2008 Woodie Awards
Growing Pains
Football: High School Teammates Learning To Adjust After Rocky First Year
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Sports
It's Fall 2006 in Washington, Ga.
Kelmetrus "Meme" Wylie is lined up in the backfield. Gary Wilburn is the lone defender. The coach's whistle blows and Wylie takes the handoff straight up the field. Wilburn is right there, waiting for him.
It's one-on-one, strength vs. strength. The best running back on the team against the best defender.
Wylie has Wilburn on his heels. He stutter steps. Wilburn breaks down. With a simple drop of his shoulder pads, Wylie blasts through his off-balance counterpart and trots a bit further before the whistle blows again.
"Gary, why did you let him do you like that?" shouts the defensive backs coach.
Wilburn doesn't say anything. Why would he? He just got trucked in an open-field tackle drill. Wilburn picks himself off the ground and walks to the end of his line, where he waits for a chance at redemption. Soon enough, he is right back where he was minutes ago.
He crouches into position and stares down Wylie. Wylie settles into his stance, ready to show up Wilburn one more time. For this moment, nothing else matters. No one else matters.
Wylie runs towards Wilburn and puts on the same hesitation move, but this time, Wilburn doesn't bite. Instead, he explodes forward and jolts Wylie, sending the running back to the ground harder than he ever had before.
"He got me pretty good," Wylie recalled.
Wilburn just laughed, because, well, that's what he does.
"He's a goofball," Wylie said. "Once Gary starts laughing, you might as well call it quits because he's never going to stop."
See, Wylie and Wilburn aren't just friends. Wylie and Wilburn, for all intents and purposes, are inseparable.
They played in the backfield together in Pop Warner. In high school, they played on the basketball team together. Wylie was the heady, unselfish point guard and Wilburn was the 3-point shooter. They ran track together. Wylie ran anchor of the 400-meter relay team and Wilburn ran the second leg. Wylie ran a 10.5-second split, so did Wilburn. They lifted weights together. Wylie maxed-out on bench press at 345 pounds, so did Wilburn. Wylie was the star running back and middle linebacker on the football team. Wilburn was the stud cornerback and wide receiver.
Kelmetrus "Meme" Wylie is lined up in the backfield. Gary Wilburn is the lone defender. The coach's whistle blows and Wylie takes the handoff straight up the field. Wilburn is right there, waiting for him.
It's one-on-one, strength vs. strength. The best running back on the team against the best defender.
Wylie has Wilburn on his heels. He stutter steps. Wilburn breaks down. With a simple drop of his shoulder pads, Wylie blasts through his off-balance counterpart and trots a bit further before the whistle blows again.
"Gary, why did you let him do you like that?" shouts the defensive backs coach.
Wilburn doesn't say anything. Why would he? He just got trucked in an open-field tackle drill. Wilburn picks himself off the ground and walks to the end of his line, where he waits for a chance at redemption. Soon enough, he is right back where he was minutes ago.
He crouches into position and stares down Wylie. Wylie settles into his stance, ready to show up Wilburn one more time. For this moment, nothing else matters. No one else matters.
Wylie runs towards Wilburn and puts on the same hesitation move, but this time, Wilburn doesn't bite. Instead, he explodes forward and jolts Wylie, sending the running back to the ground harder than he ever had before.
"He got me pretty good," Wylie recalled.
Wilburn just laughed, because, well, that's what he does.
"He's a goofball," Wylie said. "Once Gary starts laughing, you might as well call it quits because he's never going to stop."
See, Wylie and Wilburn aren't just friends. Wylie and Wilburn, for all intents and purposes, are inseparable.
They played in the backfield together in Pop Warner. In high school, they played on the basketball team together. Wylie was the heady, unselfish point guard and Wilburn was the 3-point shooter. They ran track together. Wylie ran anchor of the 400-meter relay team and Wilburn ran the second leg. Wylie ran a 10.5-second split, so did Wilburn. They lifted weights together. Wylie maxed-out on bench press at 345 pounds, so did Wilburn. Wylie was the star running back and middle linebacker on the football team. Wilburn was the stud cornerback and wide receiver.
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Ed T
posted 5/26/08 @ 11:58 PM EST
Excellent story of college aclimation and growth. You ought to have the football job at Htfd Courant sports. Maybe the spot is better where you are though huh? Appreciate a positive story where there is a conflict or adversity and it is overcome. (Continued…)
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