Finding Willie

Last August while putting together my annual football preview for the Game Day magazine I came across something that would stay on my mind for the remainder of 2019 into 2020. Former Northside High School head football coach and athletic director Kevin Kinsler let me know senior two-sport athlete Willie Northern, a key to the 2018 run to the 6A state championship game, was no longer on the team. The fact that Northern, also a basketball player, and a really good one at that, was off the football team set off alarms in my head. There was no way an athlete that special is going to be content with not playing football. When I found out that he wasn’t attending school anymore it made more sense. Now I had to find Willie and see what was going on.

As a sports writer at a small community newspaper you get the chance to make more of a connection with the young people that you cover every game, every season, everyday. Northern was one of those kids. Not on a personal level like I have some players -one of his teammates mailed me a graduation invite- but as someone who knows a good athlete when I see one I made sure to write about his exploits as much as possible. I started my search for Willie by asking Kinsler if he knew where Northern was attending school. He didn’t. I then moved on to Northside boys head basketball coach Matt Simon. Northern may not have had the best reputation among his coaches before leaving Warner Robins. Maybe Simon knew where Northern was? He didn’t. Maybe the internet and social media could help. It did.

Unlike when I try to search for the whereabouts of a teenager on Twitter, there was a lead. I don’t know how many times I have to tell the athletes I cover to use their actual names when creating accounts to better be located by coaches and the media. If you’re name is Jeff Johnson for example, your Twitter handle should not be Cray#$JohnJohn478. It does nothing to help with recruiting especially for players on the margins. Northern’s account Twitter handle is @Northern_Willie. Go figure. We connected and got an opportunity to exchange direct messages. He’s played high school football this past season in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. His team finished the season with a 7-5 overall record. He’s not planning on playing basketball this year because he’s schedule graduate early and calls the move north “The best thing I ever did in my life. School is great.”

I’m happy I found Willie and even happier he seems to be doing well on and off the field. He has a number of official college visits to take starting this week. My hope is 2020 brings me more opportunities to keep up with the young men and women I write about. If the death of Bryce Gowdy, a homeless young man from Florida who reportedly committed suicide by train just before the year ended, has taught me anything it is that we need to look after our young people. Gowdy had earned a football scholarship to Georgia Tech and was by all accounts a gifted young athlete with worlds of potential. He’s now yet another lesson in how well people’s circumstances look on the outside doesn’t truly represent how well they feel on the inside. I wish Gowdy would have talked to someone the night he killed himself. Maybe he did. I’m glad I got a chance to hear from Willie.