Potent pair

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By Caroline Thomas, September 11, 2009

A great motivation for Kyle this year is his late father, Rob, who passed away this past summer. Rob taught him the game and enjoyed watching Kyle. Rob also played for the Grizzlies himself as a wide receiver and graduated in 1980. His death crushed Kyle, but Kyle was able to make the best of the circumstances.

 

“When it happened the first week I didn’t want to do anything,” he said. “But after that I used it as motivation.”

 

Kyle sees his dad as a guardian angel on the field and now wears his name and number on his helmet. His family support system is still strong.

 

Kyle’s older brother, Justin (23), ‘loves’ to attend games. The two brothers played on the same football team in high school. His older sister, Leslie (26) lives in Florida but comes to games when she can. Kyle refers to his mother as “my biggest fan.”

 

“She doesn’t know the X’s and O’s of the game but she gets excited when we score a touchdown,” he said.

 

The quarterback got his official start in Trafalger, IN playing for Indian Creek High School, but has been playing football for as long he can remember. He and junior Nick Purichia share game time at the quarterback position. They sometimes get in two or three rotations per game. Last year, Kyle was a backup to graduated All-American Chad Rupp, playing mostly only when the Grizzlies were way ahead.

 

“Watching him play, you learn a lot,” said Ray. “I don’t think about filling shoes, I’m trying to play my game.”

 

In high school, Kyle was an announcer for freshman basketball, junior varsity football and softball. He now majors in broadcast journalism.

 

Kyle has worked two summer internships at WFMS 95.5 – where he worked promotion tents at concerts – and the state fair. Kyle hopes to be able to work weekends at WFMS when the season ends. Through his internship, Kyle was able to meet Dallas Cowboy fan Jessica Simpson.

 

Kyle also does a radio show for the Griz with juniors Morgan Greer and Nick Cochran. The show airs on Wednesday nights at 11:00 p.m. They discuss music, sports, celebrity gossip, and current events.

 

“We come up with ‘TOP 5” lists like top five eighth grade dance songs,” Kyle said.

 

Kyle’s favorite quarterback is Peyton Manning. He said he respects him not for his athleticism, but for the way he plays the game. He is ‘smart and makes great decisions.’ As for professional ambitions, Kyle understands that his football career will be over in two years but would never say no to a professional contract.