 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back |
Previous on Jeremy Bosch Memorial HOF |
Next on Jeremy Bosch Memorial HOF |
Tigress
(97.103.95.228) on 11/17/2010 - 10:54 a.m. says: ( 22 views
, 1 likes
)
|
"Most proud of the fact that his son is earning a college degree:"
|
CONTEXT ADDED BY ADMIN:
END OF CONTEXT
WORTH THE WAIT: Bynes' father finally gets to see him play
Credit: Todd J. Van Emst | Special to the News
Josh Bynes had a special guest at Jordan-Hare Stadium for Auburn’s homecoming game against Chattanooga two weeks ago.
When he came out of the tunnel for pregame Senior Day introductions, he had someone waiting for him on the sidelines to receive the game ball coach Gene Chizik had passed out to him.
The guest was his father, Herb Bynes Sr., who was watching his son play in person for the first time in Josh’s four years at Auburn.
“He’s been always saying over the years he wants to come, wants to come, but I know financially it just wasn’t there. And I understood that,” Josh said. “I’ve never been like, ‘My parents don’t care.’ My parents love me to death. It was never that. He came up, and he just loved it.”
Josh’s day was short against the Mocs, as he and the rest of the Tigers’ defensive starters played until just before the half in a 62-24 blowout.
Josh didn’t even record a tackle.
So Herb just had to come back the next week to watch Josh and the rest of the Tigers clinch the SEC West title with a win over Georgia.
“There wasn’t that much to watch (the first time). He didn’t play that much,” Herb said. “It was much better last week. It makes me very proud.
“It was good. Fulfilling.”
Herb was his son’s position coach at Boyd Anderson High in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., where he still coaches. He said Josh started playing football when he was 6 and played just about anywhere on the field.
When Josh reached high school, he wanted to be a linebacker. And Herb knew the perfect teacher.
“That’s what I played,” Herb said. “So I just taught him the ropes.”
Josh was a four-star recruit coming out of Boyd Anderson and has established himself as one of the Tigers’ top defenders over three years starting at middle linebacker.
The 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior has 225 tackles and seven interceptions in 40 games at Auburn and has led the team in tackles each of the past two seasons.
That’s not even counting everything he’s responsible for before the snap.
“Sometimes if they come out in a different formation or something like that, I have to check it, check into a different coverage, check us into a blitz or something like that,” Josh said. “I look at the whole picture. Before the snap I look at everything, see what’s going on, set the front, get blitzes checked or not checked, then just go out and play football after that.”
Herb said he’s seen a change in his son since Josh came to Auburn.
“He’s way much more of a leader than he was in high school,” Herb said. “Kids looked up to him, but he’s more of a leader now. He was captain in high school, but he’s more vocal, does a lot of helping out with the young guys.”
Until two weeks ago, Herb had to see those changes through a TV screen, the same way he did with Josh’s brother, Herb Jr., a quarterback at Hampton University.
But over the past two weeks, Herb has gotten to feel the crowd cheering when Josh makes a tackle, experience the sheer wall of sound when the Tigers make a defensive stop.
And, last week, he got to see his son celebrate on the field as a champion.
“My dad’s never seen a crowd like this ever,” Josh said. “But 90,000 people in the stadium roaring, and especially when he sees my name out there, I know it’s a great feeling for him.”
Herb said that even with all of Josh’s on-field accomplishments, he’s most proud of the fact that his son is earning a college degree.
That’s why he pushed hard for Josh to come back for his senior year when the linebacker was contemplating a jump to the NFL after last season.
“I told him he’s got to get that degree, so he doesn’t have to worry about coming back and getting it if anything happens to him,” Herb said. “That’s something they can’t take away from you.”
Kind of like nobody can take away Josh’s Senior Day experience.
“When I saw him on the sideline, he had a smile on his face, and I had a smile on my face like I always do,” Josh said. “It was a great feeling to finally have a parent to see you play.”
dmorrison@oanow.com | 737-2568
|
--
"A person's a person no matter how small"-Horton, from Horton hears a Who, by Dr. Seuss "If he's from Auburn and he lines up behind the quarterback, just keep him healthy and give him the ball. Swiss watches, Palm Springs sunshine, blue-chip mutuals, Auburn running backs." Paul Daugherty, The Cinncinnati Enquirer Online
|
|
