I started dating my wife, Beverly, in late 1997 and immediately became attatched to her daughter, Tricia, and her grandson, Ryan, who was ten at the time. He loved dirtbikes and I rode and raced them, and he and I were off and running from then on! I was injured racing in 2000, the day after Ryans first motocross race, still one of my favorite memories of Ryan. I was not able to continue racing after that injury, If I had been able to, Ryan would surely have become more involved in racing, and who knows what would have become of that or how it would have affected his football career. He was already a great youth league football player, and although his teams in youth league never did that well, HE always stood out. I loved watching him play and travelled to as many of his games as possible. His Mom moved the family down to Bakersfield from Tehachapi before his freshman year and when he went to tryouts for football at West High, he failed to mention he was a freshman. He made the J.V. team with ease and was soon the top player there. When the coaches found out he was a freshman they figured he didn't need the frosh-soph experience and graciously allowed him to stay on as a starter in J.V. He played both sides of the ball and had a huge impact on the team's performance and results and he did the same when he stepped up to varsity in his junior year. He was a starter at outside linebacker and was a tail back in West's four man deep running game. When West made the playoffs in 2005(his Jr. year)he stepped in for the suspended star running back in the semi-final game and rushed for over 100 yards and two TDs, with a couple of sacks thrown in for good measure. In the Championship game the star runner was injured on the opening kickoff. Ryan stepped in and rushed for 246 yards and six TDs leading West to the Central Valley Div. II championship in a 51-26 win over Tulare Union.

This year West had lost it's running and defensive depth to the class of 2005 and Ryan was now the "go to guy" as a running back. I really didn't expect West to do well in 06 because they had lost so much of their depth and after dropping two pre-league games to Clovis East and Liberty, it looked like I would be right. It didn't matter, I would be there cheering the team, and my grandson on anyway. At the Liberty game, the starting Quarterback was injured on the first series and Ryan was thrown into that position. West had no shotgun plays and Ryan was trying to run from under center..It didn't work out. Then something happened. West developed a shoutgun set to allow Ryan the time he needed to get momentum and they started winning games by huge margins. The defense had stepped it up and so had Ryan. Even in the losses he had run for 212 and 111 yards, respectively. Then he went on a tear with three games over 300 yards rushing then the big 415 yard game against South. His passing improved which opened up the offense and kept teams from simply keying on his running. He ended up leading the Nation in rushing with over 3,700 yards and over 4,000 in total offense. Through it all, he remained humble and heaped praise on his teammates, declaring that it wasn't the "Ryan Mathews Show". I had no such humility issues. I knew where the scoring was coming from, and now that the season is over I can say, "Son, YOU may not have called it the Ryan Mathews Show, but everyone else did"!

Ryan has many offers on the table from colleges and rightly so. His numbers are not a fluke. I have no sons, so Ryan is the closest to it I will come. My wife is older than I am and Ryan is in the age range my natural children(24, 13 and 11). I don't know how far he will take his football career, but if it never went any further than it has, he would still one of my heroes. Watching him over the last ten years has been a huge part of my life and supremely satisfying. My chest hurts from sticking it out in pride, my jaws ache from grinning, my voice has changed from shouting and my neck hurts from shaking my head in amazement.

I expect nothing from Ryan except his hugs and grins and I look forward to riding dirtbikes with him again when I get a new one early next year. I don't know what the future holds for Ryan professionally, but I know what it holds for him within the confines of our relationship, and that is what it has always held; My unconditional love and admiration. Here's to my Grandson, the Hero!