Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
There is no easy way to start VOL 6 of Coach’s Corner.
That’s because there’s nothing easy about an unexpected tragedy that took a son away from two loving parents, a brother from two supportive siblings and a teammate away from a tightly-knit brotherhood.
And there’s surely nothing easy about what Camdan Wright’s parents, Cleve and Tina, had to do Tuesday afternoon.
Less than five days after their son was shockingly taken from them, they addressed the media and took questions as well.
Tina, Camdan’s mom, powered through deep, overwhelming feelings while reading off an iPhone.
“On the morning of Oct. 21 at 6:51 a.m. God lifted up our precious son Camdan Malik McWright into the heavens,” said Tina raising her right hand to her son, “looked into his beautiful eyes and said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’”
Some humor accompanied the sharp intensity and passion. She quipped later on:
“I just know he’s running touchdowns in heaven. That was the earthquake that we had here.”
She also revealed when Camdan was born, a nurse told her and Cleve, ‘You have a real football player here.’
Brent Brennan added to the trail of humor, reminiscing on the bond he developed with Camdan through superheroes.
“When he committed it wasn’t out yet, but I threw a Batman signal up on my Twitter. That was our ongoing joke,” said a smiling Brennan, “So we spent the next two months sending each other Batman gifs.”
But the humorous moments were brief.
Tuesday was a day meant for raw, unsettled emotions and grief.
The following story Cleve shared deftly, although unfortunately, encapsulated that grief.
Both he and Tina came up to visit Camdan three weeks ago against UNLV for parents weekend.
“He was so happy that we were going to attend. We scheduled all of these events with the rest of the parents and staff and coaches and everything,” recalled Cleve. “He said, ‘I just want to relax and hang out with you guys and watch a little football.’”
When the trip was nearing an end, Cleve was driving with Camdan when he pulled over on a whim, got out, hugged his son and told him:
“I’m so proud of you and we’ll be back in a few weeks for Thanksgiving to spend the week with you.”
I’m reminded of Bob Seger’s line in “Against The Wind”:
“Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then”
Cleve didn’t know the three carries Camdan took in SJSU’s last drive against UNLV would be the last of his life.
Cleve didn’t know that car ride with Camdan would be one of the last they’d take together.
And most gut-wrenching, Cleve didn’t know that was one of the last times he’d be able to wrap his arms around his son.
The Spear sends condolences to Cleve and Tina during this difficult time.