“It scares me every time he falls.”

Kenyatta Walker may be 27 years old and the starting offensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but don’t think his mom, Carolyn Walker Brantley, doesn’t worry about her “big baby boy.”

“He’s been playing football since high school and it has been exciting,” Mrs. Brantley said Saturday during the Kenyatta Walker Foundation football camp that was held at Ray Stadium. “I watch him. It scares me (when he goes down) and makes me think this is the time that he might not get up. “

“Also, when there is a penalty, I say don’t let it be against him.”

That’s being a mama.

Mrs. Brantley goes to many of Kenyatta’s NFL games as she did when he was in high school. She thinks the new stadium in Tampa Bay is the best, although she admits she may be a little bias on that subject. One place she has not gone to is Green Bay.

“It’s too cold. I don’t like to be cold,” Mrs. Brantley said.

There is the real world, and then there is the sports media world where stories can be take a life of their own. Mrs. Brantley remembers how she was afraid that Tampa Bay might lose the Super Bowl to the Oakland Raiders during Walker’s second season in the league.

“The media and other people kept portraying us as the underdog,” Brantley said. “I got to thinking, well if we don’t win, at least we came. But we won and they were wrong. “

“Sometimes Kenyatta will ask me, Mama, what are they saying.‚ But you have to go on and do your best.”

Mrs. Brantley sees this happen, too, when some of Kenyatta’s teammates who wind up in the spotlight from time-to-time.

“Now remember, I’m Kenyatta’s mama and they are nice to me,” Mrs. Brantley said. “But they are close teammates and have a special friendship.”



Busy day

Mrs. Brantley was a busy lady Saturday around noon at Ray Stadium. There football players of all ages and sizes running around, getting ready for the second Kenyatta Walker camp. People were asking her questions. Two cell phones were ringing. She was trying to set up the concession area, and a reporter was trying to interview her.

But to her, it was time well spent, helping her son say “thank you” and giving something back to the community where he grew up and got his start.

Born and raised in Meridian, Mrs. Brantley taught school in the Lauderdale County School system for 31 years. She retired as a fifth grade teacher at Northeast Middle School.

She brought Kenyatta into the world in 1979. At the time, she didn’t know he would grow up to be a football player.

“I just wanted to get him through high school. I thought maybe we could get him a career in the military,” Brantley said.

Something coach Mac Barnes told her once made her think there might be a future in football.

“Coach Barnes told me the size of his feet were going to get him into college football,” Brantley said.

Kenyatta has gone a bit further than that. After graduating from Meridian High School, he went on to play football at the University of Florida. After a successful junior season, he decided to go pro and was the Tampa Bay Bucanneers‚ No. 1 draft pick, the 14th player taken in the 2001 draft.

But he didn’t graduate from Florida, lacking nine hours to finish. Now that loose end has been taken care of, too. Mrs. Brantley said Kenyatta has completed the courses and will receive his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in July, something that makes his mother very proud.

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It starts at home

Kenyatta Walker will tell you he didn’t become the serious young man that he is by accident. He looks to the way he was raised as his foundation.

“It (growing up and being successful) takes a lot of hard work and you have to put that (the preparation) on the parents,” Walker said. “Kids don’t always have to like their parents, but the parents have to be involved with every part of their lives. My mother expected me to do well.”

When asked for her thoughts on how to raise a child today, Mrs. Brantley stressed the importance of being involved.

“Not everyone is going to grow up to be a NFL player or an NBA player,” Brantley said. “But everyone can be successful at what they are doing.

“Encourage your children to stay in school. Know who their friends are and what they are doing. Be involved in every aspect of their lives.”



Closing thoughts

Anybody thinks football players are “dumb” should have been around the group of professionals this weekend who worked with the area’s youth in two three-hour sessions. This was a sharp group of people.

After they finished signing autographs, I pulled the local players — Kenyatta, Kenny Smith, Torrin Tucker and Dexter McLeon — over for a picture. As they were walking toward the stands, a group of high school players caught up with them, shook hands and said they enjoyed the camp. At that moment, age and the level of play did not separate them. Through football and concern for others, there was a kinship.

The pros are athletes, but they are also serious people, working hard at their trade. It was nice that they took time out of their busy lives to spend it with the next generation.

As football season is just a few months away, I hope Dexter McLeon and Kenny Smith will find new teams — and wouldn’t it be great if they became Tampa Bay Bucanneers.

Steve Swogetinsky is a staff writer with The Meridian Star. Contact him at swog@hotmail.com.