Читать книгу Tiger Legacy - David Foster - Страница 10
ОглавлениеIn Massillon, football is a cradle-to-grave tradition that is woven into every phase of life.
For decades, members of the Tiger Football Booster Club have visited maternity wards to place mini footballs in the bassinets of baby boys born to parents from Massillon.
Many from Massillon describe their earliest and most compelling memories as those associated with Tiger football traditions. They remember the first time they went to a game. They remember youth leagues and football games in the backyard or on “the hill,” an area overlooking Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Young boys have practiced passing and catching on the hill for generations, picturing themselves one day playing in a stadium packed with thousands of cheering fans.
Many of the young men who play football for the Tigers today are the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons of former players.
The same families have been sitting in reserved stadium seats for decades. Season tickets are passed on to the next generation, and debates about who gets the season tickets have been known to be included in property settlements and divorce proceedings. Senior citizens who can no longer attend the games gather around the radio in their orange and black to enjoy the games together.
For the most faithful fans, Tiger memories and memorabilia are part of their calling hours, and caskets with an image of Obie, the Massillon Tigers’ mascot, are available. Like the bassinet footballs, the Obie caskets reflect the significance of Tiger football to generations of Massillon people.
BASSINET FOOTBALLS
Michelle Del Rio-Keller, Massillon mom
It’s a big thing in Massillon for baby boys to receive a football in the bassinet. As a girl who never had that embellishment, and as a mother who found out I was having a boy, it was exciting for me.
MY BOYS
Karla Marsh, Tiger Mom
When my boys were younger, they’d be out in the yard playing football, and they would yell, “Mom, you’re gonna hear, ‘Marsh in for the Tiger touchdown’ over the speaker.”
Jared was the backup kicker and he loved it. He loved being part of the family. I think that’s what I’ll miss the most, because that kept him dedicated.
Right now we’re working on getting Trent trained to be a kicker. He’s 10 and he wants to do what his older brother did. He looks up to all these guys so much. He knows all their numbers.
ALL I’D EVER WANT
Frank Page, Boys & Girls Club of Massillon coach
I grew up in Fort Lauderdale and played for St. Thomas Aquinas. We won two state football championships. My wife is from Mineral Ridge, a small town near here. When we graduated from college, we started looking for jobs, and a friend of mine said, “If you want to coach, try to get to Massillon if you can. That’s the mecca of football.”
The day we came to visit, my wife said, “I think we should make this happen.” We’ve been here ever since. We started our family here, and you couldn’t pry my boys out of this town.
I love being active, so being a coach with the Boys & Girls Club seemed to be the best way to do that. I’ve coached both of my boys, but Ryan had that little spark, and he understands why he’s doing the things we ask him to do. He gets so excited when he’s on the field.
My ultimate coaching experience was [when] we were down by a touchdown and the other team had the ball and was driving down the field. We called timeout and I looked at Ryan. “I need you to make one play, buddy. Just make one play.” They called a pass play, and the kid goes to catch the ball but he tips it up in the air. Ryan catches it and runs it back for the touchdown. We made the two-point conversion to win the game. Just to see the excitement on his face was the ultimate feeling for me.
I know he wants to be successful. All he ever talks about are the state championships I won when I was in Florida, and he’s seen the rings in the box. He’s asked, “I can win one of those, can’t I, Dad?” I said, “Yeah, of course you can. You can do whatever you want to do, if you put your mind to it.”
I’m quite sure both of my boys will do something special in their lives. I just want to be a part of it.
That’s all I’d ever want.
THE HILL
Brody Tonn, Tiger defensive back
As a boy, you picture yourself in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, jam-packed with fans watching you play. Now I play in the stadium that I always dreamed of. Friends who played football with me on the hill had the same dream of being out there on the field as I did. We still have that fire in us. It’s just brought out in different ways. Now these friends are some of my biggest supporters. They get the student section going and make the student section what it is.
When I was playing during my senior year, I looked out on the hill during pre-game and saw that there were still kids playing on the hill.
WHITFIELD TRADITION
Whitfield grandfathers, uncles, fathers, brothers, nephews, cousins, sons, and grandsons have been playing Massillon football for generations.
Granddad: David Whitfield Sr., Tiger ’63,’64,’65
When I was younger, Paul Brown was a big part of our playing experience because we would watch the teams and the types of athletes he produced. All 11 people on offense and defense were all-stars.
When we played, it was about business. My coach was Earle Bruce, and he was outstanding. He knew how to bring out the best in his players. We looked ahead to being a national champion or a state champion, because the teams before us were champs. When I played, we were up to 19 state championships, so winning a championship was expected of us. We thought it was our legacy. It was just built into us.
When I think about the pride that comes from being a Tiger football player, it’s about coming up in a city that teaches you how to respect yourself and how to play the sport in a manner that means something to yourself, to your family, and to your city. When you’re a champion and you repeat the championship, it’s because people before you taught you how to become a champion. I tried to pass that down, pay it forward.
Dad: David Whitfield Jr., Tiger ’87,’88,’89
My whole family played football ever since we were little. My dad coached me when I was in flag football, all the way through high school. I tried to do the same with Marcus. I coached him in flag through fifth or sixth grade to keep the family tradition going.
It was fun coaching, not just Marcus, but all his friends: Brody Tonn, Beau Huffman, Ronnie Humphrey, and Tanner Mast. It was a great job and a good experience coaching with their fathers. Although we might have been a year or two apart, we all went through high school together. We were all on the same team. It seemed like we had our kids together, so coaching together was a lot of fun.
It’s a passion that we have. It’s in our blood.
Son: Marcus Whitfield, Tiger ’11,’12,’13
Even in flag football, it was pretty serious. Flag football is supposed to be laid-back. We’re a bunch of little first and second graders running around having a good time. But playing in Massillon, starting with the Boys & Girls Club, football gets serious. By the sixth grade, when major league starts and pads go on, you’re facing older and bigger guys.
I remember when I was about 12 years old, in sixth or seventh grade, I had a talk with Coach Brian Pachis. I remember him asking me what my name was. I said, “Marcus Whitfield.” He said he wanted me to follow in my parents’ and my grandparents’ footsteps and continue the Whitfield family name in Massillon. I’ve thought about that talk, and I knew it was time to really pick it up.
Mom: Lytoria Whitfield
I went to Timken High School and rooted for [Canton] McKinley, so when I first met my husband, there were Massillon–McKinley games or parties, and of course I rooted for the other side. It was exciting to watch the games through high school, but as an adult, I saw things on a different level. I realized how much football matters to the Massillon community and the support system they created. I converted when Marcus started wearing the Massillon uniform.
At some point, it became clear to me that this was his path. He had a love for it on so many levels. He was so involved, so ready to play the game and bleed orange and black. He went through the whole Massillon system and played with the same kids since he was five years old. Just to experience that and to watch all of these children grow up together and go through these different phases of life, from the Boys & Girls Club, when it was flag football, to when they actually put pads on, was amazing. I remember the first time he put pads on. I was nervous and thought, “Oh God, this is real.” Then they got to play on the big field, as they called it, which was Tiger Stadium. They did things together, graduated together, and they are still friends today.
COACH HUFF AND DAD
Jeff Huffman, retired coach and Tiger dad
While interviewing for head coaching jobs, an opening came up in Massillon as an assistant. We sat down as a family, and I said, “You know, I love being a head coach, but I want my boys to have the experience I had of playing at Massillon. If I do this, we’re staying here until I retire.” That’s what happened.
And it paid off big-time.
I remember Brett and Beau as kids, wanting to play football, wanting to be Tigers. It brought back memories of growing up in Massillon. I lived on the west side of town, and I wasn’t old enough to walk to the games. So while the junior high and high school kids would walk past my house, I’d be in the yard kicking a football in the air, as hard as I could kick it, then running to catch it. Later, my own kids would do the same thing.
When Beau was a freshman and I was coaching the freshman team, he came up to me and said, “Hey, Dad.” I looked at him, grabbed him, and I said, “Hey, listen. I’m not Dad. When we’re out here on this field, I’m Coach Huff, and don’t ever forget that.” He never did forget. He still calls me Coach Huff to this day.
But now that I’m retiring, I can be Dad again.
You get exposure in Massillon, so as long as you’re halfway decent, you’re going to get a college education out of it.
Brett had a great career here, ended up getting a full scholarship to Duke. There’s no doubt in my mind that he was an NFL-caliber player. He went through all the combines, but he didn’t get drafted. They wanted him to try out as a free agent. He said, “Dad, I didn’t want to disappoint you, but I just had enough.”
I said, “Brett, you haven’t disappointed me in the least bit. You got everything I ever wanted you to get out of playing football. You went to one of the most prestigious colleges in the world, you had a great career there, and you came out owing zero.
“Anything above that is the cherry on top of the sundae.”
RIP DAD
Emmanuel Brantley, Tiger captain
I really wanted to do something for my father. The big thing I saw players do at the start of a game was to write something that [had meaning] to them when they taped up their wrists. I know he would have loved to be here supporting me for my first game.
I put “RIP Dad” on my tape, and I played for him.
MY SIDELINER
Emmanuel Brantley, Tiger captain
My father went to McKinley, so he really wanted me to be a Bulldog. Then I had a change of heart and wanted to go to Massillon. He was the toughest one to persuade, but when he realized it was a good choice for me, he let me go. Once I got there, he became a Tiger.
Having him in the stands supporting me was a huge plus. He just told me to follow my dreams and do what my heart told me to do, and what God tells me to do. He told me that he thought I made the right move. Having him have my back was a great feeling.
I came back from some event, and my cousin called and said that my dad fell. He was about to take off his hoodie so my cousin could cut his hair, and he just fell over. They called the ambulance. After long hours of waiting in the hospital, they told us that my dad had passed.
It was a very tough time, because I was going into my senior year, and you want your parents to be there for senior night and all that. But knowing that he wasn’t going to be there in person, but still there watching me from above, was really different.
My teammates were there for me. I did not expect them to be at the funeral, but they came. They patted me on the back, saying things like, “Stay up and keep going forward” and “He’s in a better place now.” My father was so big on football. He always told me that I was a good player. My teammates told me that he was proud of me and of everything I had accomplished. The one thing I really wanted to do was be a captain and a leader, and I did get the opportunity my senior year.
