A Message to a Lakewood Lancer's Fall From Grace

To Jerry Stone:

You may not know who I am, nor may you even care who is writing this letter to/article about you, but at least know this: in years gone by, I was a proud student of the school whose trust you betrayed by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing.

So Jerry, I ask you this question (and I hope you are reading this somewhere in juvenile hall because it's the biggest one you will be asking yourself for as long as you live):

Why?

Why would you, a running back with so much potential to progress as a player, a student, and a person, do something as brain-dead as this?

I just read the news on the Press-Telegram. They could have highlighted you as a player to watch this season in the Moore League, one of the most respected prep leagues in the country.

Instead, the whole of South Bay—and the world—found you shooting rounds in Compton, a city plagued by gang warfare. Warfare that you chose to put above anything else.

Now thankfully, no one was hurt, but you got taken away in handcuffs. Your coach, Thadd MacNeal, kicked you off his football team. You've been expelled from your would-be alma mater.

And now here you are, sitting in juvenile hall when you could have been preparing for your final season starting with the always-fearsome Crenshaw Cougars.

As a proud alumnus of Lakewood High School, I cannot be more ashamed of the chilling reality that you had the temerity to put this proud school into total disrepute.

How dare you put yourself into this position.

I was looking forward to seeing you put on a brave performance against the Millikan Rams—our traditional opponent who we have the just as much respect for off the field as much contempt for on the field—on Homecoming.

We remember how you brought excitement to the field last year. For nine games, you rushed for 1,450 yards and 18 touchdowns. You had the eye of colleges who wanted to see you put your skills on to a bigger stage.

And if you put in more than twice as much heart and soul into improving as a student athlete, who knows how good you could have been at the next level?

Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who works for a nonprofit organization that reaches out to young men and women, encouraging them to stop short of crime.

As for your team, they will have to soldier on without your service and playmaking ability. The Moore League race will not be about who finishes first, because we all know that Long Beach Poly is the only team that can stop Long Beach Poly.

Heck, all the players on the Jackrabbit varsity can be arrested for God-knows-what to God-knows-who in God-knows-where...and they still would win the league title. That's how good they are.

The real race will be for second place. If you decided not to be in 1100 Acacia Avenue on that fateful Friday afternoon and told your friends that you would be staying home, perhaps playing as yourself in NCAA Football 10, Poly would have had a big problem on their hands in trying to stop you.

Look at what you threw away just by being with your posse. You got arrested. You got kicked off the football team and Alley Long's got big shoes to fill.

You will be unable to earn your high school diploma because of this. And college and the pros? Forget about that!

It's not happening. I repeat: it's not happening. I will be surprised if any university or junior college decides to pull a Davone Bess and give you a second chance, culminating in you making a success of it.

So that question of "why?" is going to be on your mind, if it hasn't already.

You let your team down.

You let your school down.

You let your city down.

You let your family down.

And most of all, you let yourself down. And that, my friend, is the bottom line.

Jo-Ryan Salazar
Lakewood High School
Class of 2002