Remembering D-mo

Four days ago, I was laughing and cutting up with the guy they called D-Mo. Just four days ago.

Darris Morris was sitting in Goodman Gymnasium with O.J. (“The Juice”) Lennon, a receiver on Catawba College’s football team. Lennon had his video camera pointed right at me.

“Interview him!” chuckled Morris. “Interview him!”

I joked about football fans watching Lennon. But later I saw D-Mo, a senior, in the lobby.

“I left out one important detail from my interview,” I told him. “The only downside to Catawba football is that we won’t have no mo D-Mo.”

He laughed. I laughed. Neither of us knew that 48 hours later, those words would come back to haunt both of us.”

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Morris was shot in the chest Friday night and died a sickening, unnecessary death.

This was supposed to be the best times of Darris Morris’ life. A linebacker, he was a 6-foot-5, 225-pound stud who ran a 4.5 40, intriguing pro scouts who had already contacted coach Chip Hester.

And best of all, he was on schedule to graduate in May.

“He really blossomed as a person,” said Hester, slumped in a chair in his office after a sleepless night. “And he blossomed on the football field and on campus.”

Hester and athletic director Dennis Davidson were walking in a daze Saturday. And it wasn’t because of a lack of sleep.

“This is like a bad dream,” Hester said. “It is unbelievable.”

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It had been a pretty good Friday night for Hester. He had gotten a babysitter and he and wife Trish had gone out. When he returned, there would be no relaxing.

His star linebacker had been killed. A wide receiver, Brad McCrary, had a bullet go through his left leg and into his right. Hester raced to the hospital.

Hester’s first order of business was making a call and it wasn’t a third-and-long situation.

He had to call D-Mo’s mother Cleavie in Batesburg, S.C.

“I’ll never forget it as long as I live,” he said. “She’s such a good lady. At the time, I didn’t know his status. She was very upset.”

Relatives drove D-Mo’s mother toward North Carolina, but in their haste and stunned condition, they missed I-85 and took I-95 instead, ending up in Fayetteville. They didn’t arrive in Salisbury until around 7:30 a.m.

“At about 4:30 a.m., I went to the Holiday Inn to get them a room,” Davidson said. “It wasn’t used. They just turned around and left.

“That’s really the heartbreaking story.”

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Meanwhile, there were about 120 football players confused and upset. They rushed the door of Rowan Regional Medical Center as if it were a Carson-Newman quarterback.

“Chip was wonderful,” Davidson said. “The new (assistant) coaches were all there helping to calm the players down. We had to tell some of them to go home and don’t come back out.”

Davidson had to make his own phone calls. Catawba, to no one’s surprise, postponed Saturday’s basketball games with Carson-Newman.

“It was surreal to come to your office at 2 a.m. and call the AD who was asleep in Jefferson City,” he said.

The teams were actually spending the night in Hickory but everyone in the Eagles camp understood why they were going home early.

Everyone’s thoughts were with D-Mo. Along with questions. Why was he shot by these gun-toting, party-crashers?

“I don’t know if D-Mo was the one trying to get them to leave or whether he was an innocent bystander,” Davidson said.

“Nobody really knows,” Hester added. “But there were a lot of eye-witnesses.”

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Until the memorial service tonight at the school chapel, composure is the goal of everyone.

Most realize that this was not an incident started by athletes, although the most familiar names mentioned from Catawba were on the football and basketball teams.

“We’ve got 1,300 students and 350 to 375 are student-athletes,” explained Davidson. “Of 700 on campus, that’s one-third. So if something happens on campus, there’s a good chance an athlete will be there.”

Davidson also noted that he did not recognize any of the Livingstone names as being athletes.

Hester sat in his chair Saturday afternoon, 35 hours removed from any sleep. He said he had a chance early in the morning for some shut-eye but said he simply stared at the walls, feeling helpless. Worried.

“Brad’s in a lot of pain,” Hester said of McCrary. “The bullet lodged in his right leg but didn’t hit an artery or bone. He’s real fortunate.”

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The same couldn’t be said for Darris Morris, however.

“He came in here just the other day, cutting up,” Hester said. “He had a smile on his face. He always had a smile on his face.”

Pausing for a moment, Hester said, “You know it can’t be real. But it is.

“Now is when the players need each other more than ever. When you’re winning football games, everything’s great, but now is when character shines through.”

Davidson has no doubt this particular team has that strength.

“”They’re hurting right now,” he said. “But the football guys have as strong a character as we’ve got on this campus. They’ll find the strength to do him proud. I’m sure they’ll dedicate next season to him.”

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We loved the name “D-Mo” at the Salisbury Post.

It gave us a chance to use stuff like “D-Mo is Catawba’s ammo.” And “We want mo D-Mo.” And D-Mo dominates D-II.”

We got to use those words when he had games like the one at Valdosta State in the D-II quarterfinals. He blocked two field goals. He had two tackles for losses.

He was the guy who made a big play to help save a win against Mars Hill. He blocked a field goal that turned the momentum against Lenoir-Rhyne. He was SAC Player of the Week after the Austin Peay game.

But mostly he was just a good guy.

When you’re a sportswriter, you don’t just cover the sports. You cover the athletes too. And we all knew D-Mo.

He was the first one to shake Mike London’s hand in Michigan when Catawba played in the national semifinals. He was the one who joked with me only a few days ago.

So, while we’re supposed to be impartial to all sports and athletes, we’re still human beings. We have feelings.

And this hurts, people. It really hurts.

“It’s going to be hard to overcome,” Davidson said. “But we’ll have to.”

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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com .