Former Florida high school teammates used friendship to overcome adversity
Photo credit and notes: Lindsay Semple - lsemple@thestate.com
Left to right, Daniel Andrews and Jamie Harper, both incoming Clemson football players, have been on the same team since elementary school. They share the lose of a parent to cancer and the love of football.
The news came as Jamie Harper reached his public-speaking class late one March morning.
His teacher had received a phone call with word that the father of Harper’s close friend and future Clemson football teammate Daniel Andrews Jr. had died after a relatively brief bout with cancer.
Harper and another friend skipped the class and made the quick drive to Andrews’ home.
“If we had gotten into trouble, well, we’d have gotten into trouble,” Harper said.
Harper and Andrews, recent graduates of Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla., have been by each other’s sides for more than a decade — a key factor in their decisions to play football at the same college.
Life circumstances have stitched their bond tighter, making both all the more appreciative they began their lives away from home this month as college roommates.
Harper’s mother, Dietria, died of lung cancer when Harper was 9. Her name is tattooed across his back.
As Andrews continues coping, Harper has made a point to stick close as a sounding board.
“Whenever it first happened, people don’t know what to say,” Andrews said. “With most, it’s kind of awkward. But he knew how it felt. And ever since then, our relationship has grown stronger.”
His teacher had received a phone call with word that the father of Harper’s close friend and future Clemson football teammate Daniel Andrews Jr. had died after a relatively brief bout with cancer.
Harper and another friend skipped the class and made the quick drive to Andrews’ home.
“If we had gotten into trouble, well, we’d have gotten into trouble,” Harper said.
Harper and Andrews, recent graduates of Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla., have been by each other’s sides for more than a decade — a key factor in their decisions to play football at the same college.
Life circumstances have stitched their bond tighter, making both all the more appreciative they began their lives away from home this month as college roommates.
Harper’s mother, Dietria, died of lung cancer when Harper was 9. Her name is tattooed across his back.
As Andrews continues coping, Harper has made a point to stick close as a sounding board.
“Whenever it first happened, people don’t know what to say,” Andrews said. “With most, it’s kind of awkward. But he knew how it felt. And ever since then, our relationship has grown stronger.”
Read the complete article here: http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/465759.html
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