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Steve Young's mom once ran onto the football field when he was playing in a junior league game. He had been hit hard by a pint-size defender, so she picked up her son, scolded the tackler and darn near killed Young's rep among his peers for seasons to come.
Tyrone Corbin's mom worked long hours at a dry-cleaning business to support Ty, his five brothers and a sister living in the projects of Columbia, S.C. She insisted that her children study and work diligently. "She was a loving mom who showed tough love, too," Corbin said. "She knew education was the way to success. I always thought my mom worked too hard to give her any heartbreak. She told us, 'If you're going to take money from anyone, make sure you earn it.' "
Cael Sanderson's mom used to have to clean up the mess — no, collect the debris — created when Cael and his brothers Cole and Cody wrestled through her home, rolling down steps, busting walls, breaking furniture and snapping limbs. Said Cody: "The house we grew up in, we damaged every part of it. We drove my mom crazy. But we didn't get hurt that much. Cael did break my arm once, but … "
Doug Mientkiewicz's mom drove a round trip of over 1,000 miles from her home to watch her son play games at Florida State. Mientkiewicz previously had been a high draft pick of Toronto and was offered a large signing bonus, but his mom longed for him to get his degree. He went to FSU, instead, and later enjoyed a career in the major leagues.
Dameon Hunter's mom was always there for him, even though she wasn't. He grew up on the streets of San Bernardino, Calif., bobbing and weaving through gangs, crime and football, often talking to his mother in quiet moments at night. Her name was Glenda, the one ray of hope in his life, and she was killed in an auto accident when she was 30 and her son just 12. Still, she remained the light for any kind of good he accomplished.
Jimmer Fredette's mom didn't want her son to be known as ordinary, so she took some liberties with his given name: James. She morphed the formal (James) into the familiar (Jim) into the unfamiliar (Jimmer). The rest … well, you know the rest.
Taj Melson's mom named him after the pop group Taj Mahal, which was named after the building in India. But … a hockey player named Taj?
Scott and Willie Eyre's mom, Peggy, raised five kids as a single parent. She held down working stints at Toys R Us and K-mart. She ran a day-care center out of her home and got up at 3 a.m. to clean condos. She taxied Scott and Willie to enough youth league baseball games for them to eventually pitch in the majors. Peggy blessed all her kids' lives. "She's like an angel on my shoulder," Willie said.
Hans Olsen's mom fired her son when he was 16 years old from a job at her candy store. Turns out, he was wasting too much time scarfing "Cherry Bombs" and "Gold Diggers" and "Centennial Crunches." Said Olsen: "She fired me for eating too much of the product."
Brandon Davies' mom, Kathy, adopted her son when his birth mother, a teenager in Philadelphia, selected her from a list of prospective parents. Months before, the heavy-hearted Kathy had adopted another infant from the city, a son who died shortly thereafter from pneumonia. The addition of Brandon gave her new hope: "It's just a real warm, wonderful feeling, like for any parent who has a newborn baby in her arms," she said. "It's pure joy."
Bobby Johnson's mom doused his cherished teddy bear in lighter fluid and torched it with a match as punishment after he allowed his Little League teammates to walk across her near-sacred vanilla-colored living-room carpet with muddy spikes, leaving a trail of dark stains.
Brian Gibson's mom taught him, even when the long-ago linebacker at Utah was just a walk-on and had slim chances of ever playing, to keep his hopes high, his focus fixed. She knew about hope and focus, having battled cancer that spread from her breast to her liver to her bones to her lungs. Still, she rarely flinched and never gave up, straight until she died after a six-year fight. "She reminded me to just keep trying, to believe in myself and to keep working," Gibson said. "Everything would be OK." He went on to become a star, after his mom passed away.
Mothers aren't perfect. But in my 32 years of writing feature stories on athletes, a great percentage of those subjects have talked lovingly about their moms and the remarkable effects they've had. Funny moments, sad moments, serious moments all have their impact.
A clinical expert once told me that mothers, wherever they are, near or far, dead or alive, go on influencing their kids, no matter their ages, throughout their lives.
Most of the aforementioned athletes have been beyond grateful, through the sacrifices, mistakes, successes, and failures. In that spirit, to moms everywhere: Happy Mother's Day.
GORDON MONSON hosts "The Gordon Monson Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 104.7 FM/1280 AM The Zone.