Alex Leon
In a classroom, Pathon Rucker can use none of the moves that made him
one of the best running backs this area had ever seen.
Instead of looking for daylight and outrunning the defense, the
27-year-old former Glendale High and Glendale Community College star must
sit patiently in his chair and take notes and answer questions.
Instead of celebrating with his teammates over another score or a
lopsided win, he keeps to himself over a good grade or one that could
stand some improvement.
Being back in school is part of the maturation process that has turned
Rucker's life around. The fact that he is working as a salesman selling
cable satellite packages also shows his growth in that direction.
But maybe the biggest change of all for Rucker is that he is in back
in football, as a running backs' coach at Glendale High.
"Pathon has been just great with the kids. It has been a good fit for
him and the players," said Glendale Coach Loi Phan.
"When he came back to visit some of the coaches and watch practice
last month, I could see it in his eyes that he missed the game and wanted
to give something back to it.
"I believe in giving people second chances and if Pathon can make this
work for him, it's a win-win situation. To come back from where he was
and the problems he had would be great for him and us."
*
Three years ago when I last spoke to Rucker and wrote about him, he
was just starting to see the light after years of abusing himself with
drugs and other demons in his life.
He was living at the Victory Outreach Church in North Hollywood and I
remembering looking at this young man who many considered the best
running back to come out of this area, and feeling sad and happy for him
at the same time.
This was a player who rushed for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns at
Glendale from 1989 to 1991 and had earned All-American honors at GCC
after running for 2,900 yards and 33 touchdowns in 1992 and 1993.
But Rucker began his downward spiral a year later after an injury
forced him to abort an attempt to play at Emporia State University in
Kansas.
A subsequent tryout with a team from the Canadian Football League left
him despondent and depressed after it was over.
But at Victory Outreach, Rucker seemed to be more at peace with
himself and was beginning to find his way. He cried over incidents he was
not proud, such as the one when former Glendale teammate Shawn Coles was
killed in a botched robbery attempt, and Rucker was in the car they were
riding in.
