What happened to What's his/her name?

iAMaPhoenix

I went back to my hometown this past weekend to see my newborn neice. While there I ran into someone I thought I recognize. I asked one of the nurses at the hospital if she knew who it was(It is a small town after all). She said it was Kenneth H. I was completely taken aback.

You see, Kenneth was the star QB in high school. When I say star, it is to the ninth power. He was such a high school phenom that Howard Schnellenberger, Pat Dye, Charlie Pell, Lou Holtz, and countless other D1 college coaches all came to watch him play. Bobby Bowden even flew down in the FSU helicopter to watch him at practice. As good as he was on the football field however, was as bad as he was in the classroom. He could not spell 'cat', if you gave him the 'c' and the 't'. I was asked to tutor him by the football coach along with several of the other players. He never showed up for any of our sessions. When I told the coach about this, I was advised to do the homework for him and to turn it in. Of course, since this was our star QB who was being recruited by every school in the nation, and was placing our little school in the national limelight, I flat out REFUSED. My reputation was and never has been for sale. Kenneth came at me with the vengeance of a Tazmanian Devil. I was basically blackballed by the rest of the football team because of this. My playing time went from being a starter to barely getting in even when the score was out of hand. But I never caved in.

Kenneth eventually graduated, but because his grades were so low, and his entrance exam scores barely above 400, he had to go to JUCO. Of course I did not keep up with him much past our graduation date. He never did much in college however, as he never did learn to spell 'cat', I guess. Here we are 25 years later, and he is as thin as a rail secondary to crack cocaine addiction. When I approached him, he asked me for 22 cents, so he could go buy some food. I was of course heartbroken and gave him $5. I am sure that I fed his cocaine addiction that day, but I am not judge and jury. If he said he needed food, I gave him the money for food, and not crack. I can live with that.

The point is that 25 years ago, I was actually jealous of his success. In the past few days, I have wondered if this jealousy is not what made me refuse to cheat for him. I know it is not, btw. I do know that if given the choice back then, I would have gladly traded places with him. His future was so bright. He had everything given to him. I lived in a trailer on a farm. He lived with the coach in a big brick house. He drove to school, while me and my siblings had to walk or catch a ride. And let us not forget the girls. Rumor has it that he even slept with some of the teachers. Man, what a difference does 25 years make.

Any similar stories out there anyone wants to share? Please do. We all want to know what happened to What's his/her name.

JennaM222

awesome/sad story. Funny how things change.

rainunrefined

That's like a lifetime movie...

pftjill

that is a really sad story:(.

nygiantschick

That's really a heartbreaking story. I hope he is able to get his life together. Sounds like too many people led him down a path that he could not recover from and never bothered to give him the life tools he needed to LIVE successfully not just PLAY successfully. All the best to Kenneth H.

TSSC

That is a sad story. It sounds like he had an undiagnosed learning disability that no one cared about because they were so focused on his athletic ability and when that didn't happen, forgot about him. Very sad. You were right to not do the work for him and shame on the teachers and coaches involved for not caring about him for more than making a name for themselves as grooming the next 'superstar' athlete. It goes to show that most people have their own very real challenges no matter how perfect their circumstances appear from the outside.

Johnnyswife

Wow...Listen, No matter how you felt about him back than, his life would have turned out like this. Even if you had cheated for him and gotten him intop collage, he would have been kicked out within the year from bad grades.
You did the right thing. The coaches and teachers who let him pass every year let him down and he let himself down as well by not even trying to learn.

I havent' had much contact wit most kids from my school. No outright bullies, but I did work for a bit with one kid who kind of went along with the crowd who picked on me. He'd laugh with them, but never really said much himself. He apologised and turned out to be a really nice. He got married and has children now.

Shannon023

No similar tales, but what a sad story. :frown:

FitPhysique

It's a really sad story. High School is only four years of a person life. Maybe he could not handle the pressure of having to maintain that status level.

It's also sad that everyone around him only focused on his atheltic abilites and not his academia. If his "caregivers" had spent half of their time helping him with his schoolwork he probably would have had a better life.

Why was he leaving with the coach? Where were his parents in all this?

Sad...unfortunately, I 'll bet that it's not really that uncommon for H.S Star Athletes. For every successful one, there's probably 50 in his shoes.

iAMaPhoenix

That is a sad story. It sounds like he had an undiagnosed learning disability that no one cared about because they were so focused on his athletic ability and when that didn't happen, forgot about him. Very sad. You were right to not do the work for him and shame on the teachers and coaches involved for not caring about him for more than making a name for themselves as grooming the next 'superstar' athlete. It goes to show that most people have their own very real challenges no matter how perfect their circumstances appear from the outside.

Looking back, he obviously had a learning disability. Back in the mid 80s in my inner city neighborhood of small farming community South Florida, it was better to fake it than to face it. You would be a social pariah if you were labeled as learning disabled. In fact, those kids were kept in a portable in the back of the school and they were not even allowed to eat lunch with the rest of the students. Shame looking at it now. You just reminded me of it. I am glad that has now changed and now we as a society are facing it head on.

luppic8

Great story! I am glad you did what you did because I hate it when people are treated extra special because they can "play" ball!

I have a very similar story to yours! But mine puts the head cheerleader in the spotlight! Her name was Lori and she was the biggest snob you will ever meet. She was selfish and only cared about how she looked and how popular she was. She had her little minions that followed her around like puppies on a leash. I never had any problems with Lori because I knew her since Jr. High school before she was this horrible snob, but I still hated the person that she became. She had these HUGE dreams about being rich and famous with celebrity status (that's all she ever talked about)

Well flash forward 15 years...I was representing my company and volunteering at a shelter. I was handing out clothes, shoes and toys to underprivledged mothers and children. I look up and guess who is standing in front of me with two kids and a pregnant belly...LORI!!!! She was so embarassed when she recognized me and it was really hard to keep the surprised look off my face, but I stood up and gave her a hug just like I would when I see someone for the first time in a while and tried to act as if there was nothing wrong with her being at the shelter. I'm sure it was hard enough for her to take chairity because she used to scoff at people that received it and would have nothing to do with them! Boy I tell you Karma is a son of a *****!!!

The mean girl in me (waaaay deep inside) wanted to say "that;s what you get" but the good person in me really felt sorry for her...especially her children. I truly hope she is doing okay.

jacksonpt

ok... so maybe the *kitten* in me is coming out, but...

Why is it such a sad story? Clearly there's a lot we don't know, but from all appearances, he had his chances and didn't take them, and this is where he ended up.

Gotta lie in the bed you make people.

DizzieLittleLifter

ok... so maybe the *kitten* in me is coming out, but...

Why is it such a sad story? Clearly there's a lot we don't know, but from all appearances, he had his chances and didn't take them, and this is where he ended up.

Gotta lie in the bed you make people.

:laugh: I have to agree except the sad part for me is that he didn't take the opportunities. It doesn't seem like he had someone advocating just for him. They were just trying to get a piece of what seemed like a golden future.

Things may have been hard for you then, but baby look at you now!