Scholar-athlete: David Glidden learned a lot from his classmate

But graduation night is seared into his memory.

That's because of a special-needs classmate he walked with across the stage. It was the exclamation mark on an experience that capped his senior year at Mustang High School and changed his outlook on life.

“It was the most incredible thing I've ever felt,” he said.

That's saying something.

Glidden, after all, has already done some amazing things. Athletically, he was a three-sport star — a Parade All-American in football, an All-State guard in basketball and a pro prospect in baseball once upon a time. Academically, he was rock solid with a 3.7 grade-point average and several college credits already on his transcript at Oklahoma State, where he will play football.

Because of that combination of athletic and academic prowess, Glidden is the recipient of the Bob Colon Scholarship. It is presented by The Oklahoman and the Jim Thorpe Association to the top male high school scholar-athlete in the Oklahoma City area.

His mom always told him to thank God for his blessings, gifts and talents, and while Glidden followed her advice, he never quite got it.

Now, after deciding to get involved in Mustang's Students Assisting Students program, which places able-bodied students in the school's special-needs classroom, he has a whole different perspective.

“I would be the one helping them with stuff,” Glidden said, “but in the big picture, I was the one who go the most out of it.”

Things, you see, have often come easily for Glidden.

Born into an athletic family — both his grandpa and his dad played college football — playing sports was a natural.

“As soon as we could walk ...,” Glidden's older brother, Dylan, said, “we were throwing whatever kind of ball we could get our hands on.”

Glidden's dad, Pete, remembers being in the driveway one Sunday morning with David. They were waiting on Glidden's mom, Deidre, to go to church, and David wanted to play catch.