The road to a better life can be traveled by any means necessary. For Signal Mountain junior TaDarrell Hodge, like for his older brother TaDarrius, it was a clunky yellow school bus driven by their mother that delivered them to opportunity's doorstep.
For four years, the Hodge brothers were among dozens of inner-city kids provided transportation to Signal Mountain Middle High School, which offered more academic opportunities as well as a solid football program.
The boys' mother, Shartella Brown, was one of the bus drivers who delivered kids to Signal Mountain. TaDarrius took advantage of his opportunity by earning a scholarship to continue playing football at Alabama A&M, and TaDarrell was following a similar path.
Signal Mountain Eagle football player TaDarrell Hodge, center, sits with his mother Shartella Brown on her school bus Monday at the end of the school day. His "second mom," Schyler Smith, upper left, lives atop Signal Mountain with Smith so he can play at one of the top football programs in Hamilton County.TaDarrell, at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, is rated as one of the area's top prospects for next season. The junior has been a two-year starter for the Eagles and projects as either a defensive end or tackle by several college scouts who said they will be recruiting him.
But when the funding for the transportation program for the inner-city students dried up, TaDarrell and his family faced a tough decision.
Because Hodge's mother leaves each day at 5 a.m. to begin her bus route, transportation to the school he had learned to call home became a mountainous issue.
"Why shouldn't my son have the same opportunities as a doctor's or lawyer's child?" Shartella said. "He's just a bus driver's kid, but he wants to have a better life. One of the reasons I took this route was I wanted to give them a better opportunity than I see in our neighborhood.
"I had so many coaches from other schools calling and trying to get him to come play for them when they thought he wasn't going to be able to go to Signal Mountain anymore. It was unbelievable. But he was determined he was staying put. He's seen what type of life is out there when you have a college education, and he's determined to have that. We were going to find a way for him to stay right where he's been and finish what he started."
Not wanting his family to stress over his future, Hodge took matters into his own hands last year to arrange a way he could remain at Signal Mountain. Knowing that mountain resident Schyler Smith already had a couple of other students who weren't her kids living with her, Hodge informed her that he would be moving in.
"Everybody just calls me Big Mama, so he told me one day, 'Big Mama, I'm coming to stay with you.' I already knew what a great kid he was, so I just said, 'Baby, come on,'" Smith said.
"Going to school there, it already felt like a big family atmosphere, so I just thought I'd stay with Big Mama so we didn't have to worry about how I was going to get to school or to workouts for football or anything," Hodge said. "She's like my second mama now. Her and my mom sit together at games and yell and ring cowbells and get loud. It's crazy, but it's worked out best for me and my family."
Hodge has lived with Smith for about a year, and while it was an adjustment for his mom, the bigger sting for her wasn't having her son move out but what was said by folks from her own neighborhood - those who took offense not only to Hodge not going to the inner-city school where he was zoned but for moving in with a white family.
"I've had people who said, to my face, that if he couldn't play football they wouldn't have his black (rear) up there," Brown said, pausing to wipe tears from her eyes. "That's not true. Both of my sons have gone to school there and they weren't treated any differently than any other kids.
"I know racism is real, but it's not been an issue at all for my kids or me with anybody up there. I graduated from Howard, but I wanted my sons to go to a school where they would be pushed harder in the classroom and in sports. My greatest fear was always getting that phone call that they weren't in school and something had happened. I worry more now when he comes to my house to visit. It's dangerous, so I tell him he's got to go back on the mountain. I want to know my kids are safe."
Hodge, who already is being recruited by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Mississippi State, Memphis and Louisiana-Monroe, plans to attend several prospects camps this summer, which will only intensify the process for next year.
After leading the team in tackles for loss last season, Hodge again will anchor the Eagles defensive line and could show how versatile he is by also playing tight end.
"He's a devastating one-on-one player," said Eagles coach Ty Wise, who played offensive line at Miami. "Our players feed off of him because he's very physical and plays with a high motor. The sky's the limit for him, and he could be a big-time prospect if he continues to work like he has.
"I think one of the biggest things for him has been being able to be comfortable with where he's gone to school and played for years. He doesn't have to worry about where he's staying or how he's getting to school or to practice, and that's a big weight off him, so he can just be a kid at school and play ball."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.