Their addresses now read East Lansing, Mich. and Gainesville, Fla. They reside in places like Happy Valley, Pa. and Syracuse, NY. But in their hearts, they’re still boys from Hoboken, and nothing will ever change that.
“No matter whatever happens to me, I’ll always be from Hoboken,” said Carlos Perez, a former Hoboken High School standout football player, who now plays for the University of Florida, recently. “It’s where I’m from. I’ll never forget that.”
Last week, Perez and five other former Hoboken grid greats were reunited at Brandt Middle School to speak to the sixth through eighth graders at the school about their lives as collegiate athletes and what it takes to become successful.
Joining Perez on the panel were Rashard Casey of Penn State, Keeon Walker of Syracuse, Tyrell Dortch of Michigan State, and Steve Berson and Ravon Anderson of Rutgers.
The discussion, organized by Brandt sixth grade teacher James Monaco, allowed the athletes to talk about their humble backgrounds and the adversity that they faced as products of the Hoboken housing projects. They were able to rise above the tough struggles and still able to excel on the football field, enough to secure major college scholarships at some of the best collegiate programs in the nation.
Monaco, who was hired only recently by the school, approached the administration of the school about the idea after talking with Perez and Dortch, both of whom earned All-America honors in 1999, after leading Hoboken to its second straight Group III state championship.
“It started out with getting Carlos and Tyrell to talk to my class,” Monaco said. “We discussed the idea and then it expanded to bring everyone back to speak to the whole school. They all have the same message and they all spoke very well.”
Each athlete addressed the group on their own, covering a variety of topics, like self confidence, academics, attitude, behavior and choices in life. Then, they all faced questions and answers. The athletes all agreed that they had a great time in relating to the youngsters.
“It’s important, because we don’t usually get a chance to talk to the kids,” said Walker, who is now a sophomore defensive back at Syracuse. “We were able to let them know what we had to do to become successful. Honestly, it was a great experience for me, because when I was growing up, we didn’t have anyone to look up to. It’s great when we can give a little something back to the community.”
Anderson agreed.
“A lot of these kids need someone that they can look up to,” said Anderson, who will be entering his senior season at Rutgers in the fall. “They need people other than their teachers or their parents. And they can relate to us, especially growing up in the projects like we did. We tried to get the strong message across to them that they can do it as well. Growing up in the projects alone is dealing with adversity. We’re giving them a positive influence, something that they can grow on.”
Added Anderson, “I didn’t think it would turn out as good as it did, but I had a lot of fun. We were signing autographs and taking pictures with the kids. And they had a lot of interesting questions as well.”
One question that stood out in Anderson’s mind came from a student who asked him who was his role model. Anderson answered former Hoboken great running back Dwayne Peterson, as well as Casey, who is a year older than Anderson.
“Even though Rashard has always been my best friend, I always tried to be better than him,” Anderson said. “He pushed me to be better and I wanted to be like him.”
Dortch said that his role model was Anderson, who is his cousin. The kids had no idea that Dortch and Anderson were first cousins.
“He’s the best to ever come out of Hoboken,” Anderson said of Dortch. “It makes me feel good to know that he had me to look up to. He took full advantage of what he had and I’ll always be proud of him. He knows he has unlimited potential and knows how good he is. I tell him that all the time.”
Although the idea was to send a message to the kids, it was also a chance for the long-time friends and teammates to get together once again. Since they are now scattered all over the country, there are few opportunities to reunite.
“Tyrell is my best friend and we talk all the time, but with him in Michigan and me in Florida, we don’t get too many chances to see each other,” said Perez, who has already returned to school in Florida after a brief holiday break. “I told him that I couldn’t wait to see him again. I think being apart has brought our relationship even closer, because we’re going through the same things as freshmen in different parts of the country.”
“I don’t get much chance to talk to people like Carlos and Steve,” Walker said. “So it was great to see them again. It was just like old times.”
For Dortch, Perez and Berson, it was also a chance to speak in front of their former teachers, because all three attended Brandt School.
“It felt like it was yesterday, when I was sitting in those seats as a student there,” Perez said. “I looked out and saw all my old teachers. It seemed so long, but then it seemed like yesterday. It was a really nice time.”
“Around this neighborhood, there aren’t many positive things,” Walker said. “We wanted to show them that positive things could happen.”
Monaco said that he came away impressed with the way the athletes handled themselves.
“They were all very professional and very polite,” Monaco said. “I can’t believe how well it turned out. I think everyone left the auditorium feeling very good. As impressive as they have been on the field, they were equally impressive talking to the kids. We’re all used to seeing them on the field. But their off-the-field demeanor was special.
Added Monaco, “They all deserve the credit. They were totally committed to the project and they went far and beyond expectations.”