Helping hands, and a big heart

Give Ryan Maguire a hand.

Not only does he have good hands on the football field, the Warren senior uses them often to lend a hand to those in need.

A star wide receiver, Maguire is a big reason Warren is 6-1 and in position to win its first North Suburban Lake Division title since 2000, when it shared a championship with Libertyville.

Maguire is also a big reason there are wide smiles beaming all through Warren's adapted physical education program each morning.

Maguire opens each school day with a study hall, which means that he could technically spend that time at home and arrive at 8:10 a.m. for his second period of the day. Or, he could use that time in a quiet room to work on some of the homework that typically keeps him up until 11 p.m. each night.

But Maguire does neither. Instead, he leaves his house by 6:45 each morning so that he can help run a 7:25 a.m. gym class for Warren's special education students.

He's done so for two years now.

"A teacher had asked me if I would like to help out," Maguire said. "At first, I wasn't sure. I was nervous. I was like, 'Will those kids in the class even like me?' But I'm so glad I'm doing it. It's helping someone out, and I've fallen in love with it. Just seeing the smiles on those kids' faces - it's great. It's so much better than sleeping in."

Maguire means it, even though he could desperately use the extra sleep. In fact, he's enjoyed volunteering at school so much that he also uses his 45-minute lunch period to lend a hand.

He and a few other Warren students take a shuttle over to a neighboring school for young kids with behavioral issues. Maguire and his buddies inhale their lunches in the five minutes it takes to get there and then spend the rest of the period playing games and hanging out with the younger kids.

On top of all that, Maguire has also helped organize some charitable activities for the football team, including a day of walking dogs at an animal shelter.

Clearly, his influence is rubbing off on his teammates.

"This year, I got one of my teammates (senior lineman Kyle Chellstorp) to help out (with the special education gym class) and I told him 'Just try it out. I bet you won't want to stop.' And he hasn't. Helping out makes you feel pretty good. I really like helping kids who may not be blessed with the abilities I have."

And Maguire has many, particularly on the football field.

He has caught around 30 passes this season for more than 500 yards and 7 touchdowns, which is already more than he amassed all of last season. Add in the fact that Maguire started every game at wide receiver as a sophomore and he'll finish his career as one of the all-time best receivers in Warren history.

He's getting looks from various colleges, including Division I Valparaiso, which he visited recently.

"Ryan is really a nice football player," said Warren coach Dave Mohapp, reminiscing about Maguire's career and his game against Maine South this season in which he had a season-high 12 catches for 135 yards. "The thing I really like about him is that he understands the game. He's an instinctive player. Plus, he's got nice hands, he can jump and he's real competitive. We focus a lot on running (at Warren) but with a receiver like him, it's easy to want to get into the throw game."

Funny thing is, getting into football in the first place was anything but easy for Maguire.

His mother, Pam, signed him up for a youth program as a way to get him active and involved. But Maguire wasn't into it. At all.

"At the time, I hated her for doing that," Maguire said with a slight chuckle. "The problem was that I was this little, round chubby kid who just wanted to eat junk and sit around and play video games.

"My (older) brother (Kyle) always used to tease me and say that if I did play football I was just going to look stupid, and that I wouldn't make it. I didn't want to go out there and make a fool out of myself."

But Pam kept pushing. She wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Maguire started off as a nose guard and center (the only two positions his coaches would let him play), but he quickly become enamored with the skill positions. His intense desire to play them was the motivation he needed to work out more and lose weight - which he did quickly.

He dropped 20 pounds in one off-season.

Now, he can't imagine his life without football, or fitness.

"I really am so glad my mom (pushed)," Maguire said. "I love football and I owe it all to her. It's what I want to do in college and I probably would have never played without my mom. She's the most amazing woman I've ever met."

And not just because she stuck to her guns.

Pam Maguire is also a single, working mother of five who isn't satisfied just to make it through another hectic day.

She's made sure that she and her kids always make time for others. The willingness Maguire now shows to volunteer his time at school was encouraged at an early age when the family would spend weekends lending a hand throughout the community.

Pam is a vet and Maguire says he remembers spending a lot of time when he was younger working with animals in need.

"Ryan is a very caring person, the type of person who really likes helping people," Mohapp said. "It's impressive to me because he's a busy kid. But he still finds the time in his schedule to help."

Maguire is ready to help a college team now. At 6-feet-1, he's not the biggest wide receiver out there. And he may not have the glitziest statistics. But he says he offers a big heart.

Of course, people around the community can already vouch for that.

"If you tell me to do something, I'm going to do it and I'm going to do it the best way I can," Maguire said. "I'm going to give you everything I've got."

Including a helping hand if you need one.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com