Jewelry Factory Blog

Jewelry Factory Blog
April 10th, 2014
Who said big, strong tough guys can’t have a romantic soft side? At Houston’s Westfield High, burly football coach Justin Outten enlisted his powerhouse team to assist him with a sugar-sweet, super-creative marriage proposal. Here’s how it went down…

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Outten, a former offensive lineman at Syracuse University and a seven-year offensive coordinator for the nationally ranked high school team, orchestrated a fake melee among his players during a Thursday afternoon practice.

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Although nobody was actually fighting, and nobody really got hurt, the coach raised the drama by texting to his girlfriend, Vanessa, that he was hit from behind during the ruckus. She texted back her concern his safety: "Hun, are u ok."

News of the fight was actually a ruse to get his girlfriend to view Thursday’s practice film, something she would never do normally.

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In the video, which is backed by Blake Shelton’s “God Gave Me You,” the coach is seen settling the ruckus, bringing his players into a huddle and asking them to take a knee.

Then the coach takes off his black warmup jacket to reveal a red button-down shirt and black tie (Yes, he’s wearing shorts). He turns to the camera and holds up a handmade poster that reads: "Vee, Will U Marry Me?"

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Supporting their beloved coach are the players, who ham it up by placing their palms together in a prayer position and pleading for an answer.

The whole event was captured on the coach’s Hudl platform, a video suite for recording and editing games and practices.

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Two days later, Vee got to see the video of the ugly “brawl” for the first time. Outten set up a hidden camera in her kitchen to capture Vee's reaction to the skirmish that unfolds into the coach's romantic marriage proposal.

We then see Outten going down on one knee and proposing to Vee with a beautiful halo-style diamond engagement ring. “I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you,” the coach says. “Will you marry me.”

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Vee is stunned at first and doesn’t answer the question. “Are you serious right now?” she asks. He nods and she finally answers, “Yes, yes, yes.”

In a sweet sidebar, Outten revealed to Syracuse.com that his players were distressed when he called a team meeting last week.

“I started the meeting saying I had been at the high school for seven years and it was time for a change,” Outten said.

At that point, some players started to get emotional because they expected to hear the coach announce that he would be leaving the program. Instead, he told them how he wanted to include them in an elaborate plan to surprise his girlfriend.

“I need your help,” Outten told his players. “I’m a little nervous right now but I want to propose to my girlfriend and I wanna make sure that you guys are involved.” The players erupted in celebration.

Outten revealed that a wedding date has been tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2015, likely in Texas.

Outten’s proposal video, which was posted on YouTube on Saturday and has been picked up by Yahoo! Sports and other major news outlets, has already generated 103,000 views. We hope you enjoy it, too.