Post by rainman on Aug 31, 2007 6:26:54 GMT -5
Rivers gains motivation from young son
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Life as a collegiate football player is complicated enough as it is, especially in one’s senior year as his mind is not only haunted by moments from the past, occupied by a present that includes not only academic professors but professors of the forward pass like Brian Brohm of Louisville, and teased by thoughts of a future that is nothing but blurred images.
In so many ways that is enough to throw at anyone, yet here was West Virginia senior cornerback/kick returner Vaughn Rivers sitting there in the Hall of Traditions balancing his most precious possession on his lap as he talked with the media.
He acquired this possession 14 months earlier and while it certainly tossed yet another variable into an already complicated and full life, it also served to acutely focus Rivers on the realities of life in the past, present and future.
At the moment Rivers began discussing his most prized possession, it reached out and put a tiny hand around a digital tape recorder and eyed it curiously.
“He can say football. It’s the one thing he can say,” Vaughn Rivers said, wearing the proud smile any father wears at a moment like this.
Television cameras whirred in the background.
“Say football,” Rivers instructed, but Christopher Rivers was must have misunderstood what he had in his hand, for even though an adult saw it as a tape recorder, he saw it as a “taste” recorder and immediately inserted the business end into his tiny mouth.
Rivers knew that day when Jaquete gave birth to their baby in Pittsburgh that his life would change forever.
It is an awesome thought when one is out in the world and has established some roots and experienced some success.
It is quite another thing when you are still in college.
“When I first found out we were having a baby it was a shock. I thought, ‘Oh, great. Oh, goodness, am I ready for this?’”
You don’t think about things like changing diapers or what a slight fever means or having a child crying the night through.
“It was a mixture of emotions,” Rivers admitted. “It was a little bit of shock, a lot of happiness. Now there was someone else you had to work for.”
There were complicating matters to work out. Rivers was at WVU, Jaquete finishing up at Pitt, which made this a marriage of inconvenience.
How to take care of the child under such circumstances needed to addressed. In the end, the baby is staying with Rivers’ mother in Pittsburgh as they get through school.
“The biggest thing is being away from him,” Rivers said. “He’s such a motivational factor, having him in the back of my mind the whole time.”
Having him in the back of his mind is not a problem, but Rivers admits there are moments, brief though they are, when young Christopher enters his thoughts at the wrong time.
“He means everything to me,” Rivers said. “When I’m out there on the field, sometimes I get lost just thinking about him. Yes, I daydream about him. He’s such a blessing. Every day I’m thankful,” Rivers said.
If there is anything that helps him get through the long days without his son, it is that he is not alone when it comes to being in a fatherly way on the West Virginia football team.
This is especially true in the secondary, where Rivers estimated at least five of the players have fathered children.
As the opening game, which comes this Saturday at home against Western Michigan, approaches, Rivers knows that his son will be heading back home to Pittsburgh.
“You miss him like heck,” Rivers admitted, “but you gotta do what you gotta do. That’s my motivation, really.”
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Life as a collegiate football player is complicated enough as it is, especially in one’s senior year as his mind is not only haunted by moments from the past, occupied by a present that includes not only academic professors but professors of the forward pass like Brian Brohm of Louisville, and teased by thoughts of a future that is nothing but blurred images.
In so many ways that is enough to throw at anyone, yet here was West Virginia senior cornerback/kick returner Vaughn Rivers sitting there in the Hall of Traditions balancing his most precious possession on his lap as he talked with the media.
He acquired this possession 14 months earlier and while it certainly tossed yet another variable into an already complicated and full life, it also served to acutely focus Rivers on the realities of life in the past, present and future.
At the moment Rivers began discussing his most prized possession, it reached out and put a tiny hand around a digital tape recorder and eyed it curiously.
“He can say football. It’s the one thing he can say,” Vaughn Rivers said, wearing the proud smile any father wears at a moment like this.
Television cameras whirred in the background.
“Say football,” Rivers instructed, but Christopher Rivers was must have misunderstood what he had in his hand, for even though an adult saw it as a tape recorder, he saw it as a “taste” recorder and immediately inserted the business end into his tiny mouth.
Rivers knew that day when Jaquete gave birth to their baby in Pittsburgh that his life would change forever.
It is an awesome thought when one is out in the world and has established some roots and experienced some success.
It is quite another thing when you are still in college.
“When I first found out we were having a baby it was a shock. I thought, ‘Oh, great. Oh, goodness, am I ready for this?’”
You don’t think about things like changing diapers or what a slight fever means or having a child crying the night through.
“It was a mixture of emotions,” Rivers admitted. “It was a little bit of shock, a lot of happiness. Now there was someone else you had to work for.”
There were complicating matters to work out. Rivers was at WVU, Jaquete finishing up at Pitt, which made this a marriage of inconvenience.
How to take care of the child under such circumstances needed to addressed. In the end, the baby is staying with Rivers’ mother in Pittsburgh as they get through school.
“The biggest thing is being away from him,” Rivers said. “He’s such a motivational factor, having him in the back of my mind the whole time.”
Having him in the back of his mind is not a problem, but Rivers admits there are moments, brief though they are, when young Christopher enters his thoughts at the wrong time.
“He means everything to me,” Rivers said. “When I’m out there on the field, sometimes I get lost just thinking about him. Yes, I daydream about him. He’s such a blessing. Every day I’m thankful,” Rivers said.
If there is anything that helps him get through the long days without his son, it is that he is not alone when it comes to being in a fatherly way on the West Virginia football team.
This is especially true in the secondary, where Rivers estimated at least five of the players have fathered children.
As the opening game, which comes this Saturday at home against Western Michigan, approaches, Rivers knows that his son will be heading back home to Pittsburgh.
“You miss him like heck,” Rivers admitted, “but you gotta do what you gotta do. That’s my motivation, really.”
