3afan
11-09-2005, 07:30 AM
Canton coach, son seeing their dream play out
April shooting tested the will of each
02:35 AM CST on Wednesday, November 9, 2005
By MATT WIXON / The Dallas Morning News
CANTON – Gary Kinne Sr. needed only two offensive plays when he coached the Mesquite Pee Wee Panthers: grandson right and grandson left.
Nobody could catch quarterback G.J. Kinne. The 9-year-old was so fast that one time he dropped the ball during a long run, ran back a couple of yards to pick it up, then turned back around and beat everyone to the end zone.He was a one-man show. A player who inspired people to tell his proud grandfather, "He's the best Mesquite pee-wee football player ever."
Now, G.J. might be the best player ever at Canton, a Class 3A school 50 miles east of where he grew up. At 6-2 and 210 pounds, he still has the speed to run for touchdowns, but his biggest weapon is his strong right arm.
He's thrown for 28 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards this season, leading Canton to a district title and gaining the attention of college scouts.
Alabama, Tennessee and Baylor already have offered scholarships to the junior, so his dream of playing college football will undoubtedly come true.
And another dream already has come true, for G.J. and his father, Canton coach Gary Joe Kinne. G.J. always wanted to play for his dad, and Gary Joe, an assistant at Mesquite until 2003, always wanted to be a head coach.
"It was late that spring when I got the call," Gary Joe said, "and everything fell into place."
Until seven months ago, when everything fell apart. It only took one gunshot.
'What's going on?'
"Shelter in place! Shelter in place! This is not a drill! This is not a drill!"
G.J. Kinne remembers a teacher yelling that on the morning of April 7. G.J. quickly huddled into the corner of the classroom and called his mom on his cellphone.
"Mom, they're saying 'shelter in place.' What's going on?" he asked.
Laurie Kinne told her son she would try to find out. That's when she got the call that told her Gary Joe had been shot in the stomach at the school's field house, allegedly by the irate parent of a freshman football player.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/11-05/1109canton.jpg
Jeffrey Robertson is now in the Upshur County Jail, 70 miles northeast of Canton. He's charged with felony assault on a public servant, which is punishable by up to life in prison.
The gunshot destroyed most of Kinne's liver, and the 38-year-old coach was in critical condition for several days. He left the hospital three weeks after the shooting, but liver complications sent him back several times. He spent nearly four months lying on his back, slowly recovering and worrying about his wife, his 8-year-old daughter, Kellie, and his 4-year-old son, Landry.
And, of course, he worried about G.J., the 16-year-old who had never known life without Dad showing him the way.
"I knew I had good assistants to take care of him, but he's spoiled in the fact that I'm always right here for him," Gary Joe said. "I was worried that I wouldn't be there. I was hoping he was mature enough to handle things."
G.J. proved he was. He worked out hard, led Canton in 7-on-7 summer tournaments and updated his father on the team. He discovered that he didn't need Dad a step away to stay motivated.
"I think I grew up a lot this summer knowing that he wasn't there and I could do it myself," G.J. said. "I think that will help me a lot when I get to college."
Making college plans
G.J. won't make his college choice until the season ends, and maybe not until next summer. But he will have many options, according to Jeremy Crabtree, a recruiting analyst for Rivals100.com.
"He can run around in the pocket, he's got a strong arm, he's smart, and he's a coach's kid," Crabtree said. "Everything you see of him just makes you think he's going to be something special."
He's already something special in Canton, which has been a football doormat for years but is 9-1 this season. Canton's district title is its first since 1961, and the school has never won more than one playoff game in a season.
G.J., who has started every game since his freshman year, plans to change that this month. And that's all his teammates need to know to believe.
"In the fourth quarter, when the game's on the line, it's up to him," said Houston Tuminello, Canton's leading receiver. "We see that he thinks we can win, so we know we can win."
So does Gary Joe, who recovered in time to coach the season opener. He would love to experience the father-son state championship he witnessed in 2001. Gary Joe was an assistant to Steve Halpin, who coached linebacker Marc Halpin and Mesquite to a 5A title.
But win or lose, Gary Joe will cherish the rest of the season he calls "a second chance" to coach his son.
"When I thought I might not be back, I told my wife I felt like that was the big injustice for me," he said. "I waited my whole life to coach him, I've coached all these other kids, and then his junior and senior year, I would have to watch him and not coach him. I felt kind of robbed."
It's no wonder that Kinne, whose health has been on the upswing the last month, smiles when he talks of G.J. playing for Baylor. It's the school where Gary Joe played linebacker, for one thing, but it also gives him a chance to see every game.
But what If G.J. chooses Tennessee, Alabama or some other school with road games flung all over the map?
"He'll still wind up going to every game," G.J. said.
Gary Joe admitted that's true. He'll find a way.
But he still dreads the moment when G.J. will take off the Canton uniform for the last time, ending the special bond they share.
"It's going to be weird when he's gone," Gary Joe said. "I'm going to have to work a lot harder, that's for sure. He makes me a good coach."
-------------------------
Full name: Gary Joe Kinne III
Age: 16
Class: Junior
Ht., wt.: 6-2, 210
Notable: Has started 32 straight games for Canton, leading team to 25-7 record. ... Has played quarterback since third grade and has never played for a losing team. ... Said he didn't worry about moving from Mesquite to Canton before his freshman season because, "I was just glad that I was going to play for my dad." ... Received first recruiting letter his freshman year from Texas A&M.
Interested colleges: Baylor, Texas, Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee among others
G.J. KINNE'S RESUME
RUSHING
146 carries, 656 yards, 10 touchdowns
PASSING
194-330 comps./atts., 2,721 yards, 28 touchdowns
Canton (9-1) vs. White Oak (5-5), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Class 3A Division II Region II bi-district round, Gladewater
E-mail mwixon@dallasnews.com
April shooting tested the will of each
02:35 AM CST on Wednesday, November 9, 2005
By MATT WIXON / The Dallas Morning News
CANTON – Gary Kinne Sr. needed only two offensive plays when he coached the Mesquite Pee Wee Panthers: grandson right and grandson left.
Nobody could catch quarterback G.J. Kinne. The 9-year-old was so fast that one time he dropped the ball during a long run, ran back a couple of yards to pick it up, then turned back around and beat everyone to the end zone.He was a one-man show. A player who inspired people to tell his proud grandfather, "He's the best Mesquite pee-wee football player ever."
Now, G.J. might be the best player ever at Canton, a Class 3A school 50 miles east of where he grew up. At 6-2 and 210 pounds, he still has the speed to run for touchdowns, but his biggest weapon is his strong right arm.
He's thrown for 28 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards this season, leading Canton to a district title and gaining the attention of college scouts.
Alabama, Tennessee and Baylor already have offered scholarships to the junior, so his dream of playing college football will undoubtedly come true.
And another dream already has come true, for G.J. and his father, Canton coach Gary Joe Kinne. G.J. always wanted to play for his dad, and Gary Joe, an assistant at Mesquite until 2003, always wanted to be a head coach.
"It was late that spring when I got the call," Gary Joe said, "and everything fell into place."
Until seven months ago, when everything fell apart. It only took one gunshot.
'What's going on?'
"Shelter in place! Shelter in place! This is not a drill! This is not a drill!"
G.J. Kinne remembers a teacher yelling that on the morning of April 7. G.J. quickly huddled into the corner of the classroom and called his mom on his cellphone.
"Mom, they're saying 'shelter in place.' What's going on?" he asked.
Laurie Kinne told her son she would try to find out. That's when she got the call that told her Gary Joe had been shot in the stomach at the school's field house, allegedly by the irate parent of a freshman football player.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/11-05/1109canton.jpg
Jeffrey Robertson is now in the Upshur County Jail, 70 miles northeast of Canton. He's charged with felony assault on a public servant, which is punishable by up to life in prison.
The gunshot destroyed most of Kinne's liver, and the 38-year-old coach was in critical condition for several days. He left the hospital three weeks after the shooting, but liver complications sent him back several times. He spent nearly four months lying on his back, slowly recovering and worrying about his wife, his 8-year-old daughter, Kellie, and his 4-year-old son, Landry.
And, of course, he worried about G.J., the 16-year-old who had never known life without Dad showing him the way.
"I knew I had good assistants to take care of him, but he's spoiled in the fact that I'm always right here for him," Gary Joe said. "I was worried that I wouldn't be there. I was hoping he was mature enough to handle things."
G.J. proved he was. He worked out hard, led Canton in 7-on-7 summer tournaments and updated his father on the team. He discovered that he didn't need Dad a step away to stay motivated.
"I think I grew up a lot this summer knowing that he wasn't there and I could do it myself," G.J. said. "I think that will help me a lot when I get to college."
Making college plans
G.J. won't make his college choice until the season ends, and maybe not until next summer. But he will have many options, according to Jeremy Crabtree, a recruiting analyst for Rivals100.com.
"He can run around in the pocket, he's got a strong arm, he's smart, and he's a coach's kid," Crabtree said. "Everything you see of him just makes you think he's going to be something special."
He's already something special in Canton, which has been a football doormat for years but is 9-1 this season. Canton's district title is its first since 1961, and the school has never won more than one playoff game in a season.
G.J., who has started every game since his freshman year, plans to change that this month. And that's all his teammates need to know to believe.
"In the fourth quarter, when the game's on the line, it's up to him," said Houston Tuminello, Canton's leading receiver. "We see that he thinks we can win, so we know we can win."
So does Gary Joe, who recovered in time to coach the season opener. He would love to experience the father-son state championship he witnessed in 2001. Gary Joe was an assistant to Steve Halpin, who coached linebacker Marc Halpin and Mesquite to a 5A title.
But win or lose, Gary Joe will cherish the rest of the season he calls "a second chance" to coach his son.
"When I thought I might not be back, I told my wife I felt like that was the big injustice for me," he said. "I waited my whole life to coach him, I've coached all these other kids, and then his junior and senior year, I would have to watch him and not coach him. I felt kind of robbed."
It's no wonder that Kinne, whose health has been on the upswing the last month, smiles when he talks of G.J. playing for Baylor. It's the school where Gary Joe played linebacker, for one thing, but it also gives him a chance to see every game.
But what If G.J. chooses Tennessee, Alabama or some other school with road games flung all over the map?
"He'll still wind up going to every game," G.J. said.
Gary Joe admitted that's true. He'll find a way.
But he still dreads the moment when G.J. will take off the Canton uniform for the last time, ending the special bond they share.
"It's going to be weird when he's gone," Gary Joe said. "I'm going to have to work a lot harder, that's for sure. He makes me a good coach."
-------------------------
Full name: Gary Joe Kinne III
Age: 16
Class: Junior
Ht., wt.: 6-2, 210
Notable: Has started 32 straight games for Canton, leading team to 25-7 record. ... Has played quarterback since third grade and has never played for a losing team. ... Said he didn't worry about moving from Mesquite to Canton before his freshman season because, "I was just glad that I was going to play for my dad." ... Received first recruiting letter his freshman year from Texas A&M.
Interested colleges: Baylor, Texas, Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee among others
G.J. KINNE'S RESUME
RUSHING
146 carries, 656 yards, 10 touchdowns
PASSING
194-330 comps./atts., 2,721 yards, 28 touchdowns
Canton (9-1) vs. White Oak (5-5), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Class 3A Division II Region II bi-district round, Gladewater
E-mail mwixon@dallasnews.com