VIRGINIA BEACH — It’s been a tough week for the South Hampton Roads football community as the area mourns the life of three men who touched so many lives in Pro Football Hall of Famer Kenny Easley, Kempsville assistant coach Raymond Colston and Bayside head coach Jon White.
Easley, who starred at Oscar Smith, was known as a phenomenal athlete in football, basketball and baseball. His childhood friend, Greg Sherrill, said, “He was a great guy. Anybody that knew him knows he touched their life,” he told me last week. “He was a no-nonsense guy, but if he was your friend, you had a friend.”
Colston touched many lives whether it was on the football field or as a youth coordinator at First Baptist Church South Hill. On the church’s Facebook page, the church wrote, “Coach Ray was a passionate, creative, hardworking, and dynamic Youth Coordinator at First Baptist Church South Hill, deeply loved by our entire church family. He lived his life with purpose and on purpose, pouring his energy into helping young people know God, grow in faith, and pursue their potential.”
With White, I didn’t have to look far to find someone to talk about how he touched their life. I only had to look in my own home because White coached my son, Jordan.
When I heard about White’s death on Sunday morning, I knew I had to make that tough phone call to Jordan before he heard about it from someone else.
“I know if you call me that early, it’s always bad news,” said Jordan, who now lives in Atlanta. “My initial reaction was you don’t want to keep hearing about people who are important to you passing. You also remember how important he was in your life and the impact he had on you.”
Jordan, now 30, has so many memories of White, including going to his house to play video games and eating food.
He also remembers some not-so nice encounters.
“Like he personally would come get me from the house if I was trying to skip practice,” he said, laughing. “He was just a great guy.”
I remember when Jordan told me he wanted to play football at Bayside High. He had just returned from visiting his grandmother for the summer when I remembered that conditioning was about to begin.
So I called White, who I’ve known since 1999 when he was an All-Beach District linebacker at Bayside. I also coached his nephew in youth basketball.
When White knew Jordan was coming there, he stepped in to help in a big way.
“I remember you took me up to Bayside and he was sitting outside waiting for me to get out of the car,” said Jordan, who ended up wearing the same No. 50 jersey as White. “The 14-year-old in me, I was scared. You hear stories about high school football, and I was afraid. Looking back on it now, it was really cool that someone knew you and was like, ‘Hey, you’ll be fine.’ And crazy enough, he told me that at the end of practice. He said, ‘You’re going to blend in real nice here.’ ”
Jordan said White, like Easley, was a no-nonsense guy. He said he was the first person to get on you when you messed up, but also the first one to greet you when you did well.
“That was so important,” Jordan said.
As we talked about White in past tense, it didn’t seem real.
I just saw him and his wife, Shameia, at a game last month.
Now Monday, the school will be having a Celebration of Life service honoring him.
It doesn’t make sense.
After hearing about his death, I remembered a conversation I had with him when he was named Bayside’s head coach in 2013 after Darnell Moore retired.
“When I first got to Bayside, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m home,’ ” he told me then. “And I’ve come across kids who I played with their uncles or older brothers. Or I may have been in class with their mother, sister or aunt. It’s crazy. But I’m thankful for this opportunity. I’m just so enthusiastic about what we can do.”
I remember also asking him about what it would be like to coach his sons, Aric and Tory, who were then toddlers.
“That would be scary,” he told me. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. It’s going to be real cool.”
Robert Jackson, who coached White at Bayside, said White looked forward to coaching his sons.
“He loved them boys. He was happy he had a son playing for him,” Jackson told me about Aric playing for him this season. “You spend so much time spending time with other kids that you neglect your own. But he had an opportunity to coach his son. He was a good father and he was a good person. It’s just heartbreaking.”
Whenever I saw White, he always asked how Jordan was doing.
And whenever Jordan snuck into town, he made it a point to check on White.
“I have a ritual that I do. I first go to Mom’s grave. Then I go up and see him and Corprew,” Jordan said about Bayside athletic director Lisa Corprew. “Then I come home to see you. It’s going to be weird not to be able to see him. That he’s not there.”
White will be remembered for the love he had for his players and for the life lessons he shared.
“He has this one quote that he always told us during pregame and postgame talks, and at practice, and that was, ‘Be accountable and be disciplined, more importantly take care of home,’ ” Jordan said. “He would say that pretty much all the time.”
Since his death, Jordan has spoken to many of his teammates who still can’t believe it.
“The one thing that sticks out was how dependable he was,” Jordan said about White. “A lot of them are just hurt. They were crying and in disbelief. He was just a very genuine guy. I don’t know, it’s really been tough.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com
