Nation Ford football family supporting its own through tragedies

At the end of Nation Ford’s football practice Tuesday, coach Michael Allen addressed his coaching staff and kneeling players.

Facing the group of about 60 teenagers and men, Allen asked how many of them had lost a loved one during their time with the Falcons football program.

He motioned for those affected to move behind him, and most of the team stood and made their way to the other side.

That left about 10 players kneeling. When Allen asked those who had had a loved one battle serious illness during their time with the Falcons to join the others, only five were left.

As the players and coaches looked around, Allen went to the handful of players left, asking the first, “How fortunate do you feel?”

“As we are here in the holiday season, I say let’s play for all of us,” he continued, pointing at the group with a football, “and all the people we’ve lost.”

‘A shocker’

Allen has plenty to be thankful for this week.

His football team knocked off York in the first round of the 4A Division II playoffs last Friday, the Falcons’ first-ever 4A playoff win and the team’s eighth victory this season, a school-best. Nation Ford will practice on Thanksgiving ahead of its second-round matchup Friday at Westside in Anderson, as one of the last eight 4A Division II teams still standing.

But the Falcons’ coach is most thankful for his football family, one he leaned on heavily last week.

Allen’s cousin, Jeff Threatt, passed away in his recliner on Nov. 16, a shock to the 55-year old’s family. He suffered a brain aneurysm, and the coroner told Allen that his cousin almost certainly didn’t feel a thing.

Allen has a half-brother with whom he’s close, he said, but Threatt, “is the closest thing I ever had to a brother. He was a whole lot more like a brother to me than a first cousin.”

Allen learned of his cousin’s death through a phone call at school. His mom was crying, so he assumed it was bad news about his father, longtime area football coach Gus Allen, who has been in poor health in recent years. But Allen was floored when his mom told him it was Threatt.

“That was the last thing in the world I expected to hear at the moment, or any moment for that matter,” he said. “That was a shocker.”

With one of his closest relatives suddenly gone, Allen needed his football family more than ever.

‘Just a big kid’

Jeff Threatt was a big guy, about 6-foot-4, 260 pounds or so, but he was a gentle, happy man who loved fishing, the South Carolina Gamecocks, and hoarding family photos.

Threatt was an outdoorsman in the sense that he loved to be outside, regardless of whether he was doing yard work, drinking beer on a fishing boat, or grilling out with friends and family. Allen was always right alongside, doing “pretty much anything that I would do away from football.”

Allen’s and Threatt’s families lived one block apart in Fort Mill, a continuation of a closeness they developed from childhood. Their mothers were sisters and did everything together – vacations, church, holidays.

Threatt – with his magnetic personality – was always at the center of family gatherings. His big smile was the first thing that came to Nation Ford assistant football coach Jamale Foster’s mind.

“He was just a big kid,” Foster said.

Foster, who had enjoyed many cookouts with Threatt since joining the Nation Ford staff in 2008, said his sons, JaDerrick and Jerrick, took the news harder than he did.

“He cooked the best chicken; that’s all they wanted,” said Foster. “Jeff was a very good man. I’m gonna miss him. Already miss him.”

Well-positioned player

Allen normally buzzes around the practice field like he’s just chugged a six-pack of Red Bull.

But early last week Nation Ford senior Colby Ridge could tell something was off with his coach. He was quieter, like he was mulling something over. After learning about Threatt’s death, Ridge understood. The player and coach first talked about it two days later, and Allen said he’d been thinking about Ridge during the week.

Ridge was well positioned to understand Allen’s struggle. It had been a year and a month since Ridge had dealt with his own midseason tragedy.

Ridge’s father, Mike, died Oct. 23, 2014, after a lengthy bout with terminal, stage-four lung cancer. He was 46 when, after a lengthy remission, he suddenly succumbed to the disease. He was among the small percentage of people who get lung cancer despite never having smoked.

Mike Ridge died at 8:35 a.m.; Colby Ridge was at football practice later that afternoon.

“It helped get my mind off things,” Colby said Tuesday. “Just being around each other” was a relief.

Mike Ridge was on his son’s mind when Nation Ford played Northwestern later that week.

“My dad loved football, absolutely loved football,” said Colby. “It was there with me.”

‘Bigger than ourselves’

Just as the Falcons football family helped Ridge cope with his father’s death, teammates and coaches have been there for Allen and senior defensive lineman J’von Smith, whose grandfather passed away last week.

“It sucks, but it happens,” Ridge said. “People are all you got; each other is all you got.”

During a terrible time in his life, football not only provided Allen – and Smith and Ridge – with a bigger than usual support network, but also a distraction. There was still a football game to play at York on Friday, an important one for the Falcons’ program.

So Allen attended his cousin’s funeral at First United Methodist Church in Lancaster at 2 p.m. Friday. He was back with the team 90 minutes later for the pregame meal. There wasn’t a lot of discussion about what the Falcons were playing for that night.

“We knew how much he meant to Coach Allen,” said Foster. “A lot of guys knew it.”

“It helped us play for a cause that was bigger than ourselves,” said star receiver Hank Tuipulotu, who caught 12 passes and was one of three receivers with more than 100 yards against York. “It’s nice to come down to earth and realize it’s bigger than football, it’s bigger than just us.

“Playing for coach Allen’s family and J’von’s family, we just wanted to play for those guys.”

York had beaten Nation Ford during the regular season, but the motivation of playing for lost loved ones was enough to help the Falcons play one of their best games of the year. They never trailed en route to a 40-21 win.

“We brought a lot of energy,” said Allen. “Our guys were really focused – about as focused as they could possibly be. I think it had a lot to do with everybody coming together and supporting each other and showing compassion for each other.”

‘Gonna take years’

In the closing seconds of Friday’s game, a wave of emotions washed over Allen.

“Relief, happiness, not only for the team and the coaches and our fans, but also who I knew we were playing for,” said Allen. “I knew we were playing for my cousin, and I knew we were playing for J’von’s granddaddy. All of the team knew that as well.

“Not only just a win to keep it going, but I think our team really hit on the fact that we won for other reasons too, other reasons outside of just winning the football game.”

Then he added, “Which is powerful.”

Colby Ridge will tell his coach that getting over the loss of someone like Threatt – big in body and spirit – doesn’t get easier.

“That’s gonna take years,” Allen said. “I’m never gonna be able to totally wrap my arms around that one, because that was a daily piece of my life.”

That fresh and still painful sore is something Allen will have to fully confront when football season is over, when the Friday night lights are shut off for the season and the weather warms up enough for a cookout.

But for one week at least, it was easier.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Nation Ford football family supporting its own through tragedies."