Home For the Holidays
December 24, 2008 09:56 PM | General
December 24, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - While many players, coaches and fans were pleased with West Virginia playing its bowl game in the warmer climate of Charlotte, N.C., no person was more excited than fifth-year senior Dorrell Jalloh.
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| Senior wide receiver Dorrell Jalloh will have a strong contingent of fans at Saturday's Meineke Car Care Bowl.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
The sure-handed wide out is a Greensboro, N.C., resident, less than an hour’s drive from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Following WVU’s regular season-ending victory over USF on Dec. 6, the candid receiver got an early Christmas present when the Mountaineers were slated to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in his home state and near his beloved family. Adding more excitement is WVU’s eye-catching match up against Atlantic Coast Conference foe North Carolina, a team that Jalloh grew up watching but never rooted for.
“It’s crazy to end my career in North Carolina, and then we’re playing against North Carolina,” Jalloh said. “You couldn’t end the story any better than this. To close this chapter in my life, I would have wanted it like this – to play North Carolina in Carolina. It’s been a great blessing to have this.”
Jalloh feels even more blessed to be with plenty of his family and friends during the holiday season. During his first four years in the Old Gold and Blue, the Mountaineers played in four straight New Year’s Day bowls. The commitment to practicing and perfecting their game plan over the holiday break inhibited Jalloh and his teammates from spending the holidays with their families.
Much is the same for the Meineke Car Care Bowl, which takes place this Saturday - a mere two days after Christmas. However, Jalloh gets to use his own home-field advantage and celebrate Christmas with his family and friends, which will include several Mountaineer players who will be away from their loved ones.
“I’ll be taking a couple players back home to spend Christmas after practice. That’ll be a great thing to do for them since they are away from their families on Christmas,” Jalloh said happily.
It is fitting that Jalloh’s mother, Renee, will be able to travel to much shorter lengths to see her son play in his last game. On senior night against USF, several members of Jalloh’s family were unable to travel to Morgantown because of the impending snow storm that enveloped much of the Northeast region.
While Renee and the rest of Jalloh’s family were only two hours away from Milan Puskar Stadium on that cold, snowy Saturday night, the treacherous weather forced them to turn around and left them with an empty feeling after not being able to watch Dorrell lace up for the last time at Mountaineer Field.
“They were en route, about two hours away,” Jalloh said. “They stopped at a gas station and a state trooper was there and told them, ‘The further I let you go, the worse it is going to get.’ They were already sliding on the way, so my uncle made the decision to turn around the two cars and go back. “
The decision caused Jalloh’s mother to go to desperate measures to watch her son play one more time, but the well-spoken senior served as calming influence by putting mind over matter for his always supportive mother.
“My mom started crying and she wanted to get out of the car and get on a train or a plane and I said, ‘No, safety first,’ Jalloh admitted. I said, ‘I’d rather be able to call you guys that night and say ‘Hey, we did well. We won the game.’ But at the end of the game I told her that we were playing in Carolina, and she couldn’t stop screaming on the phone.”
As fate would have it, Jalloh’s supportive fan base will get to see their favorite player run routes, make blocks and play the game he truly loves for one last time. After being unable to watch him in his final home game, redemption rings true for Jalloh’s fans as he plans to have at least 40 people in the stands when WVU battles the Tar Heels.
“Friends, cousins, coaches and teachers – they all want to come. They’ve supported me since day one and it’s going to be a great turnout for me,” Jalloh added.
Jalloh will come full circle on this upcoming Saturday, ending his collegiate career in his native state where he first became a standout at Western Guilford High. Indeed, the holiday season has been in full effect for the Mountaineer graduate since Meineke Car Care Bowl Executive Director Will Webb extended the invite for WVU to play in the Tar Heel State.
“I think it’s very ironic,” Jalloh said of ending his career in his home state. “Considering my family couldn’t make it to my senior night due to weather conditions, and also that I told my mom that it was okay and not to worry about it. You will get to see me play one more time.
“At the end of the game they announced that we’d be playing North Carolina, so I called her immediately and she was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’ So it was a blessing in disguise and I’m so thankful that I got this opportunity to play in front of my family and in my hometown.”
With both teams carrying hefty fan bases and selling out their ticket allotments, Jalloh expects a raucous atmosphere to greet the Mountaineers when they step into Bank of America Stadium and try to end their season in style.
“It’s going to be a packed house, North Carolina brings a lot of fans and we bring a lot of fans,” Jalloh stated. “That’s why a lot of bowl games like to carry us, because we have tremendous support from all over the United States, not just West Virginia. It’s going to be a great atmosphere; we’re going to get after it and it’s going to be a great game.”
Indeed, Jalloh’s first Christmas present has already arrived early in spending the holidays with the people who have supported him the most. After Saturday’s contest, the talented pass catcher will be able to reflect on a truly worthwhile five-year career that was filled more highs than lows.
And to sum up his time spent as a Mountaineer football player, Jalloh echoes the sentiments of beloved country music singer John Denver.
“It’s close to heaven. You can’t say anything about it more than that,” Jalloh said with a smile. “For the next class coming in, I wish them the best of luck. Hopefully they can close their chapter like I’m closing mine.”
