumm has played on the Panthers' varsity soccer team the previous three seasons, but it wasn't until his junior year that he really thrust himself into a starting role.
Siloam Springs head soccer coach Brent Crenshaw's first season with the Panthers was in Gumm's sophomore year in 2016.
"There was never a doubt of how good of an athlete he was his sophomore year, but he was behind on his techniques and his overall understanding of positioning," Crenshaw said. "However, we knew he could be very beneficial to our team if we worked with him on those two things. He is very hard-working and listens very well, so he picked up a lot of things rather quickly."
The Panthers won the Class 6A state soccer championship during Gumm's sophomore season, and as a junior, he started at defender and helped Siloam Springs repeat as state champs.
Crenshaw envisions an even bigger role for Gumm for his senior season as the Panthers seek their third straight state title.
"We envision using him more as an attacking player this upcoming season," Crenshaw said. "Last year, as an outside back, he was there to stop (the other team's) speed on our left side and then get forward when we got the ball. I do anticipate him still having to do that sometimes in the spring, but I am hoping to get him more into our attack as an outside mid."
Gumm, Crenshaw and Ross all agree that Gumm's success in soccer this past year has helped him in football his senior year.
"I believe him stepping in as a starter last year in soccer, he has gained confidence, which I see on the football field this year," Crenshaw said. "I look forward to coaching him this spring. He is a very talented kid."
Said Gumm: "I think absolutely it has raised my confidence. ... For me, being part of a state title just showed me it doesn't matter how big I am. If I can get out there, I'm a whole different person."
Sports on 10/18/2017