GUEST COMMENTARY: BY ADAIR WHITE-JOHNSON
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I decided to share this brilliantly written Facebook post by Adair White-Johnson as a Guest Commentary with readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE for reasons that I shall explain in another Editor’s Note at the end of this article, which is datelined Chicago, where Adair was on a speaking engagement.)
CHICAGO, Illinois, Nov. 20, 2022 — Happy Sunday! Long post with a happy ending!
So here’s the thing…I often post about the positive and great things that my Big T does because he deserves the recognition.
But, I rarely share his journey because some of it is his story to tell.
Today, however, I want to share with you a tidbit of his hustle, grind, grit, and grace.
Just because you’re highly recruited doesn’t mean you’ll play in each game at the next level.
You have to earn your spot on the field for game time.
And sometimes your best is just not good enough.
Hard lesson, but sooooo many athletes learn that as soon as they get on campus.
Fortunately for my Big T he’s been able to play on Special Teams since almost Day 1 during the pandemic.
But he wanted more.
Of course.
So he hustled.
Put in the grind.
Showed his grit.
And gracefully waited his turn.
But a new offensive coaching staff came on board and they liked another kid better.
So my Big T didn’t become a starting player this year— his junior year.
Ouch.
But he was still on Special Teams and not the #1 player for his position and those routes.
In some ways this realization crushed my son’s spirit but also pushed him harder.
He continued to reach down into the crevices of his soul to pull more out and earn more playing time.
He also prayed.
Intentionally.
And then prayed more.
Consistently.
He continued being a “team player” on and off the field and became a mentor to the younger player who “beat him out.”
Weekly I send my Big T words of encouragement and motivation— reminding who he is and whose he is.
He never stopped Trusting and believing.
Trusting the process.
Trusting the journey.
And because of this, he played through the entire game yesterday at Notre Dame.
#84 played on special teams and as a Wide Receiver.
He blocked.
He ran routes.
And, he made a catch…32 yards.
He lived his dream yesterday of “truly” playing his receiver position against a Top 25 team.
He didn’t bargain for the snowstorm and sometimes white out conditions but he knew it was his moment and he wasn’t going to let it pass him by.
No touchdown.
BC was blown out by Notre Dame.
But my Big T was a winner.
And as his mom, this is what I signed up for.
To be there when my children make their dreams come true.
I ain’t tryin’ to miss sh**.
PeriodT.
💖
Lesson: Even when your best isn’t good enough, you keep putting in the work until you can sleep at night with your performance because you know that tomorrow is just a day away and anything can change.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Adair White-Johnson is the daughter of the late renowned Bahamian Journalist P. Anthony White, who was not only a journalistic colleague, but one of my closest friends from he was a young journalist in Nassau before he relocated to New York to attend college. I actually met Adair for the first time in 2017 when I was looking for a publisher for my novel WOES OF LIFE.
Once I found out that she was the daughter of P. Anthony and that she was the CEO of The Johnson Tribe Publishing Company in Atlanta, my search for a publisher ended. I immediately turned manuscript over to her, and WOES OF LIFE was published in August of 2017. Since then, Adair has been my “adopted niece,” based on the close brotherly relationship I shared with her father.
Adair and her husband Eugene Johnson Jr., a retired Atlanta police officer, have been married for 32 years and their marital union have produced four amazing sons — Najja RobertAnthony Johnson; Jaja ZionAnthony Johnson; Taji GenoAnthony Johnson; Zuri GeneAnthony Johnson — and an adopted daughter, Susan Riggins Johnson Fontaine.
You can find out more about my talented and gifted niece in this December 8 SHOUTOUT ATLANTA article published on December 8, 2020 under the heading:
MEET DR. ADAIR WHITE-JOHNSON: CEO, JOHNSON TRIBE PUBLISHING & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE EMPOWERMENT HOUSE https://shoutoutatlanta.com/meet-dr-adair-white-johnson-ceo-johnson-tribe-publishing-executive-director-the-empowerment-house/
