Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Football family brings solace to Deerfield star
DEERFIELD BEACH — What’s happened these past few weeks, Jerry Jeudy has been anticipating for years.
As this is a high school football story, you might imagine it’s about how the Deerfield Beach senior’s long-held dreams of greatness have come true — and they have.
A widely acknowledged blue-chipper who’s set to play receiver at Alabama next year, Jeudy has more than lived up to his fivestar rating to lead the Bucks to their first state semifinal since 2007 — their deepest playoff run of his preps career.
But the four years of eager anticipation to reach this point have been tempered for Jeudy by an equally momentous dread. And last week, as he was coming off the football field after a win over Atlantic that sent Deerfield to the Class 8A semifinals, Jeudy’s dread too came true.
Aaliyah, his 7-year-old sister, a “miracle baby” who’d had health complications since birth, had died.
“I love you sis,” Jeudy tweeted the next day, “you in a better place now.”
He also posted a photo of Aaliyah, tiny in her sickness, but with a look of hope and love shining past the breathing tube lashed across her face.
“I swear I’m going to make it for you and mommy.”
Jeudy did not do interviews this week and left Wednesday night’s practice early to be with his mother.
Deerfield coach Jevon Glenn, who’s back on the field after a bout last week with stomach flu, said last weekend was rough on Jeudy, whose spirits are low.
After his older siblings left home and now have families of their own, Jeudy played a major role in helping his mom take care of Aaliyah, who also had an in-home nurse.
“When he came out Monday, I was going to tell him to take Monday off and just relax and gather himself,” Glenn said. “He said it would be better for him to be with the guys.
“He’s leaning on his teammates and his football family to help him get through this tough time right now.”
Even as they struggle to find the words to console him, his Bucks teammates stay close, all of them trying to focus on Friday night’s task — to get past Miami Southridge and into next week’s state championship game in Orlando.
“There’s really nothing I could say because I’ve never gone through that pain,” linebacker and close friend Brion Byrd Jr. said. “I just tell him to stay positive — ‘let’s win this.’ ”
Deerfield Beach is poised for its second state final berth, but for these Bucks players and coaches there’s little satisfaction in avenging the program’s 2005 championship loss to Palm Beach Gardens. They would love nothing more than getting a shot at a first state title — and winning it — for Jeudy.
“I’m out there with 10 brothers,” Byrd said. “But with him out there we can celebrate together on the field.”