In the hectic moments before the kickoff of a new high school football season tonight, Logan Vandergriff will take time to step away from the noise of the crowd, the band and even his excited teammates.
The Hixson senior will use a black marker to draw a cross and write the initials “SAV” on his wrist tape, then find a quiet spot in the locker room to bow his head and say a silent prayer.
But simply stepping back on the field and giving every ounce of effort his 5-foot-7, 135-pound body allows will be the truest honor to the memory of his mother, who died in a Birmingham, Ala., hospital six months ago while awaiting a liver transplant.
“She was a fighter, so that’s what I’ll do, I’ll keep going,” the 18-year-old said. “I don’t know where I would be if I couldn’t play and let out all my emotions on the field. I love being around the team and it really gets my mind off things. Knowing she’s still watching me definitely pushes me to play harder and try my best whatever I’m doing.”
Since he was 2 years old, Logan Vandergriff was raised in a single-parent home by his mother Stacy, and was also looked after by his brother Lee Vandergriff, who is five years older. As far back as his memory reaches, he watched his mother deal with the pain of severe arthritis and the embarrassment of the irritated red patches of skin covering her body caused by psoriasis.
The combination of the two afflictions caused Stacy Vandergriff to miss many of Logan Vandergriff’s athletic events and the medication she had taken for years eventually damaged her liver to the point where a transplant was required. She was admitted to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital in February and died there two weeks later while awaiting a matching donor. Her death came one day after Lee Vandergriff’s 23rd birthday, and on the day of the region wrestling tournament in which Logan Vandergriff was entered.
“When I got to the hospital she was in and out of consciousness but she told my brother happy birthday and the last thing she said to me was that she loved me, so I have that memory,” said Logan Vandergriff, who added that he punched a hole in a hospital wall when his mother died. “I miss everything about her.
“She was such a great cook. I’m used to going home from practice and having home-cooked meals. I still pick up the phone to call her all the time before it hits me that she’s not there. What comforts me now is that I know she’s not in pain anymore.”
Lee Vandergriff said their mother’s death brought him and his brother closer together. And their father, Hixson athletic director Roger Vandergriff, also has taken on a more active role in their lives and is making sure that Logan Vandergriff can enjoy an active senior year.
“I’ve worked full time since I was 20 and put myself through college,” said Lee Vandergriff, now a manager at Stockdale’s, an outdoors retail store. “Because of my mom’s physical limitations, the family’s financial responsibilities just kind of fell on me. My mom was emphatic about a few things, one was being hospitable to people and the other was, no matter how bad things get, you have to keep going.”
He said the brothers learned from their mother.
“I remembered how important it was to me to be an athlete and get to do things with my friends when I was in school, so I want Logan to get to have fun this year,” Lee Vandergriff said.
Logan Vandergriff realizes that like so many high school kids who love football, his lack of size means this will be his last year to play the game. But his tenacity has made him a three-year starter at cornerback and receiver and he is also a key special teams player and team captain.
Several weeks ago during a scrimmage, Wildcats coach Houston White noticed something he hadn’t seen from Logan Vandergriff.
“He just didn’t seem very excited to be out there,” White said. “He was just kind of going through the motions and the coach in me wanted to jump all over him about lack of effort. But I guess the good Lord put some wisdom in me because I never said a word. Later that night Logan texted me to say that he was sorry, he knew he hadn’t been into the scrimmage but it was because it was his mom’s birthday. After I read that I sat there and just squalled thinking about that kid. I called him and talked to him for a long time after that.”
The coach knows his player is coping with far more than just football and school.
“I can’t imagine what the kid deals with, going into your senior year which is supposed to be exciting, but having lost the person you were closest to in your life. He’s a tough kid,” White said.