Re: Hill Watch...11 days!!!***

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11 - Ray Ray McElrathbey Adopted His 11 Year Old Brother, Fahmarr

Aug 20, 2024, 1:09 AM

Sometimes in life, a hero sacrifices himself/herself because they love someone.

Clemson RB/DB Ray Ray McElrathbey’s story is one of the great stories of college football!! He will forever be a Clemson fan favorite. His selfless act might have saved not only the life of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr, but also his mother, Tonya McElrathbey, as well.

As he told People magazine, Ray Ray had become accustomed to living without certain luxuries:

"I grew up not in the best of situations, so I've learned to get by with minimal needs," Ray tells PEOPLE, noting that the housing and food he received through his Clemson athletic scholarship were comforts he wasn't used to.
…
Explains the former running back, "I had other times where food wasn't necessarily available and then housing wasn't necessarily available. And so I've struggled more trying to figure out how to get those things taken care of in my life.”

https://people.com/sports/ray-mcelrathbey-safety-exclusive-interview/

But while Ray Ray enjoyed being a student athlete, Fahmarr’s situation deteriorated. According to ESPN:

“Tonya McElrathbey was struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine. Their father hadn't been around much because of a gambling problem. Tonya and Fahmarr were living in a motel in Atlanta.”

https://www.espn.com/college-football/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3291458

Enter a true hero!

Despite being a student athlete (long before NIL money became an option) 19-year-old Ray Ray adopted his 11-year-old brother. As Ray Ray was later quoted in People:

"I was at an NCAA Division 1 [football] program, so it's even more stringent and my schedule was more structured," he notes. "And so time I would have to raise a kid and do it properly, was very limited."

https://people.com/sports/ray-mcelrathbey-safety-exclusive-interview/

According to Esquire Magazine:

“In 2006, as a redshirt freshman football player at Clemson University, McElrathbey took in his little brother, Fahmarr, so he wouldn't go into foster care. For weeks, McElrathbey hid Fahmarr in his stuffy dorm room, pocketing college-cafeteria food to bring upstairs to him. Eventually, Clemson found out McElrathbey was raising a teenager in, again, a dorm room, leading to a battle with the NCAA that surprisingly ended well.”

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a34891453/ray-mcelrathbey-today-now-disney-safety-interview-true-story/

In desperate need of money to support his younger brother, the NCAA made the right decision and allowed Clemson and the ACC to set up a trust fund in support of Fahmarr – one that could accept donations from outsiders. According to ESPN:

“More than $100,000 was raised to help the brothers. The NCAA even allowed Clemson's coaches to help care for Fahmarr and drive him to and from school while Ray Ray attended classes and practice.

It was one of the best stories in college sports. Ray Ray McElrathbey received numerous humanitarian awards for his efforts, including the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl-Football Writers Association of America Courage Award. He was honored at the ESPYS and appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

https://www.espn.com/college-football/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3291458

The national recognition kept pouring in. As Tigernet described Ray Ray’s enormous spotlight:

“Named Person-of-the-Week by ABC World News Tonight in September of 2006...in December, he was the recipient of the Keith Jackson Award of Excellence on the ESPN College Football All-America show...won the 2006 FedEx/FWAA Courage Award, an award he received at the 2007 Orange Bowl...his story has also been featured on ESPN GameDay, National Public Radio, ESPN.com, Oprah Winfrey Show, Hallmark Channel, New York Times, Sports Illustrated (twice), Denver Post, Dallas Morning News, and Philadelphia Inquirer...original story was authored by Larry Williams in Charleston Post & Courier...one of the nominees for Sports Illustrated Man-of-the-Year by one writer”

https://www.tigernet.com/clemson-football/player/ray-ray-mcelrathbey-192

A Second Life Saved:

What might have received less attention, however, was the fact that Ray Ray’s self-sacrifice benefitted more of his family than his brother. As ESPN later reported:

"I really appreciate the people at Clemson," Tonya McElrathbey said. "I appreciate the coaches and especially the citizens of Clemson, who donated their time and money to my family."
…
“More than anything else, Clemson might have helped save Tonya McElrathbey's life. She said she has been clean from drugs for 18 months. She's working full-time at an Atlanta communications company. She no longer lives in a motel and plans to attend classes at a community college this summer.

"It was a direct result of Ray Ray," she said. "That's why I decided to get clean. All of the publicity Ray Ray received was also about me. He forced me to look at myself through someone else's eyes. I realized how much I was hurting my family. Hopefully, I can be an asset to my family from now on."

https://www.espn.com/college-football/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3291458

After Clemson:

McElrathbey graduated with one year of eligibility remaining. As reported by ESPN, however: After a knee injury, “McElrathbey didn't regularly attend his rehabilitation sessions. He vanished for days at a time and didn't respond to telephone calls and text messages from coaches.”

Clemson, nonetheless offered him the opportunity to stay with the team as an assistant manager, which would have covered his expenses for graduate school.

McElrathbey chose to complete his eligibility elsewhere. He played his final year at Howard University.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3291458

While still at Clemson, the McElrathbey story had already been considered for a movie. According to People, Ray Ray said: "I was in college in '06 back when I first heard that they wanted to make a movie and I was excited."

https://people.com/sports/ray-mcelrathbey-safety-exclusive-interview/

That movie finally became a reality when Ray Ray was in his 30s. Still, a true Clemson Man, Ray Ray was working at a homeless shelter – still helping others in need – when he got the news. According to Forbes Magazine in December 2020:

Early last year, while Ray Ray McElrathbey was working at a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, he received multiple phone calls from Mark Ciardi. He was busy, so he didn’t pick up. Ciardi, a veteran Hollywood film producer, then sent an email to McElrathbey, a former Clemson University football player.

After 13 years, Ciardi wrote, a movie about McElrathbey was finally green lit. McElrathbey started to cry.

“I was overwhelmed with joy about just hearing it was finally happening,” McElrathbey said. “Not that I didn’t think it was going to happen, but I wasn’t banking on it. It wasn’t in the front of my mind. It wasn’t something I thought was necessary.”

On Friday, the movie, “Safety,” will premiere on the Disney+ streaming service. It chronicles McElrathbey’s decision in 2006 to gain temporary custody of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr, after their mother struggled with drug addiction and father dealt with gambling problems.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3291458

According to Ray Ray:

"Life has been a bunch of ups and downs, it hasn't been a crystal stair as some would say, but I'm excited about the next chapters," said McElrathbey. "I'm glad they helped pick me to lead this little effort and inspiring others, and I hope that's what will come from it."

https://abc7news.com/safety-ray-mcelrathbey-clemson-university-football/8674922/

Say what you want, but I always like the movie!!

A Clemson Man Needs No Introduction!!

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Clemson: Academic Excellence! Athletic Excellence!

South Carolina Highway 11, known as Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway and one of the most beautiful highways in the state, is a 119.85-mile-long state highway in the northwestern part of the state that runs from the southwest end at I-85 near Fair Play to the northeast end at SC 18/SC 150 in Gaffney, going through the foothills and at or near 8 South Carolina state parks.
https://southcarolinaparks.com/stories/the-ultimate-road-trip-state-parks-along-sc-highway-11

Jones Gap State Park is the only state park along SC 11 besides Oconee Station that I haven't been to or discussed here on the Hill Watch extravaganza. It is a 3,934-acre state park in Northern Greenville County near Marietta, along the Middle Saluda River and the North Carolina line about 15 miles from Caesars Head and Table Rock state parks. Caesars Head and Jones Gap are part of what is known as the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, 17.000 acres of mountain woodlands with trails. The 60 miles of trails in Jones Gap park include a one mile hike along the Middle Saluda River to the 50-foot Jones Gap Falls and a 2.4-mile hike to the 100-foot Rainbow Falls. The Middle Saluda River, the state's first designated scenic river, offers some breathtakingly beautiful views, peaceful sounds, and excellent trout fishing.

Hill Watch...11 days!!!