SPANISH FORT, Ala. — After the last bell, Christmas break was to begin. The students at Rockwell Elementary were, well, stoked. There was vacation, Christmas and a host of class parties to consider, so spirits were high.

Then a special guest came to the school. According to Rockwell Elementary Principal Robbie Owen, “It got very quiet in a hurry.”

Who was this mysterious visitor? It wasn’t Mr. S. Claus from the North Pole, but somebody both Owen and Spanish Fort High School Assistant Football Coach George Brown say all the students know and admire — Ameriol Finley.

Finley, the quarterback for the Spanish Fort High Toros led the team to a state Division 5A championship and despite the fact he has already graduated from SFHS and is now a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, he decided to spend a day with the younger students. He had also been slated to sing with the choir for the last time.

“The funniest question I got asked,” said Finley in a phone interview, “was ‘was my hair real?’”

Finley wears dreadlocks, and Brown says that many SFHS students and Toros fans would wear caps with fake “dreads” peeking out the side and back in imitation of the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Finley’s hairstyle.

Finley had enough credits to graduate a semester early from SFHS and has begun taking classes at USA. Finley says he hopes to earn an engineering degree.

“I knew it meant a lot (to the youngsters) for us to win a state championship,” continued Finley.

The whole thing came about when fifth-grade student Turner Spell, who plays “corner wide” for the Spanish Fort White team in a city league, went to an event at an area business to meet his idol, Finley. Unfortunately, Spell arrived a little late and Finley had already left.

The young football player felt dejected.

“He’s my hero,”said Spell. “I went to his games.”

Fortunately Spell’s mother works in the Rockwell Elementary office, and told Owen about the missed opportunity. When Coach Brown came by to pick up some jersey order forms, Owen told Brown about the disappointed student.

“I went over to the high school and found Ameriol (who was with the choir) and asked him if he wanted to go,” said Brown. “He said ‘yes.’ He’s always stressing the importance of being a student athlete, with ‘student’ coming first.”

The pair entered the Rockwell office, and Spell was called.

“They said there was someone there I wanted to meet. I was shocked when I saw MeMe (That’s the students’ nickname for Finley). We talked about football.”

Best of all, Spell got to act as MeMe’s host and led him into classrooms.

“They (the other students) would start gasping,” said Spell, explaining how the Rockwell students would react when their recognized their football hero.

Spell hopes to keep on playing football, and he has other goals for his life beyond the gridiron.

“I guess I’ll be an artist,” he said, adding that he’s drawn Finley playing.