thedrifter
10-13-06, 09:10 AM
Published on Friday, October 13, 2006
Chip off the block
By Michael N. Graff
Staff writer
The scandal divided the closely bonded Lawrence family. The trail of cookie crumbs running across the counter was a sign of mischief and dishonesty, abhorrent behaviors in a home where the dad is a Marine and the mom could pass as one.
There were two possible suspects, both under the age of 5. Daryl Lawrence Jr. was the most likely thief, given he was the oldest and the tallest. Daryl Sr. figured his youngest son, Lamar, didn’t have the length to pull off a cookie heist.
So Senior disciplined Junior time and again, mini-Marine style. Until one day, Senior caught Lamar in the act, his hand literally in the cookie jar.
“Daryl must have thought I was a madman,” Daryl Sr. says. “I wanted to tear his butt up. But come to find out, I didn’t know Lamar could crawl up there.”
Daryl Sr. laughs about it now, some 15 years later, watching Daryl Jr. warm up for another football game at Methodist College.
But at the time, it wasn’t funny. A 20-year military man, he wouldn’t have his sons go astray, not even for a few chocolate chips.
With tough love and discipline as his foundation, Daryl Lawrence Jr. has molded into a no-nonsense college junior, one who has left behind a line of adoring coaches, teachers and friends’ parents who have jokingly offered to adopt him.
He’s the only junior Methodist coach Jim Sypult has ever named captain. And nary a senior has ever objected. So impressive is Daryl as a person, it’s actually easy to overlook the fact that he’s the top player on one of the best defenses in the USA South Athletic Conference.
With Ferrum (1-4, 1-2 USA South) on tap this weekend, Daryl leads the Monarchs (2-3, 0-2) with 8.5 tackles for loss, second-best in the conference. The linebacker’s 39 tackles rank fifth in the league.
But to the Monarchs, Daryl’s impact can’t be measured in statistics.
“There’s not a downside to him at all,” said Sypult, the Monarchs’ 15th-year coach. “I’ve coached a lot of kids, but none like him.”
Daryl is the product of a straight-lined household.
His mom, Monica, would wake her sons at sunrise and make them run the trails that meandered through Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. Daryl was about 12 at the time.
“I would be up at like 5 in the morning,” says Lamar, now a sophomore at UNC-Greensboro. “Oh my goodness. It would be a couple miles, probably.”
Daryl Sr. served in the Marines for 20 years, working in communications.
Monica is a sales associate at Circuit City.
“But people would think I was in the military,” she laughs.
As strong-fisted as the two household heads were, they rarely had reasons to raise their voices.
The boys always came in by dark. They both were honor roll students. Their only outbursts or tantrums were caused by Scrabble games.
Scores of parents would wish they had such troubles.
Of course, there were repercussions for doing otherwise.
“He doesn’t fool around. He made sure we stayed on task,” Daryl said of his dad. “If I was to get in trouble, he’d tell me to do some push-ups. Usually until he would tell me to stop.”
Said Daryl Sr.: “If you train your children while they’re younger, as the years go by, they’ll adopt a lifestyle where they’re not going to rebel as much when they get older. It’s a tender balance of tough-love.”
Obviously, Daryl didn’t need football for discipline. But he always loved the sport.
As a 2-year-old, he would sit and watch an entire football game without moving, according to Monica.
As a senior at White Oak High School, Daryl was getting looks from Division I schools, including some from the Ivy League. He was recruited as a fullback, according to his high school coach, Robbie Ellis.
But Daryl tore his ACL his senior year.
“Until he hurt his knee, he was probably as good a linebacker as I’ve coached. And he still is,” said Ellis, who retired two years ago. “He can break to the ball as well as anybody I coached in 30 years.”
Methodist has thoroughly benefited.
Don Hansen’s Football Gazette named Daryl to its Division III Preseason All-American team this year.
He was the USA South’s defensive player of the week after recording 12 tackles and two sacks in the Monarchs’ win over Emory & Henry on Sept. 30.
“As a player, he has a step to him, that once he sees it, he's like a cobra,” Sypult said. “And once you’re hit, you’re hit.”
But Daryl is respected for more than his football-playing ability. For Methodist’s yearly awards banquet last year, the student-athletes were anonymously surveyed and asked to select the team that displayed the best sportsmanship.
One response resonated with Sypult.
“A kid wrote, ‘I don’t know what team should win the sportsmanship. But I can tell you what man should — Daryl Lawrence,’” Sypult said.
A computer science major, Daryl is a resident assistant in one of Methodist’s dormitory buildings.
He won’t say whether he’s had to discipline any of his teammates during rounds. As with everything else, he works by the book.
“My job is confidential,” he says with a straight face. “I’m easy to get along with. But at the same time, we have rules. And I expect people to follow the rules.”
Staff writer Michael N. Graff can be reached at graffm@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3591.
Ellie
Chip off the block
By Michael N. Graff
Staff writer
The scandal divided the closely bonded Lawrence family. The trail of cookie crumbs running across the counter was a sign of mischief and dishonesty, abhorrent behaviors in a home where the dad is a Marine and the mom could pass as one.
There were two possible suspects, both under the age of 5. Daryl Lawrence Jr. was the most likely thief, given he was the oldest and the tallest. Daryl Sr. figured his youngest son, Lamar, didn’t have the length to pull off a cookie heist.
So Senior disciplined Junior time and again, mini-Marine style. Until one day, Senior caught Lamar in the act, his hand literally in the cookie jar.
“Daryl must have thought I was a madman,” Daryl Sr. says. “I wanted to tear his butt up. But come to find out, I didn’t know Lamar could crawl up there.”
Daryl Sr. laughs about it now, some 15 years later, watching Daryl Jr. warm up for another football game at Methodist College.
But at the time, it wasn’t funny. A 20-year military man, he wouldn’t have his sons go astray, not even for a few chocolate chips.
With tough love and discipline as his foundation, Daryl Lawrence Jr. has molded into a no-nonsense college junior, one who has left behind a line of adoring coaches, teachers and friends’ parents who have jokingly offered to adopt him.
He’s the only junior Methodist coach Jim Sypult has ever named captain. And nary a senior has ever objected. So impressive is Daryl as a person, it’s actually easy to overlook the fact that he’s the top player on one of the best defenses in the USA South Athletic Conference.
With Ferrum (1-4, 1-2 USA South) on tap this weekend, Daryl leads the Monarchs (2-3, 0-2) with 8.5 tackles for loss, second-best in the conference. The linebacker’s 39 tackles rank fifth in the league.
But to the Monarchs, Daryl’s impact can’t be measured in statistics.
“There’s not a downside to him at all,” said Sypult, the Monarchs’ 15th-year coach. “I’ve coached a lot of kids, but none like him.”
Daryl is the product of a straight-lined household.
His mom, Monica, would wake her sons at sunrise and make them run the trails that meandered through Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. Daryl was about 12 at the time.
“I would be up at like 5 in the morning,” says Lamar, now a sophomore at UNC-Greensboro. “Oh my goodness. It would be a couple miles, probably.”
Daryl Sr. served in the Marines for 20 years, working in communications.
Monica is a sales associate at Circuit City.
“But people would think I was in the military,” she laughs.
As strong-fisted as the two household heads were, they rarely had reasons to raise their voices.
The boys always came in by dark. They both were honor roll students. Their only outbursts or tantrums were caused by Scrabble games.
Scores of parents would wish they had such troubles.
Of course, there were repercussions for doing otherwise.
“He doesn’t fool around. He made sure we stayed on task,” Daryl said of his dad. “If I was to get in trouble, he’d tell me to do some push-ups. Usually until he would tell me to stop.”
Said Daryl Sr.: “If you train your children while they’re younger, as the years go by, they’ll adopt a lifestyle where they’re not going to rebel as much when they get older. It’s a tender balance of tough-love.”
Obviously, Daryl didn’t need football for discipline. But he always loved the sport.
As a 2-year-old, he would sit and watch an entire football game without moving, according to Monica.
As a senior at White Oak High School, Daryl was getting looks from Division I schools, including some from the Ivy League. He was recruited as a fullback, according to his high school coach, Robbie Ellis.
But Daryl tore his ACL his senior year.
“Until he hurt his knee, he was probably as good a linebacker as I’ve coached. And he still is,” said Ellis, who retired two years ago. “He can break to the ball as well as anybody I coached in 30 years.”
Methodist has thoroughly benefited.
Don Hansen’s Football Gazette named Daryl to its Division III Preseason All-American team this year.
He was the USA South’s defensive player of the week after recording 12 tackles and two sacks in the Monarchs’ win over Emory & Henry on Sept. 30.
“As a player, he has a step to him, that once he sees it, he's like a cobra,” Sypult said. “And once you’re hit, you’re hit.”
But Daryl is respected for more than his football-playing ability. For Methodist’s yearly awards banquet last year, the student-athletes were anonymously surveyed and asked to select the team that displayed the best sportsmanship.
One response resonated with Sypult.
“A kid wrote, ‘I don’t know what team should win the sportsmanship. But I can tell you what man should — Daryl Lawrence,’” Sypult said.
A computer science major, Daryl is a resident assistant in one of Methodist’s dormitory buildings.
He won’t say whether he’s had to discipline any of his teammates during rounds. As with everything else, he works by the book.
“My job is confidential,” he says with a straight face. “I’m easy to get along with. But at the same time, we have rules. And I expect people to follow the rules.”
Staff writer Michael N. Graff can be reached at graffm@fayettevillenc.com or 486-3591.
Ellie