| 03 December 2009
The whole “Brandon Roy working on the Port of Seattle docks” story is one I’ve wanted to write for the past year or so, so when it came time to pen my first column for the Portland Sentinel ("Before Blazers, Roy was just another working man")the inaugural angle was pretty effortless.
I can only hope future columns for the paper – the somewhat obscure monthly representing North and Northeast Portland - will be as easy. And there will be plenty more to come.
For some of you, this isn’t the first time you’ve heard about a then 18 year old Roy working for $11 an hour at Port of Seattle as he waited in limbo for his fate at the University of Washington to unfold. But to be able to tell that story with the help of Brandon - as he looked back on his past and those days working 8-2pm shifts hosing out shipping containers and then some - adds a fresh perspective I feel.
It surely explains the way he is today.
“People always ask me why you stay so grounded,” Roy told me for the column before praising his dock co-workers.
“I was there with the fans that go to the games and watch. I never forget that. I always have great respect for people that go out and work every day because they have to play their part as much as we do. Those guys were really cool guys and they weren’t fortunate to go play basketball.”
Then again, that lesson started even earlier that his late teens.
Roy comes from humble beginnings. His dad, Tony, drove a city bus in Seattle from dawn until dusk and worked overtime to support a family of six living in a two-bed apartment. Brandon’s mom, Gina, was a cafeteria worker at Roy’s elementary school growing up.
Yet it wasn’t until Brandon’s AAU days that he finally realized the sacrifices – buying basketball shoes and spending money for camps - that were being made.
I know what you are thinking. We know Brandon is a good guy. We know he isn’t the typical tatted up pro basketball player that travels with an entourage - that is unless you count his fiancé Tiana, Brandon Jr., and little Mariah.
But for those who haven’t heard this story, I wanted to provide a glimpse of where Brandon Roy got to where he is because of who he is.
Hopefully I did that.
Update: Along with writing the Blazers column for the Portland Sentinel, I'm also providing running coverage for the paper on the Rose Quarter/ Memorial Coliseum project - with the Blazers own JumpTown vision leading the way.
I've included some updates on Twitter the past couple weeks - exclusives with City Commish Randy Leonard and Blazers team president Larry Miller, who provided a little comedy relief talking to a group of ticket package leaders prior to a recent Portland home game.
For each PS street edition, month long coverage will be rolled into one feature - FYI.
In this case, it appears JumpTown is right at home, while the Portland Beavers are left stranded at third.
photo: seattlep.i.
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