Almost 12 years ago today, my forever 17-year old baby brother, James, died tragically in a hunting accident. He had recently been accepted into UGA and had plans to walk on to the football team. Two of his high school teammates were going on football scholarships, and while I’m skeptical that James would have ever played a snap, he was so enthusiastic about being a Georgia Bulldog that we were all convinced that he would make the team. Sadly, just a few months before high school graduation, our hope of seeing him on the field came crashing down..
The day of his funeral, the massive sanctuary was standing room only and the entire Valdosta High School football team showed up wearing their jerseys in an amazing show of solidarity for our family. Towards the end of the service our pastor called Jay Rome and Malcolm Mitchell up to the stage to read a letter from then head coach Mark Richt. I can’t remember exactly what the letter said… I think I blacked out from absolute shock, but I remember so vividly the closing line, “oh yeah, James made the team” followed by Jay and Malcolm holding up a Georgia jersey with his #23 and Eunice on the back. There wasn’t a lot that could have warmed my heart that day, but I was overwhelmed with gratitude and grief all at once.
For four years, James Eunice WR #23 was on every single roster, and for four years, UGA treated our family like James was a star player on the team – an honor that I cannot even begin to describe. The night of the senior dinner, the AV department put together this video to surprise our family and then called us up on stage with all the seniors…. I was absolutely not ok. I bawled my eyes out the rest of the night, and I bawled again rewatching this video and reliving that moment last night. To say I’m a Georgia fan is an understatement – in all kinds of weather, but I sure am hoping for sunny and 75 tonight.
Now let’s go get ‘em, you silver britches.