The Goiter

This post pertains to college football. If you have no interest in it, then you may just want to skip on to the other delectible sections of this wonderful blog.

Frank Beamer, head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies, has a strange discolored patch of skin hanging from his face, possibly scar tissue.

I've always wondered what it was and was just too damn lazy to find out. Well, tonight I finally gathered the courage too get on Wikipedia and find out. For those who don't know, the thing on his face is known as the Goiter.

THE GOITER

Beamer is semi-affectionately known by fans of opposing teams as the "Goiter", a reference to the disfiguring scarring on the right side of his neck.

In 1954, when Beamer was seven years old, he used a push broom to help keep a pile of burning trash in place. When the job was done he returned the broom to the garage, not knowing that its brushes were still smoldering. A spark ignited a can of nearby gasoline, which exploded in front of him. His 11-year old brother, Barnett, saved him by rolling him around on the ground, but Frank was left with burns on the right side of his neck, chest and his shoulders. Over the next few years he endured dozens of painful skin grafts and was left with permanent scarring.