by Mike Gibson

Gone Too Soon

In a large way, Kee-Ayre Griffin started this football turnaround at Temple University.

After sending someone I did not know a congratulatory email for getting 28 highly-rated commits in his first month on the job, Al Golden shot back a reply.

“Thanks, Mike. It’s not over yet. We’re waiting on a guy from St. Peter’s who might be the best of the class. It’s between us, Maryland and Boston College. Wish us luck.
_Al”

Griffin, who died last week, was that guy and Golden got him. Getting Griffin started a Golden run where he’d win a handful of recruiting battles with Power 5 schools every year.

That’s how you recruit at Temple University. You get mostly two stars that you “coach up” to four stars, but you reach up and grab a few four-stars–like Griffin–in every class. Temple certainly departed from the ingredients of that mix in the most recent class and we will not know if the resulting cake will be delicious or flat until four years down the line.

Griffin did not turn out to be the Mega Star back all of the scouting services had him being, but he was more than a serviceable running back who found his niche after being switched over to the defensive side of the ball.

Before that happened, he had a key fumble in an overtime loss at Navy that never should have happened and a young head coach who did not know any better threw him under the bus afterward. With 17 seconds left and on fourth down deep in your own territory against a triple option team with no time outs, you punt the ball, plain and simple.

That’s Coaching 101.

That’s how you recruit
at Temple University.
You get mostly two stars
that you “coach up” to
four stars, but you reach
and grab a few
four-stars–like Griffin–in
every class

In 2009, I was walking down the corridor of the fourth floor of the team hotel, the Renaissance Marriott, in Washington D.C. and saw Griffin, dressed in a Temple warmup, leaving about three hours before the Eagle Bank Bowl. Knowing the team had left a couple hours before, I said:

“Kee, what happened to you?”

“I got suspended.”

Not wanting to know what it was for, I just said:

“Sorry to hear that. We need you out there.”

“Thanks.”

After hopping on the D.C. Metro, the entire car broke out into a loud “Let’s Go Temple” rhythmic chant that lasted the entire ride to RFK Stadium. Thinking about the “regular” commuters hearing that, it was one of my proudest moments as a Temple fan. In the rear of the same car, I saw Griffin taking in the whole scene and smiling. Hell, I got pretty choked up watching this scene unfold.

In 2011, while playing for Steve Addazio, he had the most athletic interception I ever saw a Temple player make, diving by the sideline to intercept a Penn State pass. It would have won the game, but Mike Gerardi returned the favor three plays later and Penn State went on to win, 14-10. If not for that, Griffin’s play would have gone down with Sharif Finch’s interception as two game-changing plays in wins over Penn State, but it was not to be.

While he might have hung with the wrong crowd after Temple, the Kee-Ayre Griffin I knew was a good guy who loved the school and his teammates and made a huge impact at Temple. Two other teammates, Anthony Ferla and Adrian Robinson, also did not make it to their 30th birthday and that is the very definition of gone too soon. The arguments about Kee hanging with the wrong crowd should be for another day. He’s gone and his Temple family is grieving along with his blood relatives. The same can be said for Ferla and Robinson, who died under different circumstances.

All of them deserved to be remembered for the significant contributions they made to Temple.

Wednesday: Sustainability

5 thoughts on “Gone Too Soon”

John Belli
June 12, 2017
10:58 am

It’s a tragedy. Can’t figure out why some of these kids don’t take advantage of the opportunity given them and why they get back into the life after school. Think Matt Brown.

Reply
- joefa104
  June 12, 2017
  7:44 pm
  
  John
  
  I’ve been a Philadelphia School District teacher for 15 years now. I wish I had substantive answers, but I don’t and doubt anyone really does. What i do know for certain is that there’s no pressure stronger than peer pressure.
  
  It’s all about who you surround yourself with.
  
  Reply
joninohio
June 13, 2017
11:36 am

joefa, you’re absolutely right about the power of peer pressure. But everyone is an individual and some just are prone to not be realistic about real life and get into trouble. I wonder about kids who have some talent, work hard and have success in college sports (to say nothing of, while in school, maybe living better than they ever did before and being on a high with star status) and put all their hopes and dreams into going pro. When they fall short, their “15 minutes of fame” over with, and go back home with dashed dreams, I guess it’s easy to fall back into their old lifestyle – it’s familiar. They just don’t get the idea of realizing they have to work hard at something else, like what they majored in, to make a decent life for themselves. Personally, I enjoyed my college years but knew, being in a minor sport and just average, that it was just an extra curricular activity so I concentrated and expected that my major was what was most important, These football and basketball kids actually have a possibility and hopes (altho in reality for most, unrealistic) of making it big. And that’s all they can see……unfortunately.

Reply
- John Belli
  June 13, 2017
  6:32 pm
  
  That is the case for too many student athletes. I saw Joe Klecko and said I better study. Even had I not seen him I would have studied in any event. I was a good student before that and was recruited by the Ivies. I just knew that I was given an opportunity to get a free education and wasn’t going to blow it.
  
  Reply
Dave
June 13, 2017
6:41 pm

Kee-ayre played hard. He was fearless and Temple Tough. He played O, D, and STs. He would have marched in the band if you asked him.

Reply