Football teaches valuable lessons within the physical demands of the sport.

Teamwork. Responsibility. Perseverance. Overcoming adversity.

And also respect – for the game, teammates and members the other team.

Football players are taught from the earliest ages that it takes 11 players to score a touchdown or cause a big play on defense. Long runs, big passes and pick 6s don’t happen without everyone else doing their jobs.

Still, TV recap shows are flooded each week with players who display unbelievable yet seemingly individual feats of athleticism, then often draw attention to themselves or stand over an opponent showing “who’s the man.”

One Michigan high school football player took all those high-flying highlights and brought them back down to Earth through the most unassuming way, and it has reminded folks why this great sport has such a pull on our passions.

During a stoppage in play, a Dansville High School junior defensive end Clay Soule walked across the line of scrimmage, bent down and helped an opponent tie his shoes.

It had no impact on the final outcome of the game but left both sidelines cheering and a growing YouTube audience smiling along.

“He was trying to tie his shoe with his gloves on, and he couldn't do it,” Soule told the Lansing State Journal. “I asked him if he wanted me to tie his shoe, and I just went over there and tied it for him.

“I didn’t think twice about it. I think he was surprised.”

He shouldn’t have been. Football players pick each other up off the ground all the time.