Arizona's Jones-Grigsby puts a bow on Mom-inspired family legacy
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona running back Terris Jones-Grigsby will wake up Wednesday morning, the day of the Fiesta Bowl, and a text message from his mother will be waiting for him.
It will be a special day, an end of an era for the Grigsby family.
It will be Terris' last game for the Wildcats. It will put a bow on the college football experience of the four Grigsby brothers, marking an amazing finishing line for their mom, Bernice Grigsby, who, as a single parent, having fled from an abusive relationship into a shelter, raised five children in some tough Los Angeles-area neighborhoods, little help coming from her family. Her children are all college graduates, Terris finishing his schoolwork this semester.
The oldest boy, Ahmad Grigsby, played at Kentucky. Marcellous played for Temple. Nic is the seventh-leading rusher in Arizona history. Destiny is a graduate of Cal State-Northridge, working toward a master's degree. Having four siblings play college football is remarkable enough, but that's not the best thing, Terris said.
"Five degrees from your five kids, single parent, can't do any better," he said.
Bernice will send all her children a personalized text message Wednesday morning. And the next morning. And the next. It's what she does. It might go something like this:
Good morning. I love you. This is your day. Go strong.
"If you don't text her back, she's going to keep bothering you," Terris said. "That's who she is and how she is always going to be. That's my mom."
When the text messages stopped in November, something was definitely wrong.
Bernice Grigsby at an Arizona home game this season with her oldest son, Ahmad.
Bernice, having relocated to Tucson in 2010 -- Nic's last season at Arizona and Terris' first as a walk-on -- was getting ready to go to work at the Veterans' Affairs hospital when she felt dizzy, nauseated, lacking balance. It was Nov. 9.
Doctors determined that Bernice had suffered two small aneurysms and diagnosed her with multiple sclerosis.
"When I wasn't able to send their texts for a few days, I was crazy," she said. "Because I had to do that, I had to give them their blessings and tell them how proud I am of them."
Her motivation in rehab was to attend Terris' home finale -- Nov. 28 against Arizona State.
"I told my doctors, I'm doing everything I can, because I have to make this game," she said, referencing three hours a day of physical therapy. "I don't care if I'm in a wheelchair, I'm going."
On Nov. 28, Bernice, with the help of a cane, walked onto the Arizona Stadium turf with Terris in a pregame ceremony.
It's as Ahmad once said: "She's the hero of our story."
There have been other heroes, too. For Terris, the defining moment of his career came when Arizona changed coaching staffs in November 2011. Head coach Rich Rodriguez and co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach Calvin Magee -- who had nothing invested in a player who at the time was an academically ineligible redshirt freshman walk-on -- gave him the same message as everybody else: Work hard and we'll work with you.
Bernice Grigsby and other family members accompany Arizona running back Terris Jones-Grigsby on the field during senior-day ceremonies at Arizona Stadium.
"From day one, (Magee) called me in and said, 'Terris, I know you're struggling, and we need to do this to help you out,' " Jones-Grigsby said.
That was a big change, he said, from Mike Stoops' coaching staff, which included offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who also handled the running backs.
"I don't want to say Coach Littrell was a bad coach, but I think he focused on the starters only," Jones-Grigsby said. "Magee gave everyone a chance. Coach Littrell never called me in -- it was, 'You're a walk-on, go to the scout team.'
"I knew with Coach Magee and all the other coaches, I would have a strong supporting cast behind me. ... I still to this day thank Coach Magee for what he's done for me, and Coach Rodriguez. They gave me the opportunity; they made me love football again. I just thank them for that."
Jones-Grigsby got eligible, working on the scout team in 2012 and being put on scholarship the following summer. He helped on special teams in 2013 and then came the big reward: A starting nod in the 2014 season opener. He ran 13 times for 124 yards against UNLV. Then he missed two games because of an ankle injury. Then he had a career-high 27 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown, also catching four passes for 95 yards, in the 31-24 upset at No. 2 Oregon.
He had a third 100-yard game, against Washington State, but injuries and the late-season emergence of freshman Nick Wilson curtailed his touches in the last month of the season.
In all, Jones-Grigsby has rushed 107 times for 528 yards and three scores, a valuable cog in the Arizona offense while making his mom beam.
"The thing I am proud of the most is he didn't give up," Bernice said. "He always stayed motivated. He didn't feel sorry for himself. He just didn't quit."
Mom helped with that, and that was part of the reason she moved to Tucson, along with Destiny, who attended Arizona for a while before finishing her degree at CSUN. Terris is her baby. To mom, he still is, and always will be, "Boo-Boo."
He has a different father than his siblings -- hence the hyphenated name -- but the Grigsby 5 hates it when he is referred to as a "half-brother." Bernice's first husband has been in prison since the late 1980s.
If Terris is a momma's boy, so be it.
"People are supposed to move out after high school," Terris said. "I had another two years with my mom. A little embarrassing, but, hey, you've got to do what you've got to do."
What will Terris do now?
After the Fiesta Bowl, he will pursue football as far as he can. Marcellous, who has worked in law enforcement in Washington, D.C., has talked to Terris about a similar career. Terris says a college advisor has talked to him about being a park ranger in Arizona. He also is applying to veterinarian schools in the West, a career which has been a childhood dream.
"Most people tell me, 'Oh, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I gave it up when I was 10,' " Jones-Grigsby said. "I stuck with it. Animals are my passion, and I want to stick with it."
Ahmad lives in Tucson, working at Kino Hospital in triage, Bernice said. Marcellous, recently married, is set to take his career to the Virgin Islands. Nic just finished up a productive season in the Canadian Football League. Destiny is a case manager for the VA, with hopes of starting a shelter for battered women and children.
What will Bernice do now?
For the first time since 2004, she won't have a son playing college or junior college football, which is where Ahmad got his start.
"Right now, I have all kinds of emotions. Relief, for one," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do with myself."
But she kind of does.
Now that the kids are all out of college, Bernice talks about finishing up the college degree she never got a chance to complete at Wisconsin because ... well, life.
"I don't have any reason to be sad or unhappy at any time about my time," Bernice said. "I sit back and think about it; it was hard, and it was a struggle, but we did it.
"I don't expect anything from my children. I just expect them to stay positive, take care of themselves and their homes, take care of those babies and put money in a savings account. None of the other stuff matters.
"But it's been such a blessing. I'm very grateful. Now, my kids are focused in on, 'You sacrificed for so long, you had to work all these hours, work two jobs, what do you want to do now?' I'm thinking about going back to school in the summer. I'm not going to let this (disease) defeat me at all."
Bernice doesn't hesitate when asked her age.
"I'm 53," she said, adding with a laugh, "but I look good."
She's done good, too.
And she has many, many more text messages to send.
This is your day. Go strong.