January 31, 2011 9:04 AM
- Text
From The Streets To The Football Field
(CBS)
You could say football saved Roderick Wolfe's life.
He might say it was his coach.
"If it wasn't for Coach Hill, Lord knows, I could be selling drugs, I could be dead or in jail," Wolfe told CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
Is Don Hill a coach or a minister?
"Well, sometimes you've got to wear all hats," he said.
From the day five years ago when Morgan State Football coach Don Hill-Eley first met Roderick outside a grocery ironically called Stop, Shop and Save, "we stopped, shopped and we probably saved Roderick's life."
The coach and the young player connected.
What did Roderick look like when Hill-Eley first saw him?
"He was tall, malnourished, very dirty," Hill-Eley said. "He really looked homeless."
Roderick was homeless - on the streets of Baltimore.
He stayed in a basement that he showed Pinkston.
His father, a drug dealer, died two days before Roderick's 10th birthday. His mother slipped into drugs, got AIDS and lost their home.
By senior year in high school, he was living in his car, alleys, or a city park. Sleeping on a bench?
"This bench right here," Roderick pointed out to Pinkston.
He was always hungry and sometimes cold. But somehow he dodged the lure of drugs and fast money.
"I already know what it's like. I know where it'll get me," he said. "Never tempted. What's the point? I know what it's like. I've been there before."
"I took a chance on him because I remember being who he was," Hill-Eley said. "And I knew that desperation."
You see, the coach's mother had also been a drug user. He was rescued by his grandparents.
"My grandfather always told me 'help those who try to help themselves,'" he said.
"We made him take classes year round. He had nowhere to go," Hill-Eley said. "He lived here the whole time so no need to be idle."
It was the coach who reached Roderick, as well as hundreds of other players, with caring, tough discipline, and old-school rules.
"I don't tolerate pants hanging off, I don't tolerate earrings, cell phones, and stuff like that going off in meeting places," Hill-Eley said. "I don't care who you pray to but close your eyes, you're going to pray to somebody."
Under his leadership, the Morgan State Bears had their first winning season in 25 years. But the coach is more concerned about graduation day.
"When they cross that stage and I'm able to shake his hand and invite him into manhood," he said.
"I'm very happy. I'm proud," Roderick said. "I'm proud of myself."
With a degree from a college Roderick Wolfe will always call home.
He might say it was his coach.
"If it wasn't for Coach Hill, Lord knows, I could be selling drugs, I could be dead or in jail," Wolfe told CBS News correspondent Randall Pinkston.
Is Don Hill a coach or a minister?
"Well, sometimes you've got to wear all hats," he said.
From the day five years ago when Morgan State Football coach Don Hill-Eley first met Roderick outside a grocery ironically called Stop, Shop and Save, "we stopped, shopped and we probably saved Roderick's life."
The coach and the young player connected.
What did Roderick look like when Hill-Eley first saw him?
"He was tall, malnourished, very dirty," Hill-Eley said. "He really looked homeless."
Roderick was homeless - on the streets of Baltimore.
He stayed in a basement that he showed Pinkston.
His father, a drug dealer, died two days before Roderick's 10th birthday. His mother slipped into drugs, got AIDS and lost their home.
By senior year in high school, he was living in his car, alleys, or a city park. Sleeping on a bench?
"This bench right here," Roderick pointed out to Pinkston.
He was always hungry and sometimes cold. But somehow he dodged the lure of drugs and fast money.
"I already know what it's like. I know where it'll get me," he said. "Never tempted. What's the point? I know what it's like. I've been there before."
"I took a chance on him because I remember being who he was," Hill-Eley said. "And I knew that desperation."
You see, the coach's mother had also been a drug user. He was rescued by his grandparents.
"My grandfather always told me 'help those who try to help themselves,'" he said.
The coach gave Roderick a scholarship and he also found a home.
Couric & Co.: From Living on the Streets to Scoring on the Field
"We made him take classes year round. He had nowhere to go," Hill-Eley said. "He lived here the whole time so no need to be idle."
It was the coach who reached Roderick, as well as hundreds of other players, with caring, tough discipline, and old-school rules.
"I don't tolerate pants hanging off, I don't tolerate earrings, cell phones, and stuff like that going off in meeting places," Hill-Eley said. "I don't care who you pray to but close your eyes, you're going to pray to somebody."
Under his leadership, the Morgan State Bears had their first winning season in 25 years. But the coach is more concerned about graduation day.
"When they cross that stage and I'm able to shake his hand and invite him into manhood," he said.
"I'm very happy. I'm proud," Roderick said. "I'm proud of myself."
With a degree from a college Roderick Wolfe will always call home.
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