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8C Weekend Edition-December 23-24, 2022
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
Devon Gales takes unique path after tragic injury
Photos by JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Above, former
Southern
University
football player
Devon Gales
gets a high five
from a student
at Jefferson
Academy
Thursday, Dec.
15, in Jefferson.
At right, Gales
gets a hugs
from a student
at Jefferson
Academy Friday,
Dec. 16, in
Jefferson
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
AP National Writer
JEFFERSON — Devon
Gales wasn’t even supposed
to be on the field for that
fateful play.
He was a backup on the
kickoff return team, linger
ing at the other end of the
Southern University bench
when one of the coaches
shouted: “Hey, Devon, get
out there!”
To this day, Gales still
isn’t sure what happened to
the teammate who was sup
posed to be in on the play.
An injury, most likely.
Doesn’t really matter.
A few seconds later,
Gales’ life changed forever.
“I remember every
thing,” he says now, and
that includes the size of the
Georgia players his over
matched team was facing
that late September day
in 2015. “These dudes are
huge,” he recalls think
ing, a diminutive receiver
trotting onto a gridiron of
giants.
After a hearty cackle
— and Gales, amazingly
enough, is rarely far from
a smile or a laugh these
days — he breaks down
the play that put him in a
wheelchair with a spinal
cord injury.
But we’ll get back to that
in a moment.
Turns out, Gales’ jour
ney would take a few more
unexpected twists and turns
to arrive at where he is
today.
He was essentially
adopted by the Georgia fan
base, which embraced his
family and helped raise
money and material to
build a large, accessible
home in Jefferson, a north
east Georgia town not far
from the school’s Athens
campus.
Then, after finally decid
ing to resume his college
studies, Gales was accepted
into Georgia ahead of the
fall semester in 2021.
Yep, Gales is a Bulldog.
It’s been a slow, tedious
process, with a roughly
six-year hiatus between
classes, but the 29-year-old
hopes to graduate in about
18 months with a degree in
communications. His goal
is to become a motivational
speaker, to share his story
with those who might be in
a similar situation and need
to know that most things
are still possible.
“It’s strange, but at the
same time, I love it,” Gales
said, unleashing another
big grin when asked about
attending the school that
was on the other side of the
line that awful day. “To be
able to come from a differ
ent team and get so much
love, and then to start going
to school at U-G-A.”
Then, he added, a tinge
of amazement in his voice,
“I’m gonna graduate from
U-G-A.”
Gales points to the tat
toos he got not long before
his last game. One is a “G”
— for his last name, but it
now works well for his new
school — while the other
depicts a pack of bulldogs,
which he had as pets grow
ing up but also fits nicely
with where he is now.
“It’s so crazy,” Gales
said. “There’s a reason for
all this.”
There must be, even
though it still seems so
random.
During that kickoff
return, Gales was assigned
to block the first potential
tackier who came his way.
No problem there.
Then, he was supposed
to clear out Georgia kicker
Marshall Morgan linger
ing on the back end of the
play, just to make sure he
wasn’t in position to tackle
the returner if the Jaguars
happened to break one.
That’s when things went
horribly wrong.
Spotting No. 13 in the red
and black, Gales ran full
speed in Morgan’s direction
and, just before the high
speed collision, did what
the coaches had told him
never to do.
Lowered his helmet.
“When I hit him, every
thing just froze on me,”
Gales said in a matter-of-
fact recounting. “I was just
laying on him. When he
threw me off, I was just like
apiece of paper.”
In the aftermath of the
play, Morgan dealt with
plenty of what-ifs.
“It’s definitely in the
back of your mind,” said
Morgan, who now works as
a financial adviser in Ath
ens. “Just knowing that you
were a part of it. What if I
wasn’t on the field that day,
maybe things would be dif
ferent. It was just a crazy,
freak play.”
The memories are still
fresh for Gales. The Geor
gia band was playing. He
was staring into the clouds,
wondering why his legs
wouldn’t work.
“I’m like, ‘OK, I’ve gotta
get up. I HAVE to get up,”’
he told himself. “My team
mates — my roommate,
actually — heard me and
he was like, ‘Devon, come
on. Get up! Get up!’ I’m like,
‘Dude, I’m stuck.’ I’m pull
ing on my facemask, trying
to pull myself up. And noth
ing was budging. I was able
to move my fingers at first,
but that gradually went
away.”
His playing career was
over and Gales was left fac
ing the very real possibility
of spending the rest of his
still-young life needing a
set of wheels to get around.
These days, he’ll gripe
good-naturedly about
navigating the undulat
ing Georgia campus in his
chair — “man, them hills
are crazy” — but never
expresses a hint of bit
terness about this life he
surely didn’t envision while
growing up in Louisiana, a
rough-and-tumble kid who
loved football and dreamed
of following in the footsteps
of his father Donny, who
also played at Southern.
“I feel like everything
happens for a reason,”
Devon said. “I have no
regrets of what happened
because I’ve changed a lot
of people, made people see
things differently. It just
shows that (even though)
I’ve been through some
thing so traumatic, I’m still
rolling with it.”
Gales has remained
involved with football,
working as a volunteer
coach at Jefferson High
School. That’s when the
urge to get up from his
chair might be strongest.
He still adores the violent
game that took so much
from him, even joking that
he’ll probably die with a
football in his hands even
if his legs can’t carry him
across the goal line.
“When I’m at the high
school games and the kids
come toward the sideline,
I’m like, ‘Please come this
way,”’ he quipped. “I want
to hit somebody. Or give
me the ball. I’ll roll for the
touchdown.”
In addition to attending
classes at Georgia — which
also affords him the oppor
tunity to work out in the
football training facilities
— Gales has a part-time
job at Jefferson Academy,
an elementary school in his
adopted home.
He helps out during
lunchtime, works with the
PE classes and assists in
the after-school programs.
He loves kids, and relishes
the chance to show there
are no limits on what they
can accomplish.
“God has put me in a
place,” Gales said, “where
I can be an inspiration to
others.”
Initially paralyzed from
roughly the chest down,
therapy and determination
has helped Gales regain
significant movement in his
arms and hands.
While his fingers remain
curled, and he wears spe
cial gloves to make it eas
ier to drive a car and get
around in his wheelchair,
he proudly grabs a cup of
pencils on a table in the
small school office where
he’s telling his story.
This is only the begin
ning, he insisted.
“I’m gonna come out of
the chair,” Gales vowed.
“It’s something that’s not
gonna be overnight. A
great football player don’t
become great overnight.
It’s basically a process
you have to go through to
be where you want to go.
Everybody has a dream.
Everybody has a future.”
Gales struck up a rela
tionship with Morgan, the
guy he ran into more than
seven years ago, and now
considers the former Geor
gia kicker a friend.
Same for Morgan.
“When things like that
happen, it can either push
people apart or bring them
closer,” Morgan said.
“We’re like brothers we
didn’t even know we had.”
He knows it could’ve
been much different reac
tion from Gales, not to men
tion his parents and siblings.
“They could’ve held a
grudge against me, hated
me, which would have
made it a lot harder for
everybody,” Morgan said.
“Luckily, they’re the best
people ever.”
It’s a bond that neither
Morgan nor Gales could’ve
anticipated before heavily
favored Georgia romped
to a 48-6 victory over the
historically Black school
in Baton Rouge that was in
Athens that day mainly to
pick up a hefty paycheck.
Now, though, it makes
perfect sense.
They’re both Bulldogs.
“I think God, in the grand
scheme of things,” Morgan
surmised, “wanted Devon
to be a Dawg.”
AMANDA LOGGINS I For The Times
Flowery Branch’s Jayden Gudz (4) goes up for a block
against East Hall on Nov. 29 in Flowery Branch.
BILL MURPHY I The Times
Above, Chestatee’s Riley Black (15) drives to the basket
against Forsyth Central on Dec. 20 in Gainesville. Top,
Cherokee Bluff’s Jhace Justice (11) goes in for a basket
against East Hall on Dec. 16 in Flowery Branch.
LANIERLAND
■ Continued from 3C
On top of the homegrown part of
Lanierland that makes it so special,
some of the talent has been the best in
the state.
On the boys side, players such as
Walter Hill, Dr. Mark Causey, Cris
Carpenter, Doug Lipscomb, Chezley
Watson, D’Marcus Simonds, Montrell
McKenzie and Frank Davis are just
a few of the greats who all left their
mark at Lanierland.
On the girls side, Newton, Tasha
Humphrey, Anna McKendree, Sada
Wheeler, Brenda Hill, Julianne Sutton
and Jaymee Carnes were some of the
best who also went on to prolific col
lege careers.
So what is in story for 2022?
Do the North Hall girls and Vikings
boys have what it takes to repeat?
Many questions that we will not
have an answer to until next week.
FISHING
■ Continued from 3C
the bottom as they pick off
dying shad that are falling to
the bottom.
If you can locate the areas
where this occurs, you may
be able to load the boat in a
single area all day long.
Techniques like drop
shots, Jigs or jigging spoons
will probably come more
into play as we receive the
severe arctic blast forecast
for Christmas.
Use your electronics and
look for larger groups of
bass.
You can also catch these
bass relating to the bottom
with other lures, but jigging
a Georgia Blade Shepoon
worked with an up-and-down
presentation to pick off bass.
Other lures are also worth
a try.
Small swim baits worked
on an underspin, Jerk Baits
or Gamakatsu Alien Head
are all worth trying to unlock
the secret to what the bass
want.
Stripers: The birds con
tinue to give away the most
productive areas, so keep a
watch for gulls and loons div
ing on shad.
Also pay close attention to
your electronics to confirm
that the birds that are in the
area are diving on bait.
If we get a shad kill, then
that is where you will prob
ably get your best action.
Predator fish like stripers
and bass will position them
selves where they have easy
access to these easy to catch
dying baits.
Pulling live herring or
medium shiners on flat lines,
down lines and planner
boards will continue to work
all over Lake Lanier.
I always like to add a
larger bait, like a trout or giz
zard shad, to entice strikes
from larger stripers.
Use your electronics to
dial in the proper depth.
Once you get a bite, make
adjustments and set your
other rods to a similar depth.
Trolling has worked well
this past week.
I don’t expect it to quit
being effective.
You may just have to troll
a little deeper.
Troll a Captain Mack’s
umbrella rig or down size to
the mini rig and fish around
areas where you see birds
and where you mark fish on
your electronics.
An umbrella rig looks like
a school of baitfish under the
water and they can often out
produce live bait under the
right conditions.
Troll your rigs between 1
l/2to2mph.
I don’t expect anglers to
be doing much night fishing,
but the stripers can still be
caught after dark by cast
ing Bombers or McSticks to
lighted boat docks toward
the backs of the creeks.
Crappie fishing has been
just fair as these tasty crit
ters move out deeper into
their winter haunts.
Crappie continue to posi
tion themselves around large
shad schools close to cover
like docks, deeper brush
piles or timberlines.
Start your day looking for
areas that have transition
from clear to stained water
for your best success.
The crappie have been
out deeper in the 35-40 foot
depths.
Continue to shoot small
jigs or downlined minnows
and allow these lures to sink
to the level where you mark
them with your electronics.
You can email Eric Aldrich at
esaldrich@yahoo.com with
comments or questions.