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Out of personal tragedy, Middie finds gateway to success

Angela Gates Brown cries tears of joy as her son, Jerry Gates, signs his letter of intent to play football for Bowling Green State University on Wednesday, Feb. 3, inside the Middletown High School media room.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer Angela Gates Brown cries tears of joy as her son, Jerry Gates, signs his letter of intent to play football for Bowling Green State University on Wednesday, Feb. 3, inside the Middletown High School media room.

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By Rick McCrabb, Columnist 12:52 AM Thursday, February 4, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — On Aug. 13, 2009, Jerry Gates’ life — even though he was only 17 — rolled up to a roadblock.

That day, his biological father, Earl Grant, 40, of Dayton, who rode for the Young Bloods Motorcycle Club under the handle “Big Dogg,” died when the motorcycle he was riding went out of control, and he was thrown into a utility pole on West Third Street near Ardmore Avenue.

“My world stopped,” Gates, a senior at Middletown High School, said on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

His mother, Angela Gates Brown, 46, said Jerry’s father “died doing what he loved.”

And now, partly inspired by his father’s passing, Jerry Gates, an all-state safety, punt and kick-off returner at MHS, has earned the opportunity to continue what he loves.

Gates, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, was one of 10 Middies who signed national letters-of-intent Wednesday during a tear-filled ceremony in the school’s media center.

Next fall, he will attend Bowling Green State University, where he hopes to have an immediate impact for the Falcons, who finished 7-6 and third in the Mid-American Conference this season.

Regardless of what Gates accomplishes at Bowling Green, it’s amazing he was sitting at the table — one of three Middies wearing Bowling Green baseball hats — on national signing day instead of in the audience with the other students.

He was academically ineligible as a sophomore, and following his junior year, Gates’ grades and test scores didn’t make him NCAA eligible.

Then his father died.

And Gates grew up.

“I decided to live my life through my father,” Gates said after the ceremony. “I had to do something if I wanted to get out of here.”

MHS Principal Dennis Newell called Gates “immature” as a junior, but one of the team leaders as a senior.

“His growth was amazing,” Newell said. “He kicked it in.”

His mother added: “He stepped up real fast.”

Faster than his 40 time.

The first semester, while some seniors chose “soft” courses, Gates took six core subjects — two science and two English classes, and social studies and math — and aced every one. He raised his grade point average from under 2.00 to 2.83, said Jason Krause, Middie football coach. Krause credited Gates, tutors and teachers for turning around his academic performance.

He became eligible to earn a scholarship to a NCAA school.

When it appeared Gates would remain ineligible — and possibly attend a junior college — recruiters from Bowling Green never lost interest. They stood by his side, instead of turning their backs.

Mark Carney, Bowling Green’s assistant coach of wide receivers, said Gates shouldn’t have been penalized from one bad year of academics. Sometimes, he said, it’s hard to recover from that, but gave credit to Gates, his coach and administration for making a plan to get him eligible.

Carney said he sees Gates as a starting safety, possibly in the return game.

“You like to get a kid like that the ball in space,” he said.

No wonder Krause called Gates, who earned Division I first-team all-state honors as a senior when he returned two of his six interceptions for scores and he totaled 562 return yards and three TDs, a “steal” for Bowling Green.

Some longtime Middie supporters considered Gates the most talented player on this year’s team.

Where Gates — nicknamed “Boo-boo” by his cousin — plays doesn’t really matter right now. At least Gates, because of his football ability, has an opportunity to earn a college degree, a must in today’s job market.

As Gates signed his letter of intent, his mother — wearing his father’s leather motorcycle vest — cried like, well, a proud mother.

That’s when it hit her — the youngest of her three sons was leaving home, going away to college, what Krause called “another step into manhood.”

Angela Gates Brown, who works the midnight shift at Office Depot Distribution Center in West Chester Twp., said: “That’s my baby. It’s hard to let your baby go.”

She paused, looked around the media center as the 10 players posed for pictures – possibly the last time they’ll all be together — and added: “We’ve come a long, long way. It’s been a long road, but we couldn’t have done it without God. Everyday I say, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’”

Gates is Angela’s third child — following Terry, 28, and Jeremy, 26 — to attend college, but the first to earn an athletic scholarship. Somewhere Earl Grant is smiling.

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columnist

at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.

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