Thamail Morgan took the kickoff and headed up the field.
He was at the 20 ...
30 ... 40
He had been avoiding,
dodging or just simply running through tacklers on the way. Football always had
come easily for Morgan. This game was no different. By the time he hit
midfield, only open space was ahead of him. The two-time Arkansas all-state
selection was headed for a touchdown.
40 ... 30 ... 20
He glanced at the
clock and saw the final seconds ticking away. He realized his team, Cave City,
was on the way to a victory over Yellville-Summit, comfortably ahead, 34-16. He
also realized two other things: This wasn't an ordinary game. And he wasn't the
same Thamail Morgan.
When he reached the
2, he stopped. He took a few steps back and took a knee at the 5-yard line.
******
Yelleville-Summit is
a co-op program, a combination of two small rural schools in the northern part
of Arkansas, near the Missouri border. Combining the schools allows them to
field a football team. But even then, the squad is so small that coach Calvin
Mallett has to bring extra uniforms in case a lineman gets hurt and someone
needs to fill in.
On Sept. 11, before a
game with Salem, the schools came together for a pep rally. Afterward, four of
the players piled into the bed of Kymball Duffy's truck to head to his house
for a pre-game meal.
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According to Marion
County Sheriff Roger Vickers, this is what happened next.
As Duffy came over a
hill, he quickly came upon a brush pile in the road. Duffy swerved into the
other side of the road, attempting to avoid it. He lost control of the truck,
sending it into a tumble.
The four players in
the back - whose names are not being released - were thrown from the vehicle.
Miraculously, three of the players in the back suffered only minor injuries. A
fourth remains in the hospital but appears to be headed for recovery. Duffy was
killed at the scene.
The game with Salem
was cancelled.
The town held
memorial services for Duffy, then decided they needed to continue the season as
part of the healing process.
Before taking on Cave
City, the most seriously injured of the four players in the back of the truck,
spoke to the team from his hospital bed.
Players from
Yellville-Summit and Cave City met at midfield before the game for a moment of
remembrance. Players on both teams were a No. 72 decal - Duffy's number - on
their helmet.
The game began and
Cave City quickly scored. Minutes later, it scored again. And again. All hope
for a storybook ending appeared lost.
******
Thamail Morgan is the
type of player who can dominate a high school game. On every play.
Last year, playing
for Newport in a state playoff game against Heber Springs, he had 15 tackles, a
sack and two forced fumbles on defense. He had 145 yards receiving and two
touchdowns on offense.
He was coveted by
most Division I programs in the South. Then it all changed.
In January, he
violated an unspecified school rule that banned him from athletics for a year.
Morgan would be eligible for basketball during his senior season but not
football.
A year away from
football would hurt his chances of gaining a scholarship, so - after
considering a number of options - he transferred roughly 40 miles away to Cave
City. His scholarship offers did not travel with him.
"Before I
screwed up and got myself into trouble, I had some schools like Arkansas,
Florida State, Ole Miss, and some other big schools looking at me,'' he said.
"Now they are not looking at me, but I have no one to blame but myself for
that. Hopefully I can get on someone's radar, even if it is a lower level D-1
or D-2 school."
Cave City coach Jon
Bradley was willing to take a chance on Morgan. But only if he met certain
conditions. He not only is required to attend extra weight lifting and
conditioning exercises, he is required to participate in after-school
activities with a local church and meet with a pastor on a regular basis for
counseling.
"Everyone makes
mistakes," Bradley said. "Thamail made some mistakes that did not
allow him to play football anymore at Newport, and we knew what those mistakes
were when he came here. I sat him down and talked to him, and let him know I
was willing to give him a chance, but there were certain things that he would
have to do in order to play for our program.
"So far, he has
accomplished, and continues to do everything he has been asked to do, and then
some. He has transitioned well and the kids here have accepted him. He is doing
well in class, and is a leader on the football field and is a great athlete. We
feel fortunate to have him."
******
Bradley said he
didn't get word the game with Yellville-Summit was going to be played until
Tuesday. He then wondered all week how it would play out.
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"I did not know
what to expect due to the tragedy,'' he said. "You go into the game
wanting to win, but then, you feel bad doing it. When we went up 21-0 in the
first quarter, I just can't explain how I felt. The atmosphere was so weird. I
just can't explain it."
His players sensed it
too.
"They told me on
the sidelines that Yellville-Summit was not into it and they did not want to
pad stats or run up the score,'' he said. "At that time, I started
substituting our kids in and out of the game."
At this point, what
the game represented became clear to Bradley.
"Everyone was
glad that they were out there playing, getting some sort of return to
normalcy,'' he said. "But everyone was going to be glad when it was
over."
Yellville-Summit eventually
scored in the second quarter, after Cave City had replaced many of its
regulars. Bradley did not have a problem with that.
"I talked with
Coach Mallet earlier in the week and before the game," Bradley said.
"He let me know that if the game was to get out of hand, he simply did not
have the players to substitute due to his numbers. So, I knew that when I
pulled our guys, that there was a chance they would score."
It was 28-8 at
halftime. Then 34-8 at the end of three quarters. Yelleville-Summit scored a
second time with little time left to make it 34-16.
They had to kick off,
sending a line drive that bounced its way to the back. To Morgan.
"We didn't even
think they would kick off," Bradley said. "And we had him (Morgan)
all the way back. It was our top return team, but we only have one return
team."
What he did next
surprised Bradley.
"I did not tell
him to kneel down, he did it on his own," Bradley said. "I did not
expect them to kick it to him. I figured they would kick away, because he has the
ability to break away. I did not know that he was going to do what he did. He
broke tackles, ran sideline to sideline, and got to the 2, and just stopped.
That is when he backed up and took a knee on the 5-yard line."
******
Morgan did not do
this completely on his own.
"We were on the
sidelines yelling for him not to score," Bradley said. "Some of the
players on the field were saying it, too. But I'm not sure how much he could
have heard all of it."
He heard it, Morgan
admitted. But he didn't need to.
"Before the
game, we as a team talked about being classy,'' he said. "We did not want
to come out in a game like this and not show any class.
"As I was
running, some of my teammates told me not to score, and I knew that scoring was
not the right thing to do."
He was glad to be a
part of what happened.
"I just want to
thank my teammates for not only being classy all night, but pushing me to be
classy as well,'' he said.
The gesture was well
received.
"We weren't sure
how gloomy they would be before the game,'' Morgan said. "They had gloom,
but it was not as bad as we thought. We met before the game, and they told us
that they did not want us to feel sorry for them, and they did not want us to
back off just because of what happened. They wanted us to play them like we
would have if Duffy has still been there with them, so we did.
"After the game,
they complimented us, and even thanked us for the way that we played them. They
are some really cool cats, and I wish them the best of luck with their healing
process and the rest of their season. I hope they make the playoffs."
******
What becomes of the
rest of Morgan's football career remains to be seen.
He is getting
interest from Arkansas State and Central Arkansas. Bigger schools such as
Southern Miss and Texas Tech are starting to re-enter the picture.
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At 6-1, 195 with a
4.5 time in the 40, there's no doubt he can play. It's the other issues that
are a concern. Bradley is doing his best to make those go away.
"I send things
out to places and I tell schools, he's had some off the field issues, but if
you're interested, please call me because it's not near as bad as what it
sounds,'' Bradley said. "They assume his grades are bad or that he's done
something really, really bad. Everyone deserves a second chance. He's doing the
right thing."
Bradley said he and
Morgan have had many talks, but none of them have been about behavior.
"He's not a
discipline problem at all,'' Bradley said. "His grades are getting better.
He'll have an opportunity to play. He's too good of an athlete and too good of
a young man right now."
Bradley admitted he
had concerns at the beginning but they have proven to be unfounded.
"I've never seen
anything negative out of the kid,'' he said. "He's the most polite kid. He
works hard. He knows he has one shot to get his education.
"He's showing
people he's doing the right thing."
That was never more
evident as when he kneeled down on the field.
.