Thirty-five white players. Thirty-two black players. Some rich. Some poor. All Myers Park Mustangs. We spent the entire fall with them to see what happens CHAPTER I when you put kids from SENIOR NIGHT different backgrounds together for a season. The HE WANTS EVERYONE around him to believe it’s OK. Really, it is. It’s result is this three-part story fine that it’s Senior Night and she’s not here yet. He’ll play it tough, of hard lessons, lifetime because that’s what football players do, and because that’s what she friendships, stupid mistakes, taught him to do. He raises his chin and sticks it out and gives a quick it’s-no-big-deal nod when an assistant coach volunteers to walk with and endless optimism about him. He dances and makes a nervous joke to his best friend, who’s uncertain futures. standing behind him in line. And he knows that when his name is called, he’ll strut like he always does. He’s Jamal Watson, after all, BY MICHAEL GRAFF number 7, the star cornerback of the football team, a tall and quick PHOTOGRAPHS BY LOGAN CYRUS and handsome young man who just a few weeks ago won homecoming king. “Y’all can just call me King ’Mal,” he said that night. King ’Mal always puts on a strong face for the people, even right now, on a damp night in early November, when he’s just a 17-year-old kid wishing his Mama would hurry up and get here. “Where is she?” he asks under his breath, sneaking a peek at his phone. He’s standing alone near the front of a line of Myers Park High School football seniors and their moms and dads, uncles and aunts, grandmas and grandpas. Watson is the best player on the team, and at times he’s also the most frustrating. His coaches say he’s matured a mile in the past year. Yet during practice, when those coaches look the other way, he might run a couple of plays with the back of his pants down around his thighs to moon his teammates. He has the attention of several Division I col- leges, but two weeks ago he had a momentary lapse and got burned for a game-deciding touchdown against rival Independence. He’s the player opposing coaches seek out after games, showering him with words about what a fine future he has, and yet last week, just two hours before game time, Watson couldn’t even find his jersey. There are moments during a long football season when you see into the soul of a young man, and, despite what you might see in movies, those moments rarely have anything to do with football. Like now. His eyes wide, his head darting back and forth between his phone and the parking lot. “She said she was almost here,” he says quietly. Kameela Watson works as donor recruiter at the American Red Cross, and tonight she’s running late. She raises Jay, as she calls her only son, and his 12-year-old sister, Tyana Ford, by herself in a three-bedroom apartment off Old Providence Road. Their complex, Gladedale, is a subsidized-housing community, but it sits in one of Charlotte’s richest neighborhoods. Jamal is the “man of the house,” his mother says. He handles everything from dishes to trash to laundry. He’s a pretty good brother, too: “He can be aggravating at times,” his sister says. “But he’s always there for me.” Watson is one of the most popular kids at one of the most diverse

The season starts in high schools in the region. In a school district where half of the August (this photo is schools are segregated by race, Myers Park’s student body is about from before a Week 2 game against Ardrey Kell) 58 percent white, 25 percent black, and 10 percent Latino. It is a and ends in November. place that mixes kids from the richest zip codes in Charlotte—those

60 CHARLOTTE FEBRUARY 2016 FEBRUARY 2016 CHARLOTTE 61 the bench, he’s met by Chadwick, a short and fiery man with three “You cannot DO THAT!” children of his own. around Myers Park—and the poorest, the very least, she says, she wants a photo. a football team in the heart of the second- “You cannot DO THAT!” he yells including Grier Heights, or Grier Town, as Behind them a noise builds. Tonight’s fastest growing big city in America, a city he yells at Williams, and at Williams, and Williams looks the locals call it. Each year about one-third opponents from East Mecklenburg walk that’s increasingly diverse and trying to Williams looks down. down. “Look me in the eyes. Look of the nearly 2,900 students who attend up the steps behind the makeshift mother- figure out how we’ll all live next to each me in the eyes right now. You cannot school here are on free or reduced lunch. son moment, chanting a call and response: other after generations of segregation “Look me in the eyes. DO THAT!” The diversity plays out in different ways. “What time is it?” “Game time.” “What time in our neighborhoods and schools. It’s a Look me in the eyes “Yessir,” Williams says, and walks During lunch, black kids crowd at some is it?” “Game time.” story about what it’s like to take kids who to the bench. tables and white kids cluster at others. It is the last regular-season Friday night in many ways are born opposites and put right now. You cannot A possession later, before the The football players—black and white, of an up and down year for Myers Park. In a them together under helmets that are the DO THAT!” red flushes out of Chadwick’s face, rich and poor—eat together. city where faces change color completely same cost and color. his running back fumbles, and East Coach Scott Chadwick (above), who has a 124-75 record in 17 The public address announcer starts the from one neighborhood to the next, few On Fridays, though, if you don’t mind, Meck returns the ball for a touch- years as a high school football they’d rather talk about football. A coach, conducts his pregame ceremony by calling names, cheerleaders groups offer a better glimpse into inte- down. The coach tosses his arms speeches on a hill behind first, then the football team, in order of gration than this team. Myers Park has 35 win tonight would boost the Mustangs’ ning in Charlotte’s Memorial Stadium in the air as the scoreboard flashes the the locker rooms. Before the speech, the players—including jersey number. The band plays a few notes white players and 32 black players on the standing for the North Carolina High against neighboring private school new deficit, 14-0. In the second quarter, quarterback Jack Davidson (eye black) and Jamal Watson (towel for each person called. An assistant coach roster (along with one player who is mixed- School Athletic Association 4-AA play- Charlotte Country Day. Chadwick had no standout linebacker Ben Norris, whose around neck)—take a few quiet walks up and puts his hand on Watson’s race and one who is Asian). If you measure offs—the biggest and best high school idea what kind of team he had then, and dad is the president of the booster club, moments to think. neck. “It’s OK,” the coach says, “I got you.” success simply by wins and losses, the football tournament in the state. A loss wasn’t sure what he’d need to do to bring tries to make a tackle with his right arm In coaching, there’s no telling what trouble awaits. On Senior Nod. Chin out. No big deal. results are inconclusive. Myers Park has a would push them down among the lowest together players who come from such but has it ripped backward. He stays on Night, Chadwick and his staff Strut. The announcer introduces him. 6-4 record going into tonight’s game, not seeds in the region. diverse backgrounds. One boy has a heart the field for five plays before coming off to are forced to come up with a plan to replace standout junior He says that Watson is a cornerback, that so bad and not so good. But if you listen Since beating out 109 applicants for the surgeon for a father and another is the have it checked. A trainer puts pressure on linebacker Ben Norris (opposite page) after Norris tears his he’s been on varsity for three years, and to them in the locker room and at practice head-coaching job two years ago, Scott son of a former NFL player; others don’t his shoulder, just where it meets his chest. right labrum. that he plans to play football for a Division I and at the lunch table, you’ll hear a team Chadwick has tried to establish consis- claim a father at all. Eleven weeks after “Ahhhhh, shit!” the 16-year-old shrieks. school next year. And finally, “Jamal would of teenagers who aren’t afraid of conver- tency in a program and group of kids that that opening night, the coach still doesn’t There’s a piece of cartilage that reinforces like to thank his mom and sister for being sations that many adults fear. They talk sorely need it. Despite being one of the know. They’re 6-4, and in a way, that seems the ball and socket joint in our shoulders. there with him every step of the way.” about race and class with the same matter- largest two or three high schools in the to fit. Life’s usually not black or white. It’s called the labrum. Norris will soon Watson reaches the end of his walk and of-factness they use to discuss fast cars and state each year, Myers Park has had just Life’s usually not 10-0. Life’s usually not learn that he’s torn his. stands in the line again. Minutes later, farts, as if it’s all part of life. one winning season and two playoff vic- 0-10. We’re lucky if life’s 6-4. At halftime, the Mustangs run behind her black cardigan waving in the wind, tories in the past 10 years. Each week, the school to meet on a small hill that Kameela rushes onto the field. The heels Chadwick, who started his career 18 years overlooks the baseball field. They’ve of her leather boots dig into the turf as fast FOOTBALL BRINGS PEOPLE together; there ago in Maryland and has coached in three THE MUSTANGS FUMBLE the opening kick- come together here for pregame and half- as she can wheel them. She’s clutching her are more than enough books and movies state championship games, talks about off and East Meck scores a quick touch- time pep talks for every home game this purse with one hand and wiping away tears about that. But Charlotte is far too big and progress. In 2014, Chadwick’s first year down. On the extra point, Myers Park year, back to when the sun still shined with the other. “I’m sorry, Jay,” she tells her diverse to rally around one team or one here, the Mustangs won five games. This senior Colby Williams is called for a deep into the evening. Before they jog son. After the last name is called, she asks a game. This isn’t a story about a small town year they’ve won six. Progress. 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct pen- back out onto the field for the second photographer to walk back across the field way out in the country where every store Tonight marks the end of a regular alty for vaulting off a teammate’s back half, Chadwick gives one last speech on and recreate the moment she missed. At closes on game night. This is a story about season that started on a hot August eve- to try to block the kick. When he runs to the hill for this season.

62 CHARLOTTE FEBRUARY 2016 FEBRUARY 2016 CHARLOTTE 63 “You came out flat,” he says. “You’ve got senior leadership finally caught up with nearby private school Charlotte Country 24 minutes left to fix it. Seniors, you’ve got us tonight.” Day. It’s the first-ever meeting of the 24 minutes left on this field.” After dismissing the players, Chadwick two teams, despite the fact that Country BEN NORRIS IS EVERY All-American boy With 18 minutes left on this field, East stands with his assistant coaches for 15 Day was founded in 1941 and Myers Park stereotype in a 16-year-old body. He’s Mecklenburg kicks a field goal. It’s 17-0. minutes, trying to figure out what went opened about four miles away 10 years a 6-foot-2 wrecking ball of a linebacker With seven minutes left on this field, wrong. They eventually decide that later. All summer, Myers Park parents who will finish the year with more tackles East Meck scores again to make it 24-0. everything did. As they walk out of the reminded Chadwick: “If you win only one behind the line of scrimmage than any After the touchdown, three Myers Park stadium one last time, the coaches pass game, it better be this one.” player on the team. A white boy with a seniors—including Watson and Williams— offensive lineman Anton O’Brien, a kid Adding to the pressure is the fact that full head of hair that he parts to the right, get flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct with a haircut that looks like he picked a Country Day’s head coach, Drew Witman, a strong jaw, and rosy, round cheeks. A penalties. For pushing. For shoving. For guard-setting on the clippers and did the was one of Chadwick’s assistant coaches newly licensed driver who often squeals tossing helmets. For acting, quite frankly, whole thing himself. O’Brien, a senior, is last year. out of the parking lot after football prac- like sore losers. standing at the top of the concrete steps Meanwhile, protesters are swirling tice without his shirt on. He’s the young- Noah Smith, a starting senior line- that lead out of the stadium, staring back around Charlotte. The trial of Randall est in a family of three boys, all football backer and the third player penalized at the empty, brightly lit football field. Kerrick, the white police officer who shot players, and when he’s on the field, four- for unsportsmanlike conduct, walks Each tear carries a stream of wet eye black and killed an unarmed black man named letter words fly from his mouth with the to the far end of the Myers Park bench down his cheeks, and his hand trembles as Jonathan Ferrell in 2013, resulted in a confidence of someone who’s heard them and tosses his helmet toward the track. he clutches his helmet. hung jury the evening before the game. for a few years. Quarterback Jack Athletics director Rick Lewis says, “Who “You OK?” an assistant coach asks. Civil rights groups and other activists Davidson encounters “Ben’s not like his brothers,” his father, is that team out there?” Assistant coach O’Brien can’t catch the breath to say yes have been giving speeches all around the several close games that Rob, tells me, smiling at the differences come down to the last Dre Bly, a former NFL cornerback, spits or no. city, promising to keep fighting against play early in the year. between his sons. “Ben’s a wild man.” sunflower seed shells on the ground and “It’s alright, man,” the assistant says. what they believe to be another instance In the second game of the season, on says, “This is awful.” “We still have the playoffs.” of racial injustice. the passing team gathers around him. He yards in the opposite direction, and now August 28, Myers Park loses to Ardrey Kell, Meanwhile, JaMykal Neal, a big and Two hours and a bus ride following draws up a series of routes that he knows it is fourth down, and now there are only 21-9. That weekend, Ben goes to a party. friendly offensive lineman who fought the Eminem talk, the Myers Park players will work based on what he’s seen from the 30.4 seconds left, and now there are 20 He’s 16; things happen. The night ends through a sprained ankle the entire game, walk out onto the Memorial Stadium field Country Day defense. He asks the group if yards between Country Day and the win- with him making a phone call to his father sits on the bench with his helmet on. Neal, for warmups in a line of twos, each pair everybody understands, and the only one ning score. The Myers Park band leader to come pick him up. That leads to him a junior, will be one of the Mustangs’ top CHAPTER II with arms interlocked. After they stretch, who shakes his head no is Jack Davidson, announces into his microphone, “Let’s do losing his cell phone privileges for a few prospects next year. Big college programs, FALSE STARTS the players return to the locker room for a junior with sandy-red hair and a slight ‘Final Countdown,’” and soon the horns weeks at home. It also leads to him and including a few from the ACC and SEC, another Chadwick speech, a shorter one issue with daydreaming. “Damn it, Jack,” begin to blare and the drums begin to his father having a conversation with the are already looking at him. He hopes that this time: “You’re representing decades Chadwick says, trying to hold back a smile, snap, and a man in a white hat on the field principal, and that leads to a three-game one day he’ll reach the NFL so that he BEFORE THAT, BEFORE 6-4 became 6-5, of people today that would love to be “you’re the quarterback.” blows his whistle to start the play clock suspension from the team. can buy his mother a house and move her before the seniors could even consider where you are right now. It’s a big, big The coach explains the play again. On out of their rental in Grier Heights. For the end of their high school football responsibility, but I wouldn’t give it to the first series of the second half, he calls now, though, all Neal can see through his careers, before daylight savings ended, any other group.” it. Davidson floats a high-arching pass facemask is the scoreboard, which reads before October, before September, it’s They sprint out of the locker room that, if you’re standing in the right spot, Chadwick’s performance is completely 24-0. In the last regular-season game in three hours before the opening-night and into a blow-up tunnel, rip through crests beautifully atop the Charlotte dependent on teenagers who make mistakes. this season of progress, Myers Park suffers kickoff on a late-August Saturday, and a paper sign to take the field for kickoff, skyline. As the ball comes down, senior its first shutout loss in seven years. a middle-aged, white football coach is and then stumble their way through Brandon Adams runs under it, catches it, It’s the lowest moment in Chadwick’s standing in front of a room of football most of the first half. Country Day, made tiptoes along the sideline, then settles in two-year tenure, and the first shutout players that’s nearly half white and half up of nearly all white players, takes a for a dead sprint toward the end zone on for the final play, and a young quarter- Few jobs in the world are like being a he’s suffered as a coach since 2000. He black, and he’s trying to quote Eminem. 14-12 lead into halftime. the uptown side of the field. The 57-yard back in a Country Day helmet yells hike, high school coach. Chadwick’s perfor- watches East Mecklenburg players dump “And in this one he says, um,” Chadwick “I think what you’re seeing here,” a touchdown puts Myers Park up 19-14. and two young girls in the bleachers rise mance is completely dependent on teen- a bucket of water on their coach. He hears says, “it says here, uh, look: If you only had man in a Country Day hat on the sidelines In the final minute of the fourth quarter, from their seats and stand side-by-side agers who make w. His career began in their fans singing, “Nah, nah, nah, nah / one shot …” says to me at the beginning of the second as the sun sets and the field glows orange, in a “CD” shirt and an “MP” shirt, and 1998, the year before Ben Norris was born. hey, hey, hey / goodbye,” right here, in the The players burst into laughter. quarter, “is this is the case of the itty-bitty Charlotte Country Day moves the ball the quarterback slings a low-lining pass He’s dealt with more situations like this very stadium he helps maintain by raising “… or one opportunity, to seize every- guys being better prepared.” to within six yards of a game-winning toward the goal line. Waiting there is a than he cares to remember. In 2001, when money throughout the community. The thing you ever wanted …” Myers Park, in fact, held non-manda- touchdown. Chadwick calls a timeout and young man named Jason Monastra. He’s he was at Bowie High School in Maryland, teams shake hands. Chadwick directs the The coaches laugh, too. tory practices throughout the summer. his defensive coaches talk details—this a starting wide receiver for Myers Park Chadwick suspended five players for the Mustangs into the east end zone. They “Would you capture it, or let it slip?” Then, in early August, camp hit, and the player will go here and that player will go who scored a touchdown earlier in the last game of the regular season because kneel in a big circle, the seniors spilling Seriously, he’s still going. Some players Mustangs went at it twice a day. They ate there. None of that “if you only had one game and is playing defensive back now they skipped school on “Senior Skip tears onto the field on a cloudy night. are in tears. lunch in between. On one of the hottest shot” stuff. because of injuries to other players. He’s Day.” That team wound up winning the Watson stands in the back, hands cupped “That’s what you’ve got. One opportu- days, Chadwick’s assistant coaches asked On second down, Norris, the booster the son of two former Division I athletes, Maryland state championship and being on the collar of his shoulder pads, before nity tonight. Are you going to capture it, him if they could keep the kids through president’s son, drops Country Day’s one white and one black. And in the glow recognized on the floor of the U.S. House taking a knee and staring at the ground. or let it slip?” lunch to work on football. “No,” the head running back five yards behind the line of that sunset, he snatches an interception of Representatives. “That was a pathetically prepared, Chadwick loves to talk about moments. coach said. “For some of them, that’s their of scrimmage. On third down, Norris that ends the game. He gives the ball back With Norris out for three games, pathetically coached football team out Tonight, he tells his team, is one of the only meal today.” again bolts into the backfield, this time to the officials and sprints to the side- Chadwick and his Myers Park staff there tonight,” Chadwick tells his players. biggest moments in Myers Park foot- In the locker room at halftime, sacking Country Day’s quarterback for a line, where his teammates are dumping a scramble for a solution. They move Alex “I bit my tongue all year. But I’m gonna ball history. They’re playing at Memorial Chadwick gives up on big speeches. Just nine-yard loss. In two plays, the public bucket of water on their coach. Alvarez, one of the state’s best baseball hurt some feelings now. Our lack of Stadium, just outside of uptown, against details now. He yells, “Receivers!” and school has pushed the private school 14 They’re 1-0. They’re perfect. players, from a safety position to line-

64 CHARLOTTE FEBRUARY 2016 FEBRUARY 2016 CHARLOTTE 65 backer. Alvarez, who didn’t even play foot- taking the power out of Myers Park’s ball last year, is exceptional in the first game pass-first offense. “That will pass, right?” without Norris. He leads the defense with Chadwick asks an assistant coach whose eight tackles, a fumble recovery, and an day job is real estate and not meteorology. interception in a 38-8 win over Providence, “Man, we can’t deal with this,” says quar- helping to push the Mustangs’ record to terbacks coach Jamarr Robinson, who 2-1 heading into a Week 4 game with unde- starred at Myers Park in the mid-2000s feated South Mecklenburg. and went on to play quarterback at the University of Maryland. “This weather ain’t us.” A PLANE TAKING OFF from Charlotte As the Mustangs trot back onto the field Douglas International Airport curls over for the second half, the century-old John the South Mecklenburg football stadium Philip Sousa magnum opus “Stars and during a moment of silence before the Stripes Forever” blares over the sound game. It’s September 11, and state flags system. The cymbals smash and wood- from all 50 states line the field for the winds whistle, the beats matching the “Patriotism Bowl.” Most players were rhythm of the players’ cleats splashing just infants or toddlers when the 9/11 mud with each step. attacks occurred, but both teams are Davidson scores on a quarterback Star defensive back Jamal Watson enters the season with an impressive streak wearing uniforms designed in camou- sneak in the third quarter to make it 7-7. It going—he hasn’t been scored upon since flage patterns to mark the day. NFL leg- stays that way through the fourth quarter. his sophomore year. end Randy Moss, who lives in Charlotte, Rain stops. Rain starts again. Rain stops is here to flip the coin. again. With about two minutes left, the

On September 11, On the first defensive series, Alvarez, public address announcer says multiple the Mustangs wear the baseball player turned safety turned wallets and cell phones have been turned CHAPTER III camouflage against South Mecklenburg for linebacker, pops his shoulder out of in, things left behind in the rain. JAMAL the “Patriotism Bowl.” place. He comes to the huddle and tells The showers return at the start of his teammates he thinks he’s hurt. “You overtime as the stadium’s sound system better not quit on me,” Watson tells him. howls with Kenny Loggins’ “Danger JAMAL WATSON IS JABBERING again. It’s By the end of the night, “You have to keep playing. We ain’t got Zone.” High school overtime rules state 80 degrees on the Tuesday after the though, most of their jerseys are dressed nobody else.” Alvarez stays in the game. that each team gets a possession from South Mecklenburg loss, and Tuesday in mud because of a massive rainstorm. South Mecklenburg has at least four the 10-yard line. They’ll go back and forth practices are drags. Mondays, they can’t-miss Division I college prospects on until one team doesn’t match the other. watch film and learn from mistakes. its roster. With 2:47 left in the first, South South Meck scores a touchdown on its Wednesdays and Thursdays, they’re Meck’s quarterback lofts a pass into the first possession to go up 14-7. heavy into planning for the next game. end zone for John Brannon, one of those Davidson leads Myers Park onto the Tuesdays, though, are work. prospects. Brannon, at 6-foot-2, easily field for its overtime possession. On the The coaches are frustrated today. Two outleaps 5-foot-7 cornerback Kevin Alford third play, he floats a pass to the corner running backs have taken the day off to make it 7-0. of the end zone. For a moment, it appears because of “injuries,” Chadwick says, Rain begins to fall in the second quarter. that receiver Cooper Hearn is wide open. using air-quotes. Alvarez, meanwhile, By the time the teams break for the locker Then a hand goes up in front of Hearn. tried to practice but the coaches told him rooms at halftime, it’s a full-on down- It’s South Mecklenburg cornerback to sit with the separated shoulder. “We had pour. At times, it’s raining so hard that Moryah Johnson. At the top of Johnson’s to forcibly hold him out,” Chadwick says, it’s impossible to see from one side of the jump, the point of Davidson’s spiraling “and then we have these other players who field to the other. Fans run to take cover, pass plants itself squarely in the defend- just don’t want to practice.” except for the Myers Park student sec- er’s palm, and as Johnson falls backward Watson falls somewhere in the middle. tion, made up mostly of white kids. They to the soaking-wet field, he pulls in the He’s here, but sometimes drifts. He’s not seem to enjoy the whole thing. A few even one-handed interception to end the comfortable with silence or downtime, and run back from the concessions stand and game. Video of the incredible play goes he often breaks the monotony by joking into the rain, screaming with joy. Another viral, with everyone from USA Today to with people on the sideline. “Hey, my group of five students, all black young the well-known high school athletics site water better be cold Friday,” he tells the men, stands under the awning next to the maxpreps.com sharing it as one of the team managers. “If it ain’t, I’m coming field house. “Look at those people getting plays of the week. It gathers more than after you.” Or, later, “I’m not on Instagram hype,” one says. “It’s all white people. 7,500 loops on Vine—a few of which will this week. When we win, I’ll get back on They’re stupid,” and the group erupts in come from the quarterback who threw Instagram.” a laugh. the pass. Still, this is growth. Last year, Chadwick Chadwick and his coaches huddle “It stings. It’s embarrassing,” Davidson says, Watson was part of a core group of around a cell phone to check the radar. says later. “Especially with how popular players who “thought they were better The storm appears to be just one pocket it got.” than they actually are. They thought they of rain, perched perfectly atop Park Road, didn’t have anything to learn.” But all of

66 CHARLOTTE FEBRUARY 2016 FEBRUARY 2016 CHARLOTTE 67 Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick transferred from the all-black Second Ward High School to Myers Park in 1965 and led the Mustangs to an undefeated season.

Jamal Watson (this photo) prepares to receive his punishment for missing a team meeting. His coaches (right) discuss what that punishment will be.

Chadwick lives in Marvin, near Marvin AT 4:30 P.M. THAT FRIDAY, the 1965 Myers Ridge High School, where he coached from Park team gathers in a room that smells The Mustangs enter the Sun Valley game with a 2008 to 2012. Located about 25 miles south like the grease and hot sauce of takeout 2-2 record, but plenty of of uptown Charlotte, Marvin is one of the chicken wings. Meanwhile, in the bot- confidence: It’s their first home game of the year. wealthiest small towns in America. Marvin tom floor of the athletic building, Jamal Ridge, with a population that’s 85 percent Watson stands by himself in a long hall- white, is consistently ranked among the way with white cinderblock walls on either them except Watson were seniors, and them that they are part of something best high schools in the state. But a year side. He’s holding his uniform pants. He’d when they graduated, he quickly noticed bigger than just this team—if they fail, he after Chadwick took the job at Myers Park, forgotten them when he came to school something that scared him. tells them, they let down more people than his daughter, Madison, decided to transfer today, he says, so he ran home to grab “Last year, all my friends, all my black themselves. And the blunt-talking coach from Marvin Ridge to the school in the city. them, making him late for the meeting. friends, I guess you could say, they were changed one more thing: He talked to She’s a sophomore on the varsity cheer- To hear Chadwick tell it, though, suggest holding him out for a quarter. all-county team. He was born and raised seniors,” he says. “And none of them went them about their differences. He started leading squad now, and she and her dad Watson left without telling anyone, and Others want him to play. “We have to set in Grier Town. But before his senior year, to college. I want to play college ball.” sending groups of players to Selwyn ride home after practice together almost players aren’t allowed to miss meetings a precedent,” says Bly, the former NFL he decided to transfer to Myers Park. He Not only did Watson grow up in a single- Elementary and Billingsville Elementary every day. without having it cleared. So when the cornerback and Watson’s position coach. scored 19 touchdowns that year and led parent home, he’s young for his grade. He’ll to help young kids in the feeder schools “I wanted her to come here,” Chadwick team captain tried to enter the meeting Chadwick responds, “But at what point the Mustangs to a perfect season, but he graduate at 17. He was called up to the var- with things like reading. They also talk to says. “It’s more like the real world.” room late, Chadwick shut the door on him. are we hurting the rest of the team by not wasn’t selected for the Shrine Bowl, the sity squad his freshman year, and by the the kids about character traits and life as Chadwick brings the Tuesday practice When the meeting’s finished, the players playing him?” annual game pitting the best players from time he was starting every game as a soph- a high schooler and a football player. It’s to a close at about 5:30. The players take a inside the room clap, then fling open the Here is a moment that coaches of North Carolina against the best from omore, he’d decided that being good at not a new program, but the older players knee around him so he can tell them some door and shuffle out wearing flip-flops and young people face regularly: How do you South Carolina. The snub set off a series football would be enough to carry him. His notice one big difference under Chadwick. news about this weekend’s game against shorts as they head to the locker room to teach a lesson to a player who needs it of events in Charlotte, with churches and grades bottomed out. “It used to be only the white kids that Sun Valley: The school is honoring the get dressed. After the last player leaves, without having it hurt the other 60 or communities rallying around Kirkpatrick Reaching kids like Watson was one of would go,” Watson says. “Now with 50th anniversary of the 1965 Myers Park Watson drops his head and walks into the so players who’ve done what they were because of what they believed was a deci- Chadwick’s priorities when he started here Chadwick, it’s always half white and team that went undefeated. room, hoping to explain why he was late. supposed to do? After a long discussion, sion based upon his race. in the fall of 2014. He’d already put two half black.” “Hey, let’s do something this year that His mother calls him a “great debater,” but Chadwick looks at his watch and tells his With that as his school background, sons through high school, and he spends This isn’t Chadwick’s first run at a they’re going to have to bring us back in 50 he broke a clear rule. He has no room for assistants, “You know what, I’ll let you Kirkpatrick went on to a nearly 30-year a great deal of his coaching time teaching diverse school. Both teams he coached in years for,” the 45-year-old Chadwick says, debate. Not even a second. Watson opens decide. I gotta go talk to the old guys.” career as a school administrator. He now his players the same lessons he taught his Maryland were split fairly evenly among before pausing and thinking about what he his mouth to explain. Before he can say He walks across the parking lot and teaches at a juvenile detention center own kids. He took last year’s seniors out to white and black. The difference, he says, said. “Well, I probably won’t be here.” a word, Chadwick interrupts him with a into the room that smells like takeout in Oregon. Chick-Fil-A the week after he was hired to is that at those schools all the kids were The teenage players laugh at their scream that echoes down the hallway. chicken wings. Nearly all the living He’s the most popular person at the listen to them talk about what went wrong from middle- or lower-class families. “We coach’s mortality. Watson pretends to “LEAVE!” players from the 1965 team are here. reunion, until Chadwick walks in. The cur- under the previous coaching staffs. Then didn’t have the super-wealthy kids there grab a microphone and act out what he’d And Watson turns around. Among them is Jimmie Lee Kirkpatrick, rent coach spends about five minutes here, he started changing things, little things. like we have here,” he says. “Honestly, here, say if they were invited back 50 years For the next 10 minutes, Chadwick and who lives in Oregon. Kirkpatrick is a shaking every hand. Then he addresses the He developed homework checklists for we have some kids whose parents fly them from now. his staff sit in the white-walled meeting Charlotte legend for several reasons. room, thanking them for coming back and some of the most at-risk students that to the islands for spring break, and other “Hey, this one’s for you, Chadwick!” he room, trying to figure out what to do In 1964, as a junior at all-black Second promising to dedicate a victory tonight to his staff monitors. He checks their grades kids who don’t have a dollar to take the bus says, laughing and pointing to the sky. with their best player. Some coaches sug- Ward High School, he was the first black them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he says, twice a season. He constantly reminds home after practice.” gest benching him completely. Others player to make The Charlotte Observer’s “I have to go get these boys ready.”

68 CHARLOTTE FEBRUARY 2016 FEBRUARY 2016 CHARLOTTE 69 Before every home game, the players touch a horseshoe for luck, then run into an inflated helmet to prepare to take the field in front of their fans. Injured player Charlie Cooksey (bottom right photo) celebrates a victory over Sun Valley with athletic trainer Stephanie Bowman.

The sun is setting and shining horizon- Watson picks up the bouncing ball and tally across the hill as the Mustangs gather takes off the other way. for their pregame ritual and last-minute His legs wind faster and faster with words from Chadwick. “I talked to the 1965 each stride. There’s something magnifi- team tonight,” Chadwick tells his players. cent about true speed. In the stands, one “It’s good to remember where you came person sees it and points. Another person from. But it’s time you start writing your sees it and slaps the leg of the person own history.” beside him. Teenage fans stop mid-text The players jump up and start their message or Facebook post. Kirkpatrick, parade across the campus driveway that the legendary running back, rises to his runs between the locker room and the feet to watch. Watson pulls away from stadium. Chadwick yells, “Captains!” and everyone else on the field. As he crosses sends four players up to the field for the the goal line to make it 16-0, the Myers coin toss. Watson is not among them; he’s Park crowd becomes a high-fiving, hug- been stripped of the title for the game. ging lovefest, thanks to the legs of a He’ll play tonight, though. 17-year-old boy who just an hour ago was They walk up the concrete steps and his coach’s least-favorite player. They’re as far away from the home side- into the stadium and head toward a big, At halftime, the 1965 team is introduced line as they can be when the play ends. inflated Myers Park football helmet. On as “the finest team in Mecklenburg County Myers Park fans go quiet and crane their the way, they pass a rock with a horseshoe history.” Even 50 years later, the story of necks to try to see what happened. The on it, and one by one, they place their Kirkpatrick and that team’s place in local officials point to a spot that appears to be palms firmly on the shoe for luck. The civil rights history remains prominent. “We short of the goal line, but from way over cheerleaders line up outside the helmet, are not black or white,” the announcer says. here, who can tell? holding a sign that’s ready to be ripped “Our blood flows Mustang Green.” Suddenly, a player in a green uniform in half. The Mustangs burst through it, In the second half, Sun Valley mounts a and, yes, pants, thrusts his arm into the air sprinting toward the home sideline for comeback, and with less than two minutes holding the ball. It’s Jamal Watson. He runs the first time all year. left, the Spartans are within five yards of across the field with the football above his Myers Park jumps out to a 10-0 lead. a game-tying score. On a fourth-and-goal head, having saved a victory. Chadwick’s Early in the second quarter, Sun Valley to decide the game, the crowds for both there waiting and ready with a hug. lines up for a 30-yard field goal. The kick teams stand and holler. Sun Valley’s quar- is blocked at the line of scrimmage, and terback receives the snap and jogs to his Read part two of this three-part series in the the ball bounces toward the visitors’ side- left, looking for a receiver. With nobody March issue of Charlotte magazine. line. The player who happens to be standing open, he sprints to the corner. It’s a race there is the same player who forgot his between him and Watson to see who can Michael Graff is the executive editor of this magazine. pants earlier in the day, the same player who get there first. Watson unwinds his legs Email him at [email protected], or caused his coaches an afternoon migraine. again, faster and faster, then pop! reach him on Twitter: @michaelngraff.

70 CHARLOTTE FEBRUARY 2016 PART TWO OF A THREE-PART STORY

The weather turns colder, the games become more important, and the lessons hit home harder. The Myers Park football team, which is split nearly evenly along racial and socioeconomic lines, hits the heart of the 2015 season.

BY MICHAEL GRAFF PHOTOGRAPHS BY LOGAN CYRUS

Summer fades into fall, but the players, including Kevin Alford (pictured), sweat more than ever as the Mustangs make a push for the playoffs.

70 CHARLOTTE MARCH 2016 MARCH 2016 CHARLOTTE 71 games, tossing a football on the sideline and the Butler suspensions might benefit his dreaming of the day that he’ll be playing on team, his thoughts turn to Madison, his CHAPTER IV Friday nights, too. In most situations, Bly 15-year-old daughter. HARD LESSONS is the most empathetic coach on staff. He’s The following Monday, Chadwick calls a the first to want to give a kid another chance team meeting after school. after he’s screwed up. Bly winces when he “Guys,” he says, “if what they’re saying is “GO, GET OFF!” Coach Scott Chadwick tells hears yelling. “Just not used to all that,” he true, and that was one of you, you couldn’t starting defensive lineman Colby Williams. tells Chadwick at various points during the play for me anymore. I couldn’t coach you. “Go shower and get off the field.” season. (Sometimes Chadwick responds by I’d have a hard time giving you a high-five.” Four days after the Sun Valley win, sarcastically asking Bly, an assistant, if it’s He keeps going. Williams, a senior, has been complaining OK for him, the head coach, to discipline a “Someone’s dating your future wife all practice. When he decides he simply player.) right now,” he tells them. “You should won’t run a play like the coaches want, In the meeting about Williams, Bly think about how you’d want him to be Chadwick sends him home. raises his voice above the other assis- treating her right now. And you should After practice, the coaches meet to tants: “We’re yelling at him. Maybe he treat every woman you’re with that way.” discuss what to do with him. Chadwick just doesn’t respond to that. And that’s all wonders if Williams has become such a we’re doing, yelling at him. It’s our job to problem that he needs to be dismissed for help him.” To which Chadwick responds, EVERY ISSUE IS HERE, somewhere, on this good. The 10-man Myers Park coaching “Dre, he’s been doing this all year. I’ve had team: problems with poverty and privi- staff, which is split fairly evenly along it. And more than that, some of his team- lege, conversations about rape and dating, racial lines, has a wide range of coaching mates have had it.” relationships between fathers and sons or styles, and no two people are more dif- They resolve to let two younger assis- mothers and sons. One player was born in ferent than Chadwick and Dre Bly. tants talk to Williams to try to steer him Sudan. His parents moved him here when Speedy receiver Saiq Patrick (above) has a few key drops during the middle of the season, In most other areas of life, Chadwick’s straight. One more problem, though, and he was an infant to escape the civil war making it even sweeter when he makes big a mild-mannered man. He’s quiet and he’s off the team. there, but soon they split up, and now his plays at the end. Every week, defensive backs coach Dre Bly (bottom photo, far right) takes thoughtful, and constantly considers ques- Williams is in uniform that Friday as father lives in Canada and his mother lives his players to eat at Zack’s Hamburgers on tions about equality and politics and other Myers Park dominates its first confer- in Elizabeth. South Boulevard. issues, especially as they relate to teenage ence opponent, Rocky River, 24-10, on a It all lives under those green helmets. boys. Something happens to him, though, rainy final weekend in September. The On October 7, the Wednesday before the when sports are involved. He’s a huge win pushes the Mustangs’ record to 4-2, Butler game and 10 days after the Rocky Washington Redskins fan, and during close their best start in four years. Their next River victory, the defensive backfield games his daughter, Madison, sometimes game is scheduled for two weeks later sits on stone benches outside of Zack’s will Snapchat videos of her dad nervously at Butler, a perennial state power and Hamburgers on South Boulevard, waiting shaking, then rejoicing or crumbling. Same winner of three state championships in for their position coach to come pay for with University of Maryland basketball. the past seven years. their lunch. Every week, Dre Bly takes And especially with the teams he coaches. After the Rocky River win, Chadwick the boys out to eat, usually after Tuesday “I don’t have an anger problem,” he tells me heads to Taco Mac, the “official home practices. But today is a half-day on the one night over a rotisserie chicken dinner at of the Myers Park football postgame school calendar, and classes let out just The Roasting Company. “I have a competi- celebration.” The place is packed. after noon, so lunch it is. tion problem.” Everybody’s laughing and sipping soda Bly’s late. They were supposed to meet He has friends all over the country, and when word gets to Chadwick that some at 1. It’s 1:15, and he’s still not here. Neither those relationships run deep. He still keeps of Butler’s best players hadn’t played in is Watson. in contact with the coaches he worked with their game that night. “They’re on CPT,” says Kevin Alford, a and players he taught in Maryland. He has More messages come in the next day, and junior cornerback and African American. weekly conversations with Josh McCown, soon the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police “Colored-people time.” The mixed-race the Cleveland Browns quarterback who Department sends out a sparsely worded group of teenagers laughs hysterically at coached with Chadwick briefly at Marvin press release: Detectives are investigating the joke. Ridge. They bounce their troubles off each the “alleged exploitation of a 15-year-old At 1:25, a black Cadillac Escalade pulls other—McCown unloading the woes of girl involving current and former stu- into the parking lot with Bly driving and the Browns’ franchise, Chadwick sharing dents from CMS.” NBC Charlotte reports Watson in the passenger seat. Bly opens the frustrations of a high school coach. that the incident involves Butler football the door and the speakers blare with Bly, meanwhile, was raised by school- players. The police and the Butler admin- the sound of another man’s voice saying teacher parents in Chesapeake, Virginia. istration never will confirm that, though. goodbye. “Alright, man. I’ll holler at you He’s among a large contingent of former The police won’t have an update on the later,” Bly responds. professional athletes who’ve moved to case even three months later. But it’s true Watson walks over to his teammates Charlotte to raise their families in recent that several players are suspended for and whispers, “He was on the phone with years. His oldest son, Trey, is a freshman several games. Torry Holt the whole way over here.” Holt cornerback on the Mustangs’ junior var- Football coaches, football fans, and is a record-setting former NFL receiver sity team and led the team in interceptions football players are opportunists. But who starred at N.C. State while Bly starred this season. He hangs around the varsity before Chadwick can even consider how at UNC in the mid-to-late 1990s. They

72 CHARLOTTE MARCH 2016 MARCH 2016 CHARLOTTE 73 were both drafted by the Rams in 1999 and played in two Super Bowls together. THERE’S NO SCHOOL on the Friday of the They all cram into the tiny burger joint, homecoming game, but Chadwick doesn’t eight high school defensive backs and one want his players sitting around waiting former NFL all-pro defensive back. Bly all day. The Mustangs rebounded from tells the woman in the window that he’s the October 9 Butler loss with a solid paying for the next nine meals. “I have all win over an overmatched Porter Ridge my DBs to order for,” he says. team on October 16, pushing them to 5-3. Each boy orders some version of a And tonight, the 23rd, they’re set to play hamburger and fries, then they all crowd Independence—the school that in the into three booths along a window. While 2000s went seven years and 109 games they wait for their food, the phones without a loss. If they win, the Mustangs come out. This is a snapshot of high could find themselves back in the mix for Rob Norris (center right) not school life in 2015: eight boys, sitting only has a son on the team, the conference championship. he’s the president of the shoulder to shoulder with perfectly good booster club. After his breakfast at the retirement voices, sending messages to people who As a Butler player runs the community, Chadwick has the team come other way with a game- aren’t here. “Who you texting?” Watson clinching interception in at 11 a.m.—eight hours before kickoff— return for a touchdown, leans back and asks safety Davis Ray. Ray receiver Brandon Adams he coached in Maryland, Lackey, is a poor, connected with Bosco immediately, and for a pancake brunch. Then he and his blushes and shakes his head. “Yeah, I crumbles in the other end rural school about 30 minutes south of loved the principal’s approach to tough staff set up video games and televisions zone, where just seconds know who you’re texting,” Watson says, earlier he’d hoped to grab Washington. The closest high school was conversations. The day after Bosco offered in various rooms, and they keep a loose before whispering a girl’s name into a game-tying score. eight miles away; there are at least 10 high Chadwick the job, the coach asked the watch over the players for the next four or Ray’s ear. Nearby, Ray’s twin brother, schools within eight miles of Myers Park. principal to meet him for breakfast, just to so hours. Owen, laughs. Myers Park’s last victory against Butler you for a long time.” One year, Chadwick led Lackey to a vic- be sure the fit was right. It was. Finally, at 6:45, they gather again in uni- The twins are seniors, and they say that was in 2006. But tonight, with several Messages are only worth something if tory over its rival in the final game of the Chadwick quickly went to work form on the hill overlooking the baseball next year they’ll probably go to different Bulldogs suspended, the Mustangs clearly they’re received. Toward the end of the regular season, and 5,000 fans stormed the building other connections in the com- field. This is Chadwick’s most prepared colleges. But that doesn’t stop their believe they will win. film session that followed the conversa- field. Working his way through the crowd, munity. He met with Roger Purgason, and rehearsed pregame speech of the year. teammates and coaches from razzing They don’t. Mostly because Myers Park’s tion about missed opportunities, someone Chadwick spotted his principal, who was who runs the elite youth football program “You know, I’ve told you about how them about their similarities. “Y’all still receivers stop catching the football. Time in the back farts. And then again. And staring at him with tears in her eyes. “Look called Hammer Down Football. Within a I’ve gone to different programs and taken sleep together?” Bly jumps in. All the boys and again Chadwick calls a play, and time and again. That makes other players giggle, what you’ve done for these people,” she year, some of the best middle school ath- them from nothing to championships,” crack up. again quarterback Jack Davidson delivers a which makes other players giggle. told him. letes in the city were deciding to stay in the Chadwick says. “One thing that was true With the 38-year-old Bly asking most of pass that should be caught, and time and “OK, who’s the funny guy?” Chadwick Not everybody embraces his style, Myers Park school district—in years past, with every one of those teams, there was the questions in the group, the conversa- again the receivers drop it. The main culprits asks. “Who’s doing that? Nobody wants to though. He went 42-20 over five years at many of the best would find ways to attend always that one signature moment.” tion floats back and forth between boyish are Saiq Patrick, a junior with dreadlocks tell me? We can run right now.” Marvin Ridge and was named the Carolina school elsewhere. Some players start nodding. banter and honest inquiry. He asks the Ray who’s so fast he’s open on almost every play, He waits. Nobody owns up to it. “OK, Panthers High School Coach of the Year Chadwick also began to pump up fund- “There was a signature moment when boys what their father does for a living, and and Brandon Adams, a senior wideout who let’s go.” in 2010, but was fired after a 6-6 season in raising efforts with Norris and the booster you can say, ‘Hey, we’ve arrived. We’re not they tell him that he has his own business usually has reliable hands. Adams—widely They lace up their tennis shoes to 2012. He learned he would lose his job in club. The fall after he arrived, the booster good anymore; we’re great.’ ” selling medical equipment. He asks them recognized as one of the smartest kids in run several laps around the track. Jamal the spring of 2013. “The day before Easter club raised enough to build a sparkling new More affirmatives in the audience. about their grades and where they want school (“His G.P.A. is like 10-something,” Watson, who’s been quiet throughout break,” he says, rolling his eyes. weight room, which opened in January Some players start to stand. Others clap. to go to college. He asks them if they’re a teammate tells me.)—starts the trouble the afternoon, is the first to finish. He’s He took the 2013 season off from foot- 2015. The club started selling member- Chadwick raises his voice. happy the Butler players are suspended. by fumbling in the second quarter, and it barely breathing hard as he turns around ball, but worked as a school administrator ships—the lowest level is $40 a year. An “Tonight, men, is your moment.” Then he asks the group whether the spreads from there. and waits for his teammates. He shouts at back in Maryland while his family stayed “ultimate membership,” which comes The coach walks away, and the players school gives out a “Most Popular” award Butler takes a 14-7 lead into the final them to stop messing around. here. Then he applied for the Myers Park with season tickets and a sweet parking roar. at the end of the year. Everyone looks at minute. Myers Park drives to within 16 yards He’s wearing a T-shirt that across the job. The previous coach, Scott Stein, had spot for football games, costs $350 a year. Watson, who’s leaning his head against the of a game-tying score. But after another front reads, “COLLEGE.” the job for one year. He hurt his back early Chadwick started knocking on the doors window, drawing circles in ketchup with dropped pass and a sack, Davidson is inter- in the season and missed several games, of businesses, too. Taco Mac, which hosts FIVE MINUTES LATER, opening kickoff, Amari wrinkled French fries. cepted by a Butler defender, who takes the and the Mustangs went 4-7. “There were the official after-party, signed a three-year Jordan, number 3. He fields the ball at the “Oh, would Jamal win Most Popular?” ball back 90 yards to clinch the win. Myers some weeks we didn’t know who the coach deal to be a title sponsor. The sponsorship 26-yard line and runs left. Then forward. Bly asks. Park loses 21-7, making it nine years in a row was going to be,” says Norris, the booster costs about $6,000 per year, and Chadwick Then he sees a tunnel to the right, protected “I could. But it usually goes to …” Wat- without a win over the Bulldogs. CHAPTER V club president. believes the restaurant makes at least that by green jerseys, his teammates. He shoots son says, trailing off. “No, I’ll let Kev-bo “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more HOMECOMINGS Mark Bosco had been hired as the new in return, thanks to tables full of people in through it. Nobody there. Touchdown. answer that,” he continues, looking over frustrated in 17 years as a coach,” Myers Park principal in May 2013, bringing green shirts after games. The Mustangs are up 7-0 after one play. at Alford. Alford shakes his head no. He Chadwick tells his players after the game. with him an attitude of embracing the In all, since Norris took over as the Jordan comes to the sideline to doesn’t want to finish Watson’s sentence. At 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Chadwick AT 8 A.M. ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, Chad- school’s diversity. On one hand, Bosco president in 2011, the Myers Park boosters receive his friendly beating—teammates “A white person,” Watson blurts. “They sits the players in a room again to talk wick kicks off homecoming weekend by talks regularly about the number of kids have raised and spent more than $700,000 pounding his helmet to say congratula- got more people.” about where their season stands. If they’d talking to a group of senior citizens at Myers Park has on free and reduced lunch, on athletics. tions. “This is our moment,” defensive have beaten Butler, they almost certainly a retirement community, telling them and on the other, he can tell you how Norris, whose two older sons also coordinator Andy Markatine shouts. would’ve been in a position to win a con- about the next generation he’s trying to many students come from families that played for Myers Park, says Chadwick has “Hell yeah!” A SIGN HANGS on the press box and looms ference championship. Now, they’ll need help raise. Building support beyond the are top earners. Chadwick still carries a done more than raise money. “He made Independence responds with a field over the field as the Mustangs go through to win and get help. 62-acre campus is part of Chadwick’s job. sharp Mid-Atlantic accent and speaks his football fun again for a bunch of guys who goal. stretches and warmups: “Butler Bulldog “As you go through life,” he tells them, It’s not easy in a county with nearly 30 mind in a way that can be unsettling for loved football, but hated Myers Park foot- Myers Park takes the field. Chadwick State Champions—2009, 2010, 2012.” “when you miss opportunities, it eats at public high schools. One of the schools people in this old South neighborhood. He ball,” Norris says. calls a play. A young assistant coach sprints

74 CHARLOTTE MARCH 2016 MARCH 2016 CHARLOTTE 75 Watson and Stone grew up together. They ribbon, to pick up her bag of clothes. She small victory on homecoming. wait. He jumps out of bed and grabs a piece played peewee football together. All night, looks at the box of coffee and asks if it’s It doesn’t stop there. On the next pos- of scratch paper. In his quiet house out Watson has shut down his old friend. In warm. Her father tells her it isn’t. session, Freeman scores again on a 1-yard in the country, he starts scribbling like a fact, Watson hasn’t had a player score on “Are you riding with me?” Chadwick asks. run. Then the teams trade quick touch- madman. him in two seasons, back to when he was a Madison chuckles at the prospect of downs. And with 1:12 left, Freeman runs This team won and finished with this sophomore. So when the ball sails toward spending 30 minutes in the car with her a crossing pattern, takes the pass, and record; that team lost and finished with the end zone, few people on the Myers Park father after a loss like this. sprints 67 yards for another score to make that record. These guys will be seeded here; sideline are worried. Surely, Watson has “Umm, no.” it 47-28. those guys will be seeded there. North this. Surely, this is the homecoming king’s Chadwick continues to call real plays, Carolina’s high school football playoffs are night. Surely, this is his mome… wanting to give his backups work. On the nearly impossible to understand. There King ’Mal stretches as far as he can as AN HOUR BEFORE THE BUSES take off for the sideline, Bly screams at the head coach and are eight divisions, from 1-A (smallest he dives for the ball. But he’s been beaten next game, at Garinger on October 30, close tells him to stop, to have the quarterback schools) to 4-AA (largest schools), and and burned by his old friend. Stone cra- friends Jamal Watson and Noah Smith walk take a knee and run out the clock. On the the brackets are divided into two regions dles the ball. Touchdown. Independence down the long hallway to Chadwick’s office next play, the backup Myers Park quarter- with 16 teams in each. It requires a team wins 17-14. to tell him they can’t find their jerseys. back throws a pass. It’s intercepted. of people to work several hours on the Watson goes through the handshake They are captains of the team, and “Let’s go home, man!” Bly yells, his eyes Saturday after the regular season to com- line with a Gatorade towel draped over his they have nothing to wear tonight. They welling up with tears. “Let’s go home!” pile the seedings and pairings. After the Independence game, Jamal Watson walks away wearing head, a style he picked up from his favorite claim the jerseys were stolen, and they As Garinger attempts a few final pass Chadwick figures it out before sunrise. his homecoming crown, but his mind is still on what happened on NFL player, Cam Newton. try to reason with their coach that it’s plays, Bly walks off the field, onto the The loss to East Mecklenburg means the field a few minutes earlier. “Man, I don’t give a damn about home- the only explanation because, after all, track, and out of the stadium. He looks that Myers Park will drop all the way to the coming king right now,” the 17-year-old it’s weird that both players would just back twice to make sure the game ends, 13th seed in the region. In theory, that’s Watson says afterward. “I guess it was lose them, right? then keeps walking to his truck. a bad thing. But the 13th seed plays the down the sideline, giggling and telling exciting, but I’d rather walk off the field Chadwick tells them they’re irrespon- After the two teams shake hands, fourth seed, and in this case, the fourth anyone who’ll listen, “Flea-flicker! Flea- with a ‘W.’” sible, then says they need to ask injured Garinger’s players sprint toward a seed is Mooresville, a team with an impres- flicker! He called the flea-flicker!” “Call me King ’Mal,” Chadwick walks toward the stands. teammates for jerseys themselves; he’s meeting on their side of the field. “I don’t sive 8-3 record but a less-than-impressive It is, indeed, a flea-flicker. Davidson Not only is it homecoming for the school, not going to do it for them. The players care what the score says, we won that schedule. Chadwick looks at the teams hands the ball to a running back. Every he whispers to his but he has family in town—including his wear 33 and 34 for the night. game,” one shouts. Then they run to the Mooresville played this year, and some- player on the Independence defense takes teammates. parents and brother. He reaches out to Garinger, located off of Eastway Drive, locker room and turn on music. time in that early morning darkness, he’s two steps forward, believing it’s a running shake hands with his father, who tells is a far different school than Myers The Wildcats dance and smile and cel- filled with optimism again. play. The runner then flips the ball back him, “Boys looked good.” Chadwick’s Park. About 55 percent of the student ebrate while the engines crank on the “We can beat them,” he says to himself. to Davidson. The quarterback stands tall out there, and I want 11 hammers.” wife, Beth, ponders the weekend ahead. body is black and another 30 percent is Myers Park buses. The Mustangs, mean- Then he looks down at the rest of his and looks out into the open field, where While Markatine momentarily loses his “He won’t talk a lot,” she says. “This is his Hispanic. It’s homecoming tonight, and while, are silent and solemn, despite bracket. East Mecklenburg—which less he has two receivers running uncovered. mind, other stories are transpiring. For life. He’s very passionate. He just lives it the school’s percussion-heavy band plays the fact that they won by 19 points and than eight hours earlier had whipped the He tosses the deep ball. The players on the instance, Bly is standing in the corner on and breathes it.” songs you’d hear at historically black col- clinched a berth in the playoffs. Mustangs so badly that his seniors were Myers Park sideline raise their hands. This his cell phone, calling in a pizza to be deliv- The coach retreats to his office, where leges and universities. The black players standing on the top steps crying—jumped is a sure thing. This is their moment. ered to his home off Carmel Road, where most of his assistants are waiting outside. on the Myers Park team dance when they up to the 11th seed with the victory. That Only, the Davidson’s pass lands about his younger son is waiting and hungry. And He unlocks the door and walks in. The hear the tunes; the white players don’t. AT ABOUT 2 A.M. on November 7, landed East Meck a game with sixth- seven yards past his target, bouncing Watson, where is he? television is still on from earlier in the day Garinger, which has about 85 percent Chadwick can’t sleep. It’s been four seeded Mallard Creek, the defending state off the ground and skipping into the As Chadwick gathers the team— when everybody was here for pancakes of its students on free and reduced lunch, hours since East Mecklenburg crushed champion and a team seeded that low only end zone. offense and defense—for another speech, and video games. Dateline: NBC is on now. has had a weak football program for years. his team on Senior Night (Chapter I, in because of a couple of early-season upset Two plays later, Patrick, the speedy Watson comes down the hill, his cleats He grabs the remote and hits mute. The Wildcats are 0-9 this season, and they the February edition of Charlotte maga- losses. Over the past few weeks, Mallard receiver with dreads, is wide open down clicking against the pavement. He’s been A box of cold Caribou Coffee sits on his haven’t won a game since 2011. Most of the zine). He’s been staring at the ceiling, Creek has been playing like its old self, and the visitors’ sideline. This time, Davidson’s at the halftime ceremony with the home- desk as he starts rehashing the game with players play both offense and defense. wondering if he’s really making prog- despite its seed, it enters the playoffs as a pass is on target. The players on the Myers coming court. assistants Markatine and Mark Harman. Indeed, Myers Park rolls to a 40-0 lead ress. After all, he’d told his team going favorite to win the title. Park sideline raise their hands. This is a “Call me King ’Mal,” he whispers to his Chadwick: “Saiq and Brandon didn’t late in the third quarter. Chadwick pulls into the night that “7-4’s a good season; Sometime that weekend, East sure thing. This is their moment. teammates. catch a pass? Saiq’s dropped five touch- the starters. 6-5’s a mediocre season.” Mecklenburg’s fans sneak onto the Myers Only, Patrick drops the ball. He keeps “What? You won?” they ask, leaning down passes this year,” he says. Then something out of the ordinary Is he mediocre? Is he really bringing Park campus and spray-paint three big jogging toward the end zone empty- in closer. Markatine: “We’d be conference cham- occurs. Garinger’s quarterback throws a boys together? Is he a good play-caller? rocks in East Meck colors. It’s the last cel- handed, then turns toward his sideline, Yes, at halftime of this all-important pions if he just caught those balls.” crossing route pass to Jorden Freeman, Should he give that job to someone else? ebration they’ll have this year. In the first head hanging. game, the defensive coordinator is telling Chadwick: “And what about Jack on that who makes the reception, sprints to the Will he have the opportunity to? After round of the playoffs the following week, Myers Park leads 14-10 at halftime. his teammates what tool they should be if flea-flicker?” right, sees three Myers Park defenders in devoting 17 years of his life to football, Mallard Creek beats East Meck, 51-3. Markatine, the defensive coordinator, is they were in fact tools, the defensive backs Harman: “There was nobody within 20 front of him, then stops, pivots, and runs were his best years really more than a Meanwhile, Myers Park takes a trip up unhappy with the defense. He shouts so coach is calling in a pepperoni pizza, and yards of Brandon on that play!” the other way to the left. Then he looks up decade ago? And in another state? Interstate 77 to Mooresville. loudly on that hill overlooking the base- the star cornerback is being crowned Silence. the field and realizes he can keep going. So Finally, another question comes to ball field that one player jokes that he homecoming king. Harman changes the subject: “You he does. Quickly. As Freeman sprints down his mind, one he’s able answer: Who will Read the final part of this three-part story in might have a heart attack. “Until you start The score remains 14-10 with 3:07 going to T Mac’s?” the sideline, one Garinger fan stands up. Myers Park play in the first round of the the April issue of Charlotte magazine. beating the man in front of you, they’re remaining as Independence quarterback Chadwick: “Hell no.” Then another. Then another. As Freeman playoffs? going to ruin your homecoming,” he yells Christian McPhail drops back. He looks left The sad verbal replay of the game is crosses the goal line for an 80-yard touch- The N.C. High School Athletic Michael Graff is the executive editor of this magazine. at his players before pounding his right fist and sees a one-on-one matchup between interrupted only when 15-year-old Madison down, everyone in the Garinger bleachers Association won’t release the pairings Email him at [email protected], or into his open palm. “We’re a bunch of nails Watson and receiver Cederick Stone. walks in, her blond hair tied up with a green is jumping up and down and celebrating a until later that afternoon. Chadwick can’t reach him on Twitter: @michaelngraff.

76 CHARLOTTE MARCH 2016 MARCH 2016 CHARLOTTE 77 to Mooresville, North Carolina,” Willis says, overplaying a thick, Southern accent. “Y’all, CHAPTER VI we are out here.” “I GOT A LITTLE DANCE They pile into McAlister’s Deli and head PLANNED FOR US” to a baked potato bar that’s been set up just for them. One by one, they load potatoes with sour cream, ham, bacon, and cheese. AT 3:15 IN THE AFTERNOON on November When the seats inside the restaurant fill 13, three white and blue Charlotte- up, some players head to the patio out- Mecklenburg school buses pull across the side. Willis puts his tray on a table and county line and into a strip mall parking starts tap-dancing on the patio. Just then, lot in Iredell County, about 30 miles north a girl who looks to be about their age walks of Charlotte. The 13th-seeded Myers Park past the patio on the sidewalk. Eight foot- football team is four hours away from a ball players drop their forks and stand up, matchup with 4th-seeded Mooresville in craning their necks out of their bow ties, the state playoffs. It’s time to eat. to watch her drive away. Willis stops tap- This is the first time in Scott Chadwick’s ping. “Hey,” Willis says, practicing a bad two years as coach that the Mustangs pickup line. “I’m from Myers Park. You won’t eat a pregame dinner at the school. from Mooresveeeille?” It’s only the second time in his tenure that Colby Williams, the defensive lineman they’ll play a road game against a team who sometimes talks too much for his that doesn’t have a Charlotte address. This coaches’ liking, is wearing sky blue pants is a reality of high school football in the big and flashy white shoes. He forgot a belt, city; there are so many schools within a few though. He looks at another teammate miles of yours, you never leave town. who’s decked out in a button-down shirt The Mustangs think Mooresville is and tie and says, “You look like a presi- the moon. dent,” before moonwalking across the They’ve dressed up for the trip. Most are strip mall parking lot. in bow ties. Backup quarterback Tim Willis is Bly, the assistant coach, shows up as the dressed in slacks with a red sweater over his players finish their meals. He takes a selfie button-down shirt. He’s cornerback Jamal in the parking lot with a group of them. Tyree Watson leans out Watson’s closest friend at school; the two of Then everybody walks back to the buses. the bus window as the team pulls away from a them live in the same Gladedale apartment They arrive at Mooresville High’s Joe pre-playoff-game din- complex. He plays fairly often for a backup, Popp Stadium at about 5 p.m., two and ner at McAlister’s Deli, where Dre Bly (below) subbing in for a dozen or so plays each a half hours before kickoff. A few fans of took a selfie with some of the players. game, mostly to run. He’s one of the fastest the home team are already tailgating. A Mustangs. He’s also an entertainer. Today man who’s toting an oxygen tank to help he’s wearing big, decorative glasses and him breathe is blowing on a plastic noise- white tap-dancing shoes. One of his coaches making horn in the parking lot. There’s a tells him he looks like Urkel, a character from guy in a period Civil War costume standing a television show that went off the air around by the front gate for no apparent reason. After a disappointing the same year Willis was born. “Welcome Otherwise, the place is quiet, especially loss to close the regular season, the Myers Park football team hits the road for the playoffs, and some players prepare for life beyond football.

BY MICHAEL GRAFF PHOTOGRAPHS BY LOGAN CYRUS PART THREE OF A THREE-PART SERIES

80 CHARLOTTE APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 CHARLOTTE 81 Brandon Adams’ father came to him and nobody’s about to worry them with trou- said, “Brandon’s having a hard time with bling world news at a time like this. the idea of this being his last game. How They walk onto the field and stand do you deal with that?” Chadwick told behind the cheerleaders’ big sign. They the father, “There’s nothing you can do have an idea for how to handle the home to deal with that. When it happens, it’s team’s noise advantage during the intro- going to hurt forever.” ductions. Assistant coach Rod Chisholm, He thinks about the conversation he who played running back for Appalachian had with those same seniors six days State in the 2000s, stands in the middle ago, less than 24 hours after that dis- of the team and tells them the plan. It’s appointing night against East Meck, pretty simple. when he told them how they’d let down “We go when they go,” he says repeat- more people than themselves. And he edly. thinks about how they responded. Three The players respond, “We go when seniors skipped a recruiting visit to the they go.” University of Tennessee to attend the meeting. Then all week, they delivered the best practices he’s seen from them in two years. He seems almost certain that As soon as the they’ll win tonight. Chadwick’s daughter, Madison, walks Blue Devils burst over to him. The coach breaks into a through their sign, smile and hugs her. She pulls out her phone and says, “Let’s FaceTime Tyler.” the Mustangs burst Tyler, the older son, is a senior at Coastal Carolina, where he’s been on the dean’s through theirs, list every semester. He has a decent stealing the cheers. chance of being selected in this year’s Major League Baseball draft, but he tells his father he’d rather jump right into football coaching. Madison lifts her There’s something to this from a psy- phone in front of her face, and her father chological standpoint, about needing leans in. The three Chadwicks talk for to hear cheers instead of boos. And Chadwick, who’s about five minutes. there’s something to this from a meta- coached in three state title games, prepares “That was a cool moment,” Chadwick phorical standpoint, about a team made for the playoff opener by pacing the sideline says afterward. up of players from many different back- in khakis. Soon the Mooresville players walk grounds knowing a trick or two when it into the stadium in two lines, holding comes to finding equal footing. compared to Myers Park’s stadium in the Watson walks out by himself wearing “Some weird people up here,” one their shoulder pads and helmets. They Mostly, though, it’s just funny to While waiting middle of Charlotte. The temperature, in slacks, a black sweater over a collared Myers Park player says to another. for the game at file down the stairs of the already-filled watch. As the public address announcer Mooresville High the 60s during the day, is sliding down to shirt, a Gatorade towel around his neck, As the Mustangs suit up, Chadwick, School to start, bleachers, and their fans give them a revs up the home fans with, “And the low 40s. At 5:30 p.m., the sun casts an and dress shoes he borrowed from his dressed in a blue button-down and sweater someone in the Myers Park locker standing ovation. A few Myers Park nowwwww, your Mooresville Blue orange glow across the empty field as the uncle. He heads clear across the field to vest, walks to the fence by himself. A cres- room scratches players hear the commotion and walk out Devilllsss!” Myers Park’s players keep “M.P.H.S.” into Mustangs walk out of the locker room, the end zone opposite the field house, cent moon shines in the sky as his mind the doorway. to see what’s happening. Chadwick yells their eyes on the Mooresville players. still in dress clothes. and he holds a quiet conversation with drifts toward other big moments in his at them to get back in the locker room. The cowbells and horns reach full blast, Ben Norris, the linebacker who tore his the goalpost. career. The three state championship At some point during the waiting pro- as Mooresville fans hope to not only labrum in last week’s Senior Night game, The growl of motorcycle engines in the appearances. The night when a team he cess, one player takes a sharp object and shower the home team with cheers wears a white button-down, khakis, and distance breaks the silence. Watson begins coached in Maryland rode the bus to a scratches “M.P.H.S.” into the blue paint but also to intimidate the visitors. As a pink bow tie as he starts hopping at his 120-yard walk from the far goalpost to rivalry game only to find that their fans had on the frame of the locker room door. soon as the Blue Devils burst through the 50-yard line. He’ll play in the game, the near one. A man in a Mooresville sweat- already filled the stands, waiting to greet At 7 p.m., the bell atop the nearby their sign, the Mustangs burst through despite the injury. “This is my field shirt walks into the quiet stadium with a them. Or the night four years ago, when he Presbyterian church rings. Meanwhile, theirs, stealing the cheers. tonight,” he says. cowbell and air horn. “Aw,” the man says, had both of his sons on the same team at cell phones throughout the stadium Myers Park kicks off. A freshman Williams, in those blue pants and white his voice echoing, “you gettin’ a little pre- Marvin Ridge. They lost in the playoffs that light up with news alerts: There’s been kicker bombs the ball into the end zone. shoes, joins in. “That M,” he says, pointing view of what’s to come [in the game]?” A night, and a team photographer snapped a a shooting in France. Thirty people are Touchback. The Mustangs’ sideline goes to the Mooresville emblem painted on the few minutes later, that same man comes picture of him with his arms around both dead. No, 60 people. Everyone from nuts. It’s like this throughout the game— field, “it stands for Myers Park tonight. down to the sideline and pretends to be a boys’ necks. His oldest son, Tyler, was a workers in the concession stand to par- every positive play brings a celebration. They can have it back. But it’s ours tonight.” referee. He has a real penalty flag. “15 yards, senior that night. He didn’t take his helmet ents in the bleachers asks who and what At no point in this season have the Myers Saiq Patrick, the receiver who’s been hit unsportsmanlike on Myers Park,” the man off for the entire bus ride home. and when and where and the unanswer- Park players been so … hopeful. or miss, wears headphones over his dread- acts out, as if the field is a performance Chadwick starts to think about his own able—why? But the players’ and coaches’ They force Mooresville to punt after locks as he starts boxing the goalpost. theater. “First dowwwwwwn, Mooresville!” seniors. He thinks about how receiver cell phones are tucked into bags, and three plays.

82 CHARLOTTE APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 CHARLOTTE 83 their first two plays, they’re pushed back- ward. They face a third-and-15. Chadwick has a decision. He can call a running play, which would certainly keep the clock moving but would be less likely to produce a first down, meaning they’d have to punt the ball back to Mooresville and play defense one more time. Or he can have Davidson pass it deep. He calls a pass. Not just any pass. He calls a pass to Patrick, the talented and speedy player who dropped one key reception after another this year. Smiles all around: Coaches For the past few weeks, Patrick has been in and players dump water on Chadwick as the clock winds his backyard until 10 or 11 at night, catching down. He celebrates with his team and lifts his daughter, passes fired at him by his dad, hoping to Madison, high in the air. overcome the yips. After Davidson takes the snap on the most important play of the year, Patrick runs straight up the field. Then, he plants his foot and cuts right, toward the home bench. Davidson chucks the ball into a tight area near the sideline. Patrick is wide open. He watches it come down. And with less than two minutes to play, he puts two hands under the ball and it sticks. He tiptoes to get his feet in bounds. The Mustangs gain 35 yards on the play. Tim Willis, the fleet-footed backup quarterback, takes Patrick runs off the field, and his team- a quarterback draw up the middle for a touchdown. mates line up to smack him on the helmet. A few plays later, Chadwick sends Watson into the game on offense for the Then quarterback Jack Davidson tosses tion. He immediately tells the trainers to second half, aren’t they? Gentlemen, I’ll victory formation. Davidson will snap the a screen pass to receiver Elijah Bowick, a stop, then runs out onto the field. The play meet you back here after about an hour ball and take a knee, and it’s Watson’s job 6-foot-2 freshman who will almost cer- is a quarterback sneak, and it’s Norris’s job and half, and I got a little dance planned to stand 30 yards behind him and protect tainly be a star one day. Bowick takes to help Davidson push the pile. Davidson for us.” their end zone, just in case something the ball and shoots toward the end zone. calls hike, and he drives forward. Norris The number of people dead in Paris strange happens. Three defenders jump at his ankles, only slams into him from behind and pushes keeps rising. One hundred now, one parent Davidson takes the knee. Chadwick to grab air. The 33-yard touchdown makes everybody five yards down the field, then whispers to another. peels off his headset and puts his face in it 7-0 Mustangs. runs off for another round of “Ah, God,” Mooresville tries an onside kick to open his hands and bends over. Davidson takes Myers Park is a different team tonight. and four-letter words. the second half, but Myers Park recovers the second and final knee, and the last sec- Chadwick isn’t screaming. Nobody’s Mooresville answers with a 23-yard it. A few plays later, tap-dancing Tim Willis onds tick off. The game’s over. moping along the sideline. And on the touchdown. During a timeout, the takes a 35-yard run to the 2-yard line. A few One week after being embarrassed field, they’re speaking a language that only Mooresville band plays “Sweet Caroline,” plays after that, Davidson sneaks the ball on their home field on Senior Night, the they can understand. just before Willis—tap-dancing Tim from into the end zone, again with Norris pro- Mustangs have pulled off the biggest upset “Baltimore!” Kevin Alford yells at the potato bar—takes a snap and plants his viding the final push. in the North Carolina playoffs in 2015. Watson before one play, and the two cor- cleat in the turf and takes off. He runs up Myers Park, the 13th seed, is beating Just as Chadwick opens his eyes, someone nerbacks swap sides of the field. “Zebra! the middle 34 yards for a touchdown with fourth-seeded Mooresville 21-17. dumps a bucket of ice water on him. When Zebra!” Alex Alvarez, the great baseball 2:31 remaining in the first quarter. On the next series, Mooresville’s he turns around, he sees that the man player turned football player, shouts to Late in the half, Mooresville scores on starting quarterback goes down with an holding the bucket is Dre Bly. He points at Watson before another play, and the cor- a long touchdown run to tie it. Then, with injury. Myers Park’s defense decides to him and smiles. Bly points at the head coach nerback nods. about a minute to play, Davidson throws a rush the backup with everything it has. and smiles back. Norris is playing despite the torn bad interception, giving Mooresville the On a fourth-and-13, Colby Williams, once The teams line up to shake hands. Myers labrum, and on a play in the second quarter, chance to kick a short field goal at the end on the verge of being kicked off the team, Park’s fans climb over the fence and onto the his arm is ripped back again. He runs to the of the half, making it 17-14. bursts through the line and records a sack field. Chadwick sees his daughter running sideline, where the trainers again press It’s easy to wonder if this is where they to pull the Mustangs closer to the upset. toward him. He grabs her and lifts her high on the spot where the shoulder meets his fall apart again. Chadwick and the staff On the next Mooresville possession, he in the air. chest. “Ah, God!” Norris shouts, before offer encouragement under the fluores- does it again on third down. The Blue The players run to the locker room to using a few four-letter words. He’s about cent lights of the locker room at halftime. Devils punt with about four minutes left. change, and on a very tough evening in a to take off his pads when the Myers Park The coach’s final words: “I know our The Mustangs can almost run out the world that keeps showing that it can be offense lands in a third-and-short situa- defense is going to throw a shutout in the clock if they can record a first down. On very mean, 60-some teenagers dance and

84 CHARLOTTE APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 CHARLOTTE 85 sing the night away in a small town in gain. For most of the rest of the game, the best he’s ever had. He believes every- North Carolina. Slade played quarterback. thing is in place to contend for a state Their coach runs into the room, his It was a small show of respect for championship in a few years. Then he hat turned backward. He promised Watson, who became quite a prospect looked at the seniors, who were crying them a dance. After a few seconds of bad himself this year. Two seasons ago, over the end of their high school careers. moves from a man who fumbled through some college coaches wouldn’t look at “When we look back and get this pro- an Eminem quote to start the year, the him because of his grades. But when he gram to where it needs to be,” he told players pick him up over their heads like started making B’s and C’s, his phone them, “you guys will be the ones whose a crowd-surfer at a rock show. They all rang more. So did Chadwick’s. shoulders we did it on.” raise their arms and pass him from one Over the holidays, James Madison Willis, the fun-loving character with set of hands to the next. University’s coaches called. The Dukes the tap-dancing shoes, seemed to take it are one of the top teams in the Football hardest, sniffling with his helmet on. After Championship Subdivision—the smaller the meeting broke up, the team jogged classification of Division I. The JMU to the three buses, parked on a hill just recruiters asked Chadwick about Watson’s outside the stadium. But Watson and CHAPTER VII grades and maturity. Chadwick explained Willis went the other way. They trotted EPILOGUE: ONE LAST WALK that Watson grew up in a house without halfway across the field and to the sideline. a father and said it took time for him to They’ve been playing football together realize the importance of school. “He’s since seventh grade. And growing up in TWO DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS, Kameela grown a ton since I got here,” Chadwick the Gladedale apartments, they’d spent Watson is preparing to make chicken and told them. “He just needs discipline years going at it in one-on-one basketball rice and beans for Sunday dinner. Her sometimes.” games and footraces. This was their last son, Jamal, is getting ready to head to the Kameela and Jamal take regular walks After his last high walk together as teammates. gym for an offseason workout. around their neighborhood to talk about school game, “We were just telling each other Watson walks off It’s been a little more than a month the future. She chokes up when she thinks the field wondering how this hurts more than we thought since the Myers Park football season about what life will be like when her where he’ll go next. it would,” Watson said later. “We were ended in the second round of the playoffs son goes off to school. More than that, crying like crazy. My whole body was at West Forsyth, a school near Winston- though, she worries that Jamal’s grades shaking. Then we just remembered Salem where NBA star Chris Paul spent from his freshman and sophomore years think it’ll be sooner than that.” walking onto the field as ninth-graders. his high school days. hurt him during the recruiting process. “We’ll see,” her son says. And then we were laughing. We were Throughout January, Jamal agonizes just trying to turn that sad moment into over the uncertain future. He and his something else.” mom call Chadwick and Bly just about When they were done laughing, Willis The Mustangs were overmatched that every day, asking for updates from col- ran up to the buses. A man in a green leges. The team holds its annual awards and yellow West Forsyth jacket stopped night, not necessarily by a team, but banquet in the school cafeteria on January Watson on his way out. He was an assis- one player. 21, the night before a big snowstorm in tant coach with the Titans, and he had Charlotte. Players and parents use plastic something he wanted to tell the opposing forks to woof down plates of bowtie pasta cornerback before he left a high school and marinara sauce. Chadwick stands stadium for the last time. The Mustangs were overmatched that She never doubts his intelligence. “He’s next to a long table and announces the “You have a bright future ahead of night, not necessarily by a team, but one bright. He’s inquisitive,” she says. “He awards. The best junior varsity player As the season ends, the you, son.” players and coaches player. West Forsyth’s Darion Slade is always wants to know what happened is Bowick, the young receiver who was reminisce about the fun Watson thanked him and walked off one of the top athletes in the South, and before his time, how people were raised called up to varsity late in the year and times from earlier in the field. At the fence by the stadium’s the year, such as when he ran for one touchdown and threw for and what the laws were and how every- caught the first touchdown in the upset Tim Willis posed for exit, he was stopped by a girl who looked another in a 20-3 win. Within a few plays, one’s different.” victory over Mooresville. Every year, the this photo. to be about his age, maybe a year or two it was clear that no matter what speech From the front door of their three-bed- team gives out a scholarship in honor of younger. She wore West Forsyth colors. Chadwick gave his team about coming room apartment in their subsidized, low- David Shannon, a Myers Park graduate career achievement award is split alma mater. He’ll be a Towson Tiger. She’d never met him, but she watched together and team unity, at the high income housing complex, they can walk who died from a fall during his freshman between the two players who lost their Watson makes the announcement him come across the field and had been school level, sometimes there’s no match less than half a mile and stand in front year at the University of North Carolina jerseys before the Garinger game: Noah public on his Twitter page by posting six waiting for him. for one superior athlete. of homes that are selling for anywhere in 2012. This year, the scholarship goes Smith and Jamal Watson. tiger emojis. “Can I just get a picture with you?” Slade is technically listed as a wide between $750,000 and $900,000. The to Anton O’Brien, the offensive lineman Less than two weeks later, on February she asked. receiver and is the fourth-best wideout difference between his home and theirs— with the short hair who was standing 2, Watson—the senior captain who He blushed. Then the tough guy put in the state, according to one ranking. On and the chasm between his childhood and on the top step of the stadium crying could drive his coach crazy and make his AFTER THE LAST GAME at West Forsyth, his arm around her and looked into his first reception in the game, he caught those of some of his teammates—isn’t after the loss to East Meck on Senior coach hug him, the homecoming king, Chadwick huddled the Myers Park play- the camera. the ball and turned toward Watson, lost on the 17-year-old. Night. JaMykal Neal, the young lineman the young man who grew up in the sub- ers and told them he was proud of them. Chin out. No big deal. Myers Park’s senior cornerback, with “It all goes back to Jim Crow,” he says. from Grier Heights who will be one of sidized housing complex in the middle He chewed hard on a piece of gum as Smile. space to try to make a move. Slade juked “I think it’ll change, but it’ll take a long the most highly recruited seniors on the of one of Charlotte’s wealthiest neigh- he looked at the underclassmen, know- Michael Graff is the executive editor of this magazine. right and left, but Watson stuck him and time. Maybe even a couple of centuries.” team next season, wins the offensive bors—signs a full scholarship to Towson ing that many of his best players were Reach him at [email protected], or slammed him to the turf for nearly no “Centuries, Jamal?” his mother asks. “I player of the year. And the outstanding University in Maryland. It’s Chadwick’s juniors, and that the freshman class is on Twitter: @michaelngraff.

86 CHARLOTTE APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 CHARLOTTE 87