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You know I happen to be a little bit biased for the game of football, and
I think it's the greatest game known to man.
It involves so many people.
Whether you get in the game or you don't, whether you're on the scout team,
whether you're on the ankles, whether you're bringing water to the guys,
whether you're a star.
And what I've always appreciated about football or
a great high school environment is that sometimes you can help make up for
some of the advantages and some of the opportunities that a young person didn't
have.
And then you really raise it up another level when you think about Benedictine.
They embodied the family and the church and the school and the community.
Those are all the things that are what football is about.
When Benedictine showed up in that powder blue and white, all of a sudden,
our throats got a little bit drier.
Our muscles tightened up a little bit because we just had that much respect for them.
They were gonna run the ball and they were gonna hit cha on defense.
It was always an incredible game.
Ray in those games was incredible.
Benedictine, Ray Williams, Mr. Football in the state of Ohio this year.
Thank God I'm just the best like that.
We had Ray.
Nobody could lay a hand on him.
This guy's a freak athlete.
He could change a game in one play.
There's one tackle, there's two tackles, there's a third tackle.
He almost-
He did things that nobody would ever think of on no level.
He's fast, he's strong, he's physical.
He's an absolute savage.
Everything about him, like the way he played, it was just different.
We knew he was gonna be a story.
I never thought and realized that as a 14 year, 15 year old kid,
I would form lifelong friendships.
You know, we were all brothers.
It was like a brotherhood.
It doesn't matter where you came from.
When you stepped into Benedictine, you guys were all family.
When you played Benedictine, you better strap it up,
because you're gonna get hit.
Cleveland Benedictine is making a second straight trip to the finals.
And this is having a competition around the city.
You know who the guys are.
Raymond over there doing his thing, you got Bron doing his thing.
Receiver LeBron James.
LeBron was recruited by virtually every school in the country.
We all knew each other.
We was high school superstars.
Yeah!
And then just to think of it, about me being 36 right now,
probably would have ended up retiring a few years ago.
You know how you always hear,
you could throw your whole life away doing one bad thing.
And all I could think about is,
damn, I just threw my whole life away.
Northeast Ohio, I think about how we were created.
Immigrant population, industrial,
neighborhoods, communities.
The Benedictines go back to St. Benedict,
who is a Italian saint from 480 to 547 AD.
He founded 12 monasteries, and from those monasteries,
they spread throughout the world.
There are only three monasteries in the states
that are actually in the city, and we're one of those three.
For all these years, it was a predominantly
Slovak neighborhood,
and it evolved over time.
Now we are a predominantly African-American neighborhood.
As the neighborhood changed,
it's a possibility of, do we go where we were originally called for
to serve the Slovak people?
Do we stay here to serve the people that come here?
So the monks had a big meeting.
Have the inner city and the suburban kids
all come together and get educated.
When other people are walking away,
they made a commitment to stay in the city
and educate those young men.
You can see the amazing accomplishments
that people from that school have had.
You're talking about Rich Paul,
probably gonna go down as the most successful sports agent
in the history of professional sports.
The Russo brothers who've made some of the biggest blockbuster films
in the last 50 years in Hollywood.
And of course, Najee Goode, Super Bowl champion.
A really rich football history.
Arguably one of the best NFL coaches in history.
Chuck Knoll played at Benedictine.
Without one shred of doubt,
I would not be a writer unless I had gone to Benedictine.
Well I'm John Huddleston,
class of 2004 from Benedictine High School.
Home of champions, the Bengals.
Kyle Huddleston, Benedictine High School,
graduating class of 2005.
Troy Huddleston, out of the three brothers,
I'm the youngest of John, Kyle, and of course myself.
Me and my brothers had a more structured life than everybody else.
We didn't get to run around and do everything
that everybody else get to do.
We had to be at home at a certain time and all those other things, yeah.
We always felt like here this was like an oasis, a haven for kids.
They could get out of whatever environment that they were in
and build an opportunity for themselves in the future.
I liked the way it was diverse
because you had black kids that were rich and had money.
And then you had black kids that came from poverty.
Same with white kids, same with any other race.
Everybody got together pretty cool and it was a small school,
so everybody knew everybody for the most part.
Everybody was kind of macho,
but we didn't have the opportunity to show off our true talents yet.
Yeah, we weren't worried about girls' looks.
We didn't really care about any of that.
Our main focus was education and sports.
To me, I firmly believe high school football
was one of those testing grounds.
Five years before that, we'd won a state championship,
but the years following were down years for the program.
We had to change the culture back to a winning culture.
Coach Bortnick, who was the mastermind behind it all,
it created an incredible work ethic from our football team.
You know, to Coach Conochan, to Coach Schiavone,
and Whaley, to Coach Johnson.
You think of all those guys,
we all had different attributes we brought to the table.
We had a coach of staff that was very seasoned
and very direct, to say the least.
Augie Basso was our coach at the freshman level by that time.
He played at Notre Dame for Elmer Layden,
who was one of the original four horsemen.
And then went on to be probably one of the greatest high school football coaches
in the history of this country.
So by the time we were freshmen he's in his late 80s...
This is Augie Bossu.
This is a living legend.
And I get here, and what's he doing?
He's filling up water bottles and coolers and loading the van.
And right away it's said, you know, "this is what you do."
Nobody is above doing this work.
He wanted to make a difference in every student's life.
And that was a great lesson for a young coach,
because that rung in my ears really my whole coaching career.
Art Bortnick, the Benedictine coach Ryan.
He was a blocker for Tony Dorsett.
We had a new head coach at the time, Art Bortnick,
and it was like a new general.
There was a new sheriff in town.
Art was very good with that.
He was very good with managing the team
and very good with putting us in position to be successful as coaches,
as well as the players.
You know, my dad was a really good coach.
I could just tell that it meant more at Benedictine
than it did anywhere else that I was a part of
throughout the time growing up.
If you want to be part of the football team,
you're going to be at every single workout.
And if you ever miss a workout,
don't even anticipate walking on a practice field.
That's what started the brotherhood.
The backbone of Benedictine is family
and picking each other up and staying together.
Grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, 66th and Hough.
That's where I started playing football.
Made a kind of little name for myself
while I was coming up through there.
Oh, Ray Ray.
Man, I coached against Ray in Muni.
Their Muni team beat my team in the championship at the time, right?
So I already knew what I was looking at back then.
Ray and I was 14.
I was our last championship facing each other.
It's been like a dogfight since we was about 11, 12.
It was a natural, loving, friendly competition.
And he played defense.
He played offense.
He played quarterback, tailback, linebacker.
Whatever, it consists of him playing for him to win that game.
After that point, I decided to go to Benedictine High School.
I fell in love with being a running back
because, you know, nine times out of ten
you're going to get the ball.
When Ray came in as a freshman,
I sat him down with Coach Bossu with the freshman team.
And after one practice, Coach Bossu
said, "Take him right now."
And I kind of had to pinch myself
as far as I've been around a little bit now.
And I've never seen a talent as good as I just witnessed right then.
I will never forget the day Ray Williams came out of practice.
So all of us are looking around like, who is this kid?
So the coach calls the play and goes, hey,
we're just going to do a screen pass.
He caught this pass.
And he literally bulldozed every human being in front of him.
And the second his fingertips touched the ball,
every single one of us were looking at him like, who is this?
sophomore year, I didn't really get to peak
until like the middle of the season.
I think we played St. Vincent, St. Mary down there
with LeBron James.
He was on the team at the time.
I ended up getting some playing time in that game.
When they gave me a screen, I took an 80.
And we ended up winning the game.
Ray was about to become kind of an underdog,
turned into a wonder dog.
From there point on, I was getting time
on both sides of the ball.
I don't think he even had the practice if he didn't want to.
Like, it just came that natural for him.
Then he'd just come out.
And he'd just spin on you, stiff arm you, bring you over.
Or then he'd come back and he'd hit you too.
Anything that consistent of that sport, he could do.
Many a time in practice, I would see Ray.
And you know what?
I got to get him one time.
I just have to get him.
I could never get him.
He was a elusive.
And if he hit you, he could melt your shoes.
He could knock you naked.
He could bring it, man.
We played VASJ.
And I remember they kicked it off to him.
And Ray Will takes the kickoff back for a touchdown.
So we're like, OK, this is amazing.
It's typical.
We're not shocked, but that was awesome.
So then we give them the ball back.
They kick off to us again.
Ray Will takes it back again.
Ooh.
So after the second time, we're like, OK, this is incredible.
But you could see the other team, like, they're going nuts.
Like, why are we even kicking it in the remote direction
of this kid?
So then they do it again.
He takes it back to the house for the third time.
And at this point, I almost want to say,
like, the other team, we're fighting each other.
Like, why are we kicking it off to this specimen of a human being?
With his size and ability, we was like, psh, NFL all day.
His calfs was like little bombs or like little golf balls.
I just remember seeing them.
I'm like, man, this dude look different.
And Ray kind of had a big head, too.
So like, we're going to show it fast and everything, bro. To be able to cut on a dime like that, slow down your speed,
and then go speed again, I was like, Ray a freak of nature.
Everybody knew Raymond was getting the ball, you know,
30, 40 times a game.
39 touchdowns and 3,000 yards as a junior.
The best running back in the history of Northeast Ohio
is Robert Smith.
And you heard people talking that, like, this is Robert
Smith 2.0. This is Robert Smith 2.0.
He was like one of my brothers.
Around all the time, I'll be at his house.
He come around mine, like, we used to be out a lot.
He kind of thought outside the box.
And I think that opened up a window for everyone else around
to think outside the box.
A lot of people talk about Ray returning punts
or returning kicks on people.
But John Huddleston returned as many or more than Ray did.
Because when they wouldn't kick it to Ray,
they would kick it to John.
And John would take it to the house as well.
And also John was an incredible cornerback, too.
He was a great defensive back for us.
He was an outstanding player.
That first game our sophomore year, you know,
we might have had half of our fans in the stands.
And then, boy, after that, it was every week.
Everyone wanted to know where Benedict was playing,
who they were playing.
After that, the cat was out of the bag.
There was no secret.
There was no sneaking up on anybody.
Ended up going all the way to the state championship.
We played Columbus Bishop Watterson.
Don't want to make excuses for it,
but we played in a snowstorm.
And we struggled a little bit in finding
our footing on that field.
But that state championship game,
there was a foot of snow on the ground.
And the greatest show on turf, it was like our kryptonite.
It took away our bread and butter.
At that state championship game, we
don't have the proper shoes.
I know I didn't.
We playing on turf.
It's like slushy snow.
So we get out there, I don't have no traction.
None at all the whole game.
Watterson has a first down and a Division III
state championship.
Even though we lost, I think it was probably the best thing
that could have happened to us at that time,
because it was best for us to be humbled.
I did not pose for that fucking picture.
But the camera found me basically crying
with a towel over my face as the final seconds unwind.
My first big time experience as a high school athlete
was crying on the front end of The Plain Dealer
because we lost the state championship game.
That, in my opinion, fueled everyone
to come back even stronger.
We turned the page because we tasted it like blood.
We tasted defeat.
Going into my senior year, that was one of my goals,
to win this state championship, because I made it all the way
there and then lost.
When we got into the postseason,
looked at the freshman roster and anybody
that we felt that we can bring up to compete and practice.
Well, when we brought up Lorenzo and we
found out they were better than the guys that we're
playing in that position.
Lorenzo Hunter, he was the heir apparent to Ray Williams.
The bar that Ray had set, with everything he did on the field,
Lorenzo was that next guy.
He lived in the practice there.
And I remember watching him from eight-year-old all the way
to his time for him to go to high school.
And I was able to get him to come over here with me.
Lorenzo, when he came up in the playoffs
and a guy that can stretch to field at six four
and as a freshman who was out running everybody,
just slinging and watch those guys go catch it.
Lorenzo is another one of those freak athletes.
He was like the first tall, lanky dude I saw,
but it was fast.
Laffey threw fly, Lorenzo looked up spotted the ball.
And as soon as he spotted, seeing the ball was going over his head,
he said, ah, ah, ah, ah.
And in like three, four steps, he caught up to the fly.
But when he caught it, he didn't catch it.
Overhand catch it.
He actually caught it like, uh, I'm like, oh, OK.
They fake that inside handoff.
And going deep is Cole looking for Hunter.
He makes the catch.
What a catch by Lorenzo Hunter for another touchdown.
I knew that Lorenzo was probably going to be one of the best
players in the nation.
I'm not even going to say Ohio because he was just gifted.
He was a walking ball of just great, progressive, fun-loving enery.
He was a happy kid.
I mean, he was always smiling.
He was great to be around in the locker room.
He was great to be around at school.
He was funny in the car rides home.
He just was a really genuinely great guy.
He was joking 24-7.
Lorenzo was super willing to learn.
He was not a real cocky dude.
Like, he knew what he could do.
Cool as a fan, like one of the coolest people you ever want to be around.
Didn't have no big head attitude at all.
We would play tonk with cards.
We were playing for dollars.
I was so excited because I had beaten Lorenzo.
And I might have took him the $5 or $6 that he had.
We got an opportunity to play again.
And he took all my money, a few dollars I had on me.
And when it was over, he gave me two or three dollars back.
Even though you just put me through this,
I don't want you to have to kind of go through that.
Ray would often take Lorenzo to his house.
And he'd stay and eat dinner with Ray.
Once he became a sophomore and I was a senior,
I was there.
I was driving then.
So he was always with me.
Stay down my house.
Go to school from my house.
Like a little brother because I ain't had no little brother.
I got two little sisters.
Always want to be with the upperclassmen.
He always felt like he was older than the guys he was with.
A lot of us will say when we got to be of driving age
after practice, we would spend a lot of time together.
Raymond, John Huddleston, Troy Huddleston, Kyle Huddleston,
Chris Austin, Lorenzo Hunter.
Those guys all hung together as a group.
I remember the weeks leading up to the state championship game.
The school was so in the zone.
That was the mood.
May it to the state championship again at the Hall of Fame.
It was snowing.
It was a slow paced game.
But I was like, If y'all want to play like this.
We got Ray.
346 carries, 2,700 seven yards, and 38 touchdowns.
Like we're not losing this one.
We lost last year.
We're not falling short this year.
Not at all.
Ray Williams on his way to the end zone.
Touchdown.
To the left side.
Can he get around the corner?
He can get into the end zone.
Ray Williams with his second touchdown of the game.
And the Benedictine Bengals take a 12 to nothing lead.
And that will do it.
The Benedictine Bengals didn't win it last year.
They lost to Columbus Waters in the state championship game.
But time ticking out here at Fawcett Stadium
and they have their state championship.
Did we just do that?
Like did we really just kind of come in and just handle
our business?
I've never felt a highlight that too as far as football.
To see your parents up there.
Everybody just-- I can't even describe it.
Like it felt too good.
I was finally awarded Mr. Football my senior year.
Mr. Football Award.
I want to say it's almost equivalent to the Heisman
in college.
You're the best of the best in the whole entire state.
You are the best athlete.
So that's a big deal to be considered
as the top player in this state.
Mr. Ohio football.
Pretty special.
My runner up was my best friend Ted Ginn Jr.
We got picked to play in the Army All-American game
down in San Antonio, Texas.
The US Army game was an amazing experience.
You're talking about the best of the best in the country.
Teddy Ginn.
Felt like we was the best guys out there.
Kind of making a name for us to us.
College scout could see we could do something different.
Just having a joy to have somebody with you
that you really know, that you call a brother.
Of course, two Cleveland guys coming from where we come from,
our whole mindset was to go down here and put on for our city
and also give ourself a shot.
And that's what we did every day.
We get in there, I score.
I come over there, I say, "Hey, bro.
time for you to score."
When he come over, and that's in his mind,
he like, "Ted scored.
I know I can score."
Ted Ginn Jr. ended up getting the MVP of that game
and we was runner ups.
They just presented myself.
I was getting letters from everywhere.
West Virginia, Ohio State, Minnesota, Eastern Michigan,
Miami, Florida State.
It's like everything you watch on TV in the movies.
Everybody's just getting offered scholarships.
We were ranked number one as the best class.
It was unbelievable to how far we were excelling.
I feel like the future for me had to be no shorter than NFL.
So I'll never forget that phone call.
So the shock, it was during Easter week.
It's like, whew, the school wasn't in session at the time.
It was fairly late at night.
Finally got a chance to pull out my phone
and I had tons of missed calls.
And right away, you know something's not right.
My father-in-law, who was a very involved alumni,
called me on the weekend.
And I'll never forget that first words were,
"Are you sitting down?"
And he's called me, and we've talked many times on the phone,
but I could tell the seriousness in his voice.
When he asked me if I was sitting down,
I knew something bad happened.
And he said, "Lorenzo has died."
And I went silent.
I didn't know what to say.
I didn't know how to say it.
It's bringing up weird feelings.
Sorry.
And when he said it, I dropped.
I did.
I dropped right to the floor.
It was one of the hardest things I've ever
had to hear over the phone.
I get the call that never wanted to hear my life
and it was Lorenzo's mom.
And I hear her just screaming and crying.
And I don't know what's going on.
And all she kept saying is, you know, he's dead.
They killed my boy.
He's dead.
Then it hit me right away until I got home and, like,
actually saw it on the news.
I'm like, I think I cried for like, for days straight.
It's not even something you could imagine.
I think I was 16 at the time.
Kids don't die when you're 17.
Kids don't die when you're 16.
I didn't just lose a player.
I feel like I lost a son.
A son I never had.
That Monday, we go back to school
after being on break for a week and a half.
Chaos.
When we came back to school, it was kind of chaotic
because everybody wanted to know what happened.
A couple guys that was there know what really happened.
So they know we're not talking about it.
I remember we had a team meeting.
You know, we weren't sure.
You know, there's a lot of stories out there.
And then we didn't want to jump to any type of conclusions.
You used to come here.
And this is your outlet to get away from all your problems.
Not all problems are here.
You can already tell the student body is just flat.
There's just this somber feeling in the hallways.
And you know, there's kids talking about this,
and kids talking about that.
Nobody really knows the truth.
Our friend's dead.
But no one really knows how or why.
We still didn't really know what happened over the weekend.
And then things start to trickle out.
Found out that Ray was there and John Huddleston was there.
They really wasn't saying anything
because I was trying to talk to them.
But they really didn't want to talk to nobody.
And I think for a lot of us who grew up in the suburbs,
and our families really didn't understand
what we were going through.
That night was a night of a lot of bad
decisions.
How do I see the story?
For one, we were just kids.
After winning the state championship,
you know, we kind of feel--
We were in the limelight.
We decided that this was what we was going to do.
Go out here and rob some people.
The idea came about to try to rob one of the guys that
was kind of known to be a drug dealer over there.
He's going to have some money.
And it could be easy, however it may be.
Hell no.
Like, no.
First of all, we know this person.
We grew up together.
You know, he was a childhood friend.
I think we were just trying to play a role
to act as if we was somebody we really ain't.
Try to talk him out of it.
I'm like, aw, don't do this.
Lorenzo, it was not a good idea.
Lorenzo got the car, and I get out the car with him.
Ray's already on the other side.
I said, I'm coming with you.
And he looked at me, and he was like, Chris, go back.
He said, he looked at me, and he said, no, I'll just go back.
He said, I got it.
I'm good.
We're going to be good.
And I walk back to the car.
Me and Ray, you know what I'm saying, jump the fence.
We're like sitting in the yard.
We're like seven, eight houses up.
I can see Lorenzo, you know what I'm saying?
Like, he walk into the car, driver's side.
He up on the car now, you know what I'm saying?
But you see him, but you don't see anything
that's taking place.
When he reached for the car door to open the door,
the guy had a gun on his lap.
At this time, I knew he possibly
can't be shooting at me, because I'm out to clear.
His car scared off.
I come out the backyard, go back over there
to see Lorenzo on the street.
He was dead right there on the scene,
which was unbelievable for me being an 18-year-old guy,
actually seeing this with somebody
that I call my little brother.
Scariest moment in my life.
I don't know what to do.
So I leave John there, I'm getting the car, go home.
Pulling the driveway, I'm in the house,
I'm like freaking out, panicking.
I don't know what to do.
We pulled off and drove away, went and parked in our driveway,
sat there.
Finally, my brother called me, and he said,
"Somebody's laying in the middle of the street."
I know he went over there, but he was like,
"I know who went over there, and I'm talking to him."
So it was either Lorenzo or Ray.
I knew what happened, because considering Lorenzo
didn't have a real gun, and I kind of knew the person
that we're dealing with.
Like at that moment, I felt like my heart dropped.
So by this time Ray go back over there,
them saying, "I'm about to go over there."
I don't know what time it is, it's later on at night.
By this time, it's like my mother pulling up.
And she's like, "Where you about to go?"
I'm like, "I'm around the corner.
Lorenzo got shot." She was like,
"Just get in the car."
So she pull up, they been saying,
"Lorenzo is laying on the street, Ray holding."
When he seen me get out, he like shocked, scared,
which I feel like anybody would be in that situation.
And it's sad because after I heard them shots,
those saved my life, because I could've been any one of us,
but at the same time, I feel like this.
Maybe if I was there, we both could've got out.
That's when reality kicked in.
That's when life turned to a whole new ball game for us.
Not knowing what to do, we all laid in the car
and just sat there for a second.
We see lights.
And I'm just thinking, "Oh shit."
So we look over in the next yard,
it just cops flowing.
Guns out, lights on the guns, it's just moving.
I think it was, Kyle that told me
like lean, everybody leaned back.
We ducked down in the car.
They had the police, I think they forced themselves
in the neighbor's house, thinking that we were in there.
And they got them out of the house.
And then they told the police that our house
was next door.
And they came and opened the cars up,
and grabbed a side of the car, at gunpoint.
And they just yelling, cussing this out.
"Where's John? Where's John?"
That's when they told us, like,
"Hey, well, yeah, your friend's dead."
And at that moment, it kind of just, you know,
I didn't know what to do.
I know we messed up.
We had messed up.
And asking us questions,
I don't know if it was bad cop, good cop,
but this is when I was in the car.
I was by myself.
You guys like to shoot at people?
I said, "I'm not shooting at anybody."
So the squad car he was in,
he literally drove around all crazy. He parked
to where I could see Lorenzo's body, sitting on the street.
And the officer said this,
said, "You see your friend?"
Said, "That's your friend?"
Said, "Yeah, that's my friend."
You see his motherfucking brain spatter over the ground?
Not something I wanted to hear at 14 years old.
And I didn't even think that was even,
now being an adult,
I would never talk to nobody like that in that situation.
That shit wasn't cool.
And I could just remember seeing blood all over the street.
And all this cop just kept saying was,
"You see your motherfucking brain spatter,
his brain just spattered on the ground.
You guys want to do dumb shit and this and that and that
and this?"
"That's why your friend's dead now."
Sick to on my stomach.
They pulled off.
And I remember I was just trying my hardest
just to get that last look.
Just to hope like,
see him move.
And they took us to the Homicide Unit.
And that's when I met up with the rest of everybody else.
I think it was 10 hours they questioned us.
Trying to figure out what's taking place.
And we hadn't told them the truth.
Man, you better tell us something.
You know what I'm saying?
Or your brother's going down.
We didn't know what we were doing.
We didn't understand completely the repercussions of it.
Everybody that was with us know what really happened.
But we didn't have no contact with each other
none at night.
Ended up going back to my grandmother's house.
And I think I cried for two days straight.
I just sat in my room and cried.
I still cry every time his birthday coming around.
Because I know what we could have been.
Ray and John was already shaping the future for us.
And if we never would have did that night,
we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
We'd probably be somewhere on the beach right now.
You know, you realize that not only did we leave
Lorenzo that night, we left that whole group of guys.
The Raymond, Troy, Kyle, John, Chris.
Their lives changed in a matter of minutes in one night.
In just one night.
So many different factors I feel.
And it's truly hard to pinpoint as to why.
I've racked my brain trying to figure out why.
And I still don't have an answer.
I felt bad for my parents, yeah,
because they gotta take all the backlash for that.
They had no idea what was going on.
It could have been us.
It could have easily could have been us.
I could have been riding the car with some of my friends.
Like, well, that's what we about to go do.
We could have been easily influenced to do whatever.
Because we didn't know that being a pro is in front of us.
Different pressures are going to create
different situations.
And we just hope that everything we've tried to do
is going to be effective when it counts the most.
For me, it's thinking that Lorenzo really wasn't coming
back at the funeral.
And I never forget the funeral, Bro
like walking in and seeing him
was just like. Going back and thinking about it.
And just like now having kids, bro.
And just understanding the opportunity
that like life happens so fast.
The hell of a pivot for young boys to go through.
That was the first day where I truly
probably became a man.
Because I realized that life wasn't something
that's just a given anymore.
To me, you know, every time I've been to a funeral,
it's your morning, the loss of a life.
For Lorenzo's, it was a celebration of life.
It was a little different for me.
So I had a hard time.
I broke down, I was crying,
and had a hard time keeping it together.
But to me, I thought that was okay
because then it was okay for the kids.
Sometimes you feel like you failed as a coach.
When something like this happens, you know,
I didn't know he was involved in things like that.
And sometimes the environment is more powerful
than your words.
And I have a hard time with that.
I always have.
Were we too hard?
Should we have been harder?
What could we have done to prevent this from happening?
Something like this.
Lorenzo has a younger brother.
And I remember his younger brother
going up to his casket,
kissing on the forehead.
I broke down and started crying right in there,
like a bawling right there.
I think that's when I was able to like ta,
I couldn't hold him no more.
I guess it's better way to put it.
Seeing him doing that and knowing
that he lost his brother,
and I still had mine, you know, we were all there.
I still can hear his mom crying.
When they had his casket out
and everybody looked dispersed and left, she didn't leave.
Not only was it gonna be the hardest day of our lives,
but the rooms floating around that Lorenzo's family
were out for blood.
They were out for Ray.
Why is he not at the funeral?
And that's when I was like, what is going on?
Now, none of this makes sense.
It's gonna be some type of retaliation about that.
And like, if you know how these dudes is
out here in the streets,
they don't care about no funeral.
So if I could catch you wherever I'ma catch you,
like that's what it's gonna be.
And that's how Cleveland is.
So we not knowing what's going on.
We like, we got our heads on the swivel,
like anything could go down here.
So you got some people there packing pistols, guns.
Everybody is gotta be aware
cause you don't know what might happen.
And a funeral should not be like that.
That's not normal.
I know for a fact that immediate family hated me.
Cause they felt like I persuaded him to do that.
I made him do it.
Well, we gonna find out who did it
and whoever did it is gonna pay dearly
for it.
My son was murdered.
My family and my lawyers that I had at the time,
we came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to go,
which was really messed up for me.
Cause then my last time seeing him was in the street.
So I didn't get to see him at the funeral, nothing.
Because if something would have happened at there,
I know he probably would have been turned in his grave.
That happened on the weekends.
So we went to school that Monday.
It's in the school now that he gone.
So people not knowing what happened,
all they know is Lorenzo was gone and you were there.
So now you're the bad guy.
So I said, going to school is like you have a leprosy almost.
We put on a mask when we came back to school
and walked around like everything was okay.
We couldn't even look each other in the eyes
cause we knew what happened.
And to see everyone around us just grieving,
that was tough.
Eventually throughout the day,
the detectives come to the school to question us.
Walked right into the class
and arrested Ray and John on the spot.
They were taken out in handcuffs.
It's kind of mind blowing cause you're just like, what?
I mean, we sort of knew it was coming,
but I, it crushed me though.
Like damn, my homeboy is about to go to jail.
And then you ain't knowing for like how long
they going to jail for.
I was more so scared for my brother more than anything.
Damn, they got my brother.
Like what's next?
So with John and Ray being 18 at the time
and we were 14, 15, me and Troy.
And I think Kyle was 16 going on 17 at the time.
It made him in 17 and they couldn't charge us
cause we were minors.
So them being 18, they charged them
cause they were their adults.
Come to find out the night that it happened,
one of the neighbors seen me and John out there
before all the police came.
So eventually once they got in there,
we ended up having to tell a real story of what happened.
We wasn't the best of friends, you know,
me and John and his brother and stuff like that.
But like we was cool, you know what I'm saying?
We wasn't kicking it all like that,
but we played basketball together.
I couldn't believe it was them though.
That's because it ain't seem like,
like they would do something like that.
Well of our life was a whole different roller coaster
from that point.
18 years old and they threatening you to 18 to life.
I ain't really even live my life yet.
When I tell you now
that they begged the other two not to do it
Ah um. - does that change anything?
Wow!
Yeah, I didn't know that.
My first time hearing that and thank you for telling me that
cause you know, for a long, a long time,
I was just like, you know,
why was they targeting me and stuff?
So to hear that, it's a, you know, it's a relief.
Door's closed and people turn they back.
West Virginia, where I had my mind set on going to college
at felt that they didn't want to deal
with all that attention.
We went to visit them in jail and talked to them
and just, we were ministering, you know,
to be there for them as well.
Besides being for Lorenzo's family and, you know,
his family's experience and the service, et cetera.
There's no playbook for how to deal with tragedy.
And, you know, we had to feel our way through the situation
when it happened because people from the outside
who still didn't understand Benedictine,
we had to lean on that brotherhood even more so.
Ray was this close and the streets are still undefeated.
Everybody want to be that gangster
or that drug dealer or whatever like that.
I wish I made better choices also.
Like, my youngest son is the same age he was
when it happened, you know,
and I try to stay on my son, you know, as much as possible.
Um, you know, a lot of,
a lot of choices we made in our life is because, you know,
Excuse me. Give me a second.
You know, a lot of choices we make in our life
is because, you know, we run to the streets.
Just out there doing dumb stuff, smoking, drinking,
selling drugs, robbing.
So like, a mother could do but so much.
So, maybe that has something to do with it also.
Went and got a lawyer and I turned myself in.
People that were friends or family or riding,
you know, they didn't much care for us.
Some people came around, you know, flashing their pistols.
People riding on the street, spitting on the ground,
like they gonna do something to us
and a lot of mugging and a lot of this and a lot of that.
I'm not even a big fan of guns.
It makes people feel super powered.
And I end up buying a firearm just for safety.
At 15 years old, there was no where I can go
without a gun.
My parents didn't know.
I walked, rode bikes, I had a gun on me.
Just knowing that people felt some type of way about us.
You know, and it was, what can I do?
You know, I can't let somebody come kill me.
When I would take some of those guys home,
there would be people standing out in the neighborhood
and they would have guns on them.
And I would drive up, you know, scared to death in my SUV.
And they would look at me and they would say,
"Hey, are you coach?"
And I was like, "Yeah, I'm their coach."
And they're like, "All right, good."
People were highly upset at what had taken place.
And they wanna hold somebody accountable.
I can still remember the really mean things
that people would say online.
And this wouldn't happen at St. Ignatius.
This wouldn't happen at St. Ed's.
Well, what do you mean it wouldn't happen at St. Ed's,
St. Ignatius?
You know what I mean.
You can't build a successful program
with kids like that.
Well, kids like what?
Kids like what?
Tell me.
I think I know what you mean,
but are you saying it's because we have black kids?
You know, we became a target.
News stations were changing our logo
from being the home of champions to the home of criminals.
There was handcuffs put over our school crest,
our school logo.
You know, the thing that hurt the most
was some of the things that local folks were saying
about the school.
And it, frankly, it pissed me off
because of all the good that Benedictine had done
over the years in that city
and the impact that it had made in the community.
To have that happen, for people to do that,
it was outrageous.
The comments and the questions for some people were,
you know, how can you go there?
They just had this major tragedy
and it's not a safe school.
Oh, you guys want to state championship with the murderer.
Oh yeah, you guys kill people.
Yeah, real cool.
But I took pride in working here
and I took pride in being a part of this school.
You're in Catholic schools growing up.
There's this guy who would come around
and try to sell magazines.
This guy, I see him at a baseball game.
He looks right at me as a 17 year old kid
and he sees that I'm wearing a Benedictine hat
and he goes, "Do you play football?"
I go, "Yes, sir. State Champions, right?"
Proud.
He looks at me and goes,
"Hey, I heard you guys are running
"the run and shoot offense next year."
You're an adult.
You know what happened.
You know that I just lost a friend
and have lost two more.
You know, their lives are taken away.
And you're making a fucking joke
about a kid being dead
to get laughs by a couple of your other drunk buddies.
It's one of those things I'll never forget.
For me, being the only black coach on staff,
there was some things said about me.
Some things said from other black coaches
from other schools.
You know, I didn't hug the kids enough.
Where was I when this happened?
You know, like I could have just
been there for every minute, every hour of their day.
Then my parents came and talked to me.
I had the opportunity to move to Memphis.
I was supposed to move to Memphis with my cousin
and get away from all that
and start school over down there.
But it was just like,
I just couldn't see myself leaving everybody.
Granted everything happened was terrible.
We all are supposed to go do this together, you know.
We'll do what we always do,
which is go back to work and prove you wrong.
I remember splashing in the paper,
boom, front page.
Ray and John was on the paper.
The trial.
Just knowing that he could be sent to prison
and to see my brother go away and sit down
for playing a part in something,
that we all played a part in, you know,
it was kind of hectic.
John and Ray, they had their arraignment
at the same time, with the same judge.
Well, who's your judge?
I'm like ah Saffold, you know what I'm saying?
Everybody, everybody I said that to was,
"Oh, we gonna pray for you."
You know what I'm saying?
Because word is,
she was known to like, "Saint people."
From what we were being told, you know,
she was pretty strict.
When that judge was assigned a case,
the writing was on the wall.
This isn't gonna go the way that our heart wants it to.
So as an 18 year old, hearing 18 to life,
knowing that I got Shirley Strickland Saffold as my judge,
you can almost think where my mind was at.
You know, the rep that she has in Cleveland, Ohio,
she sent people to jail.
I'm aware of my reputation.
No nonsense, fair trial,
but tough old sentencing.
Even if I don't believe in it,
I will enforce the law.
That's my oath.
I think that I'm lenient a lot,
but most people would not agree.
Their fate, you know, it was singed sealed.
So you gonna give us a judge that's known
to throwing the book at people?
The charges were different type of robberies, murder.
Ray and John were charged with felony murder.
If you are participating in an action
and a death occurs, then you are responsible for the death
because of your unlawful participation in that act.
You know, when you look at the case
and you listen to the facts and you do the paperwork
and you listen to the arguments on the various motions,
of course, he was a prime candidate for prison.
Both of them were.
Mr. Football was gone
and there was no one else in the program like him.
We didn't have a shot to win a game according to the press,
the naysayers and the public.
Even some of the alumni didn't give us enough chances
to win that year.
We didn't have a shot.
Regardless of this last year that happened, you know,
we still here, we still got each other,
we still need each other.
So if we gonna make this work,
then we gotta get our shit together.
So week one, we played St. Ignatius.
I remember that during pregame,
huge thunderstorm started.
They put us all back into the locker rooms
and Coach Bortnick calls us all together
and gotta come up with a second pregame speech now.
Art wasn't a huge pregame speech guy,
but I remember him saying something along the lines of,
you know, we owe it for one more person
and he pointed up to the sky.
Anybody could have ran through a brick wall that day.
I mean, I remember walking out of that locker room
with tears running down my face
and that was my major takeaway from that game.
You know, for me,
walking out of that locker room for the second time,
I was, it's like I had Lorenzo's hand in my hand.
It's a reflection of how much we had to go through.
Lorenzo was still in our mind and in our hearts.
We were getting ourselves as best as we could
to get back to the flow, back to practice,
back to everything that we needed to do.
53 to six, the Bengals lost to St. Ignatius.
That first game under our belt
and not having much success
kind of helped in putting our players back
into a state of mind that we got ourselves back flowing.
We went through so many months there
of just the sadness and the horror of losing that teammate
and not having Lorenzo around. For a lot of us,
we didn't want to relive it.
We never discussed it the whole year.
We didn't discuss it to the players
and we did not discuss it as a coaching staff.
That game became almost like a release for us.
We could put everything behind us and just go play.
Right after of that game, we went on a winning streak.
We got back in stride almost like we were that team
the year before.
Closer we got to the end of the season
where we knew it was gonna be a playoff,
the more the noise kind of backed off, you know,
and then you didn't hear it as much.
Having to deal with being in the playoffs,
my brother on trial, it was a struggle.
Then still having to do with school, school work,
still dealing with people in the community
in the neighborhood, it was stressful.
Nobody could support them properly except their teammates.
It's one thing for a coach to tell you coach speak,
but the way that the players bonded
and everybody came together.
You know, the year before, if it was the Ray Williams show,
that next year was team effort, all hands on deck.
We had our first few arrangements.
Judge, she's like, "Oh, I see Mr. Huddleston,
I see Mr. Williams."
She was like, "Well, where's the other person?"
And they was like, "Oh, we gave him probation."
Mr. Roberts, I'm gonna place you under the supervision
of the County Probation Department for a period of two years.
She was like, "So you gave the drug dealer
who shot on probation, but you want me to,"
and him saying, "Railroll done."
As I watched the case and listened to the development
of the case, I began to think,
what was their involvement?
And, you know, was this like kids not thinking,
not seeing things to their conclusion?
And I remember that Huddleston's father
gave a very positive light.
So then I started looking at them differently.
So, Sentencing Day comes and everybody's bracing
for the worst, waiting to see what's going to happen,
hoping for the best, praying for the best,
and then it happens.
There were tears and cheers as Judge Shirley Saffold
announced her sentence, five months probation
and a $1,000 fine for both Raymond Williams
and John Huddleston.
Damn, y'all gotta be kidding me.
This was super big.
If they got all this believe in me, I ain't letting them down.
It didn't make sense to send them to prison
because I kept saying, what did they do that caused the death?
Other than they were going out to rob a dope dealer
and what did they do?
Did they do anything themselves in furtherance
of killing this young kid who was their friend?
And I was gonna let them go to college,
but if they didn't act right in college,
I would send them to prison.
She ain't known for doing what she did for us.
I kinda felt that she kinda understood what had happened.
A lot of people might've thought like, oh, you're older,
you guys knew what you guys were getting into,
but not really.
I know there was some things that all of us
had to get through, you know, the family,
but at least that we'd be able to get through them together.
I definitely salute Judge Saffold
for just being, understanding.
Were all just good young man,
that just made stupid decisions that night.
My guess would be that the Judge in Ray's case,
she came to the conclusion that, you know what,
this young man deserves a chance.
And really in life, all any of us can ask for is a chance.
People had a very personal interest in Raymond
to go to prison.
The prosecutor on this case, he quit the office after,
I'm telling you, this guy got really ticked.
He quit.
And went to another prosecutor's office.
He was angry about what happened.
Outraged.
But I think that we're all human beings.
And you know, we come in and we say to juries,
we just want you to be fair and impartial.
But everybody brings with them the baggage of their life
and their life experiences.
And, you can't make a decision without that.
I think because he was Mr. Football,
and I think because his status, he was the scapegoat.
Raymond never pulled a trigger.
He never pointed a gun at that guy.
He never was the one involved with that person.
When Judge Saffold gave my brother probation,
it was a relief.
We got to get back to business.
And I think after that, it was just like, you know,
it did take a lot of shit off my shoulder.
That put a fire up under me.
And I'm sure it did for a lot of other people.
So it was like, the minute I strapped this stuff on
and put these colors on, it's showtime.
And Troy came to life.
Kyle was off the chain.
Kyle used to throw offensive linemen down the line.
Literally throw them down the line.
I remember seeing it.
Before we even know it, we're back at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
playing in the state championship for a third year in a row.
I don't think I slept that night.
I don't think I slept the night before the championship.
I was so anxious and so like, I didn't know,
I didn't know how to feel.
After everything we just overcame,
I'll be damned if y'all couldn't beat us.
You know, like, it's just, it's not gonna happen.
It was calm.
It was focused.
It was a good environment.
You know, there wasn't a lot of overreacting.
There wasn't a lot of wasted energy.
I'll never forget the captains walked out early
before the game to meet with the referees
and get ready for the coin flip
and Ray's standing right outside of the locker room.
Honestly, I wasn't even expecting the coaches
and the faculty and the staff to let John and Ray
on the sideline.
When I pulled up to that stadium and got out that car,
I can remember me telling myself,
"Have a clear head on."
I know I can remember my mom kept telling me just like,
"If you expect somebody to say something to you,
"then they don't, don't take it the wrong way."
So when I got out, the car got into the arena
and I didn't know who was gonna speak to me and who wasn't.
I hadn't spoke to nobody in the whole year.
And of course, you know, I seen the dirty looks
and the whispers and all that type of stuff,
but didn't really pay no attention.
It's still like that we're gonna welcome you in
because you know what I'm saying?
Like you were part of this, but at the same time,
we gotta follow a certain type of rule
and I respect that, but it's just like, I appreciate it.
A lot of emotions and a lot of things
running through your head, what to do, what not to do.
And you know, we all embraced them
and I think he just wanted us to know
that he was there with us.
As Catholics, we're told to forgive
and I'd make sure that those guys knew
that there's no anger, there's no animosity.
I was there to see the guys that were up under me
win the state championship, so that's what I kept it as.
All I wanted to do was just see y'all win.
I feel like every time I touch that ball,
somebody gotta pay, you know, somebody gonna feel it.
Troy Huddleston on the move,
Troy Huddleston is going to go all the way.
33 yards in the touchdown for Troy Huddleston.
I put that in my mind, like if I touch it,
because I didn't expect to get that many touches
that game, I didn't.
Troy has put on a show at the running back spot, hasn't he?
Special player.
We ran the same type of offense that we had ran
for the 44 games leading up to that
and we were on a mission to make a statement.
We had a brother that transitioned over to the next life.
We're gonna use that in his name
and we're gonna win a state championship, amen.
The Benedictine Bengals, overcoming tragedy
in their program, fighting adversity all season long.
Defend their state title in Division III.
27 to 14, they are winners.
I would have told you that's too good for Hollywood,
that's bullshit, but they did it.
Adversity has an amazing way of bringing people together.
And that was some of the most fun I've ever had
in teaching and coaching and just in life.
I'm as proud of that team,
if not more than anything I've ever been a part of.
My probation officer calls me down.
They wanna do a piss test with you before you leave,
but after I take the test,
they tell me to stay down here
because my test results will be back in 45 minutes.
Now when I signed off on my probation,
all my piss gets sent to a lab.
And I said that to my probation officer,
and they said, "There's something new going on
over there today, they just doing it right there."
So once I leave and go downstairs,
I call my lawyer and tell him what's going on,
and he say to me himself, "That don't sound right."
And I guess from what he told me,
he was like, "The whole routine of how it played out
was different."
They said, "Your test was dirty."
No way, I haven't been smoking.
There's no way I violated this probation.
So now I'm in the process of getting booked.
By the time he get over there, he go see Judge Saffold,
she calls downstairs and tell him to send me upstairs now
in the middle of the booking.
So they take me upstairs and she say,
"Ray, I told you if you come back in my courtroom,
that you gonna have to do some time."
So I said, "Yeah, you right."
She said, "Well, you back in my courtroom.
I'm sentencing to you today three years."
All right, if they say his urine is dirty,
the media gotta pick it up.
Oh, Mr. Football, this thing is dirty.
He test dirty, he gonna go to jail for three years,
So they hold him, put him in jail.
And of course, he reached out to his lawyer,
lawyer reached out to the judge.
Judge orders another urine sample to be collected.
Two days after that, my lawyer come touch visit
and tell me that my urine is clean.
That morning I go see her with the prosecutor
and everybody that's right there.
She asked those guys,
"So how did he take a test for y'all?
And he took a test for me."
"Inside with no access to nothing to clean his system with,
and it came back clean?"
Prosecutors couldn't say nothing.
She said, "With that being said, I'm letting him out today."
And that's how I got a second chance with that situation.
So that's why I take my hat off to her.
And I love her to this day,
because without her, I wouldn't be right here.
Right after I got on probation,
schools was able to talk to me again.
And I ended up leaving and going to North Carolina
and playing at Shaw University.
At that time, I'd get picked up by Carolina Panthers.
Like I'm riding with you.
I'm like, "All right, cool."
You know, it was a whole different type of lifestyle now.
You know what I'm saying?
But it wasn't a different friendship.
You know what I'm saying?
We still was the same guys.
We were just going to play football.
We were just in two different lanes.
I feel I could have had it at a shot,
but it was a lot of questions asked to how did I change.
I mean, I guess I answered the question
to the best of my ability, but at the NFL Draft.
Yeah, they probably would have said I had character issues.
That's a lot of what the scouts were saying.
So I didn't get a shot.
The Ravens were looking to sign them
and they essentially told them,
"We can't take the PR right now."
Up until recently, my brothers and I never discussed
really what took place and how it affected us.
I learned some things about how they felt that I never knew.
And I'm sure they learned some things I felt
that they never knew because I said,
I believe everybody was trying in their own way
just to get past it.
I buried it so deep and just weighed it on my shoulders.
I've been carrying it since I was 14.
I've never even got into detail with my family,
but the positives is I was, I wanted to tell my side to tell our story
and shed light on it,
even though it may seem like something that's fun,
just think twice before you do it
because you don't know how it's going to impact your future.
Don't rush anything in life, you know,
and you gotta take your time and work for it.
Don't go off doing those stupid stuff,
take your time and be a kid, for real.
Everybody, I don't care who you are,
like has had one night to where it could have changed
your life too, you know what I'm saying?
If I could go back in time,
I wouldn't have even started selling drugs.
I would have stayed in my ass in school.
You know what I'm saying? The struggle.
That's the struggle, that got the best of me.
You know, I was living in the projects,
back and forth, staying with family and friends.
So it was like, I just didn't want to do that anymore.
So I kept selling drugs all that time
and somebody ended up getting killed.
We all got choices and the street life is not where it's at.
It's not.
I got to prison in 2016
for a different murder.
I'm in here for 18 to life.
I made the wrong choices.
And now it's too late and I might not ever get out.
And I hope that other people watch this
and learn from this, you know,
don't make that mistake that we made.
If I had one more time, just to chat with Lorenzo.
So I'd say "Thank you for the time you gave us
and the memories you gave us while you're here."
We're all guys in our thirties
that have returned the favor.
There's so many of us that have become coaches.
We're tremendous leaders.
I came back here as a coach.
The first thing I did when I came in here
was I walked into the gym
and I looked at that baby blue banner
and it says state champions.
And I know that no matter what,
I was part of the best team at that time.
And that's something that all of us have.
Like, that's not something we take lightly.
All of us are champions.
We will always forever be champions.
Given everything that that team went through,
I could make the case that,
if they go out and just have a season,
if they play the games,
that's a victory for them, for the coaching staff.
But then they go out and win a state championship.
Now, I could say this.
There may have been more talented Benedictine teams,
but given the fact of what those guys went through
and what they accomplished,
I think that could be the greatest
Benedictine football team in history.
The elite of Bengal history,
celebrating its 20th anniversary,
the 2003 Benedictine Bengals.
I still have no relationship
with a lot of those guys right now.
And some of the guys that I don't have a relationship with,
I wish I did.
I ran into Ray not long ago.
He was working as a laborer on a job that I was on.
He jumped up and gave me a big hug.
And they said, "You know, that guy played for you?"
I said, "Yeah, yeah."
And they go, "Was he any good?"
And I just shook my head.
I said, "You have no idea.
You have no idea."
I would love to see him and see how he's doing
and see in person how he's doing.
I haven't seen him since the trial.
Hey, Judge.
How you doing? - Hey boy. Give me a hug.
Good to see you. - They tell me that
you are doing good.
I'm doing pretty good.
I'm doing great, actually.
It's all because of you.
Aw, that's you making me.
Without you giving me that chance,
I would never got this far.
Aw, Raymond, I'm so proud of you.
Thank you. - I'm so glad you're doing well.
Now, you didn't tell him that you heard bad things
about me.
I heard everything you could think of
before I came and heard that.
Ms. Saffold, she do not play.
So, on the backside, get yourself ready
if she decides to send you.
I wasn't trying to hear that.
Well, you got probation and I said,
"If you didn't commit a violation, you was good to go.
And you didn't commit a violation.
You proved me right."
I appreciate that.
You proved me right.
Still to this day,
we just played a little basketball the other day
and he still got it.
First off, he a father.
Great one at it.
Cause now he got a son,
got a girl,
he a motivator, he a leader.
He's living the American Dream.
Santana! Line him up, baby.
I coach at a youth league.
I was coaching 12 youth last year,
but I moved up with those guys and they're 13.
Now they're going to high school.
So it's a big decision I need to make,
whether I'm gonna go to high school with them
or drop down with some more younger kids.
Hey, whatch that tight end!
Amari! Scoot in, scoot in.
He's giving back to the ones that need to hear it.
It's helping the kid change
or not go down that path that he didn't went down.
You dizzy?
You little dizzy, boy.
As I remember when I was a kid,
some of the coaches that was installing stuff in me
and how it took me to where I got in life.
And I feel like me not making it,
this is my calling to help the youth.
Now, I feel like my legacy need to be
what I'm doing, when I didn't play off the field.
So to gather and help as many kids as possible
before I leave this earth,
that's what I want my legacy to be.