One last journey

After running numerous profiles about players this year, the Bear Insider decides that it's time to learn about what it's like from a parents perspective and spends a few moments with the Ronaldo and Angellique DeCoud as well as Granny Annie. Also, Thomas DeCoud offers up some thoughts from his Cal career and this season.

While it will be the last game for Cal's seniors, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will also mark the last game for a group of parents, who've spent much of the past few years picking their kids up from practice, doing their laundry, stocking the refrigerator, and for much of the past few years, travelling up and down the west coast to watch their sons play.

For Ronaldo and Angellique DeCoud, it'll be the last of around two dozen trips they've made to watch their son, Thomas DeCoud play for the California Golden Bears.

It wasn't all that long ago that young Thomas came home from first grade complaining about soreness. Apparently he was tired after playing basketball. Yet the school didn't offer basketball for first graders.  DeCoud read a sign on the wall about basketball practice for fourth graders, thought he'd give it a try, and was sufficiently tall enough, that it didn't arouse any suspicions.

Whether it was Ronaldo coaching Thomas's youth football team, or both parents driving all over to attend basketball tournaments, they've always played an active role in Thomas's sporting career.  At the same time, they were careful to let Thomas make his own choices about which sports he played and what he wanted to do with his future.

While a senior at Pinole Valley High School, DeCoud was all league in football and basketball, and one of the people who'd often go out to watch his games is current freshman running back, and fellow #4, Jahvid Best.

When Thomas decided to concentrate on football, Cal was an easy choice.  Not just because it was local, but because everyone had seen that the Golden Bears' football fortunes were starting to change and the program was taking a turn for the better.

"We liked everything about it here," said Angellique. "We liked the school, we liked the coaches and we liked all of the people around the program."

When Thomas was a senior, the DeCouds braced themselves for the wild and wooly world of recruiting, but much to their relief, the process was relatively straightforward. They never got bombarded with calls at strange hours or heard any outlandish promises from desperate coaches, although after talking with one Pac-10 coach who subsequently fell into disrepute, Angellique recalled, "There was something about him I wasn't quite sure about."

Angellique, who also goes by Angie, is the family travel agent, and is adept and getting them in and out on the same day, even if it means arriving and departing from different airports that are hours away.   Having made multiple journeys to all of the Pac-10 towns, there's one trip they're glad they won't have to make any more.

"USC!," said Angie. "They put us so far out and so far back that we weren't really even in the stadium.  All the players looked liked ants out there.  And then the people there were really rude and saying some nasty stuff."

Even Ronaldo, who's generally affable, mild-mannered and exhibits great patience during the week while working as a counselor at Alameda County Juvenile Hall, found his limits tested down in Los Angeles.

"After one SC game, we were leaving the stadium, trying to mind our own business, and this SC fan, who must have been drinking started walking towards me, because I had on some Cal clothing.  We're not looking for any trouble and we're trying to walk away, but he comes right at us. And then he started screaming and yelling at me, so I took up a defensive posture.  But Angie pulled me away from there before anything could happen," said Ronaldo.

Although the nature of their trips doesn't allow for a lot of sightseeing, some of the road trips they found more enjoyable were Washington, Oregon State, and Tennessee.

As is the case with any parent, they're eager to read stories about their son's team, and whether it's an old-fashioned newspaper or going online, if something's being written, they'll find it.

"Every morning I go online and read all the web sites," said Angie. "I look at three different papers, the Contra Costa Times, the Oakland Tribune, and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as some other sites and if there are any good articles on the players, I'll tell my husband, and then he'll go online and look at them."

And yes, they also read Internet message boards.

"I can see how the message boards pique interest," said Angie. "Sometimes I wish people would really think before they say some of the things that they do, but everybody's going to have an opinion.  You try not to take it personally. You want to support the players because they're playing to the best of their ability.  There's always going to be somebody who's going to criticize them.  I really felt bad for Joe Ayoob. We'd gotten to know his parents and when things weren't going well, it was painful to watch what he went through."

At home games, the DeCouds sit with other parents on Memorial Stadium's east side.   As is the case with most parents, they're caught between watching the entire play unfold and focusing in on what their son is doing.

"During the game, we're focusing on [Thomas] and seeing how he's tackling out there," said Angie.  "We'll notice if he's ducking his head when he tackles. We're always telling him, that you always need to see what you hit. He's tall enough that he should hit them in the numbers and not do anything that would endanger him."

Ronaldo can often be seen at games with his backwards baseball cap and a camera with around his neck, trying to get that one perfect photograph.

After games, some parents flock down to the bottom of the stadium were they hope to get a quick word before their sons before they head back to the locker room.  On the road, this becomes a double challenge - to go down to the bottom of the stadium to meet their son quickly and then find a way out of the stadium and over to the team bus where they can have a few quick moments before the bus takes the team back to the airport.

Parents that are new to Cal football are helped by the Bearents, an organization of the players' parents that in addition to coordinating pre-game activities will also help with the logistics of road games.

"The Bearents have been great," said Angie.  "There's always a tailgate before the game and they always help all the new parents figure out what's going on.  When you first join up you don't know a lot, so this year I've talked to Jahvid Best's mom. But after awhile everybody's real comfortable around each other and we all talk about our kids and shared experiences. They're especially helpful for road games. You're not sure whether you try to meet the players on the field after the game or whether you meet them at the bus, and sometimes you're not sure where all the other parents went."

During one practice, a few observers are having a discussion about which of the coaches is the oldest.

A voice pipes up from a couple of rows back.

"Excuse me, I'm the oldest coach here."

No story on the DeCouds would be complete without a mention of Annie Thomas, known to just about everyone as Granny Annie. 

Thomas? That would mean....

Yes, Thomas DeCoud is that rare child where both of his names are family names.

Granny Annie is the grandma that everyone wishes they had; full of energy, who believes there's no such thing as preparing too much food, with a smile and an encouraging word for all, and who loves watching football. Even though she walks with the assistance of a cane and doesn't get up and down the stairs as well as she used to, she too has been a regular fixture at practice.

When Bud "Dog" Turner, has to run an errand during practice, he'll often leave Granny Annie in charge to watch over things  A lifelong sports fan who gets so passionate about football games that at some family gatherings they'll put her in a side room to watch the game so that no one else is overwhelmed by her fervor, she has followed her grandson's exploits for several years dating back to when she'd prepare the pregame meals for the youth teams that DeCoud played on.

While she's punctuated many a practice with a loud "Get that!" while her grandson chases down a pass headed for the secondary, her standing is such that when the invitations went out to the parents for Senior Day, head coach Jeff Tedford wrote on the DeCouds' invitation, "and make sure you bring Granny Annie."

The last few weeks of the season were difficult for Annie as she realized that after years of watching DeCoud play in youth teams, high school, and finally five years at Cal, that a phase of his life, and to an extent hers as well, was coming to an end.

"The morning of that last home game, I was crying, " said Thomas. "I couldn't believe that this was going to be his last home game."

But the momentary sadness quickly fades as a happier memories spring to the forefront.

"I was in line at the concession stand and was missing some of the game.   Then these two kids got in line behind me. And one said to the other, 'Did you see how Thomas DeCoud ran that guy down?'  And the other guy said, 'I didn't know he was that fast.' And I turned around to those two and said, "You know where he got that from? I'm his grandmother."

A small group of other parents attend practices frequently, and after practice finishes each of the players goes up into the stands for a quick visit. With players who are just a few years out of high school, and are coming to terms with their own sense of independence, you wonder if the thought of having your parents come to each practice might be a little, well, weird.

"Not at all," said Thomas DeCoud, who after an interception against Arizona, ran to the sidelines, stood on a bench, and looked for his parents in the crowd. "They've been there for me my whole life.  They haven't missed a game or a practice and it's something that I draw from, knowing the support that I get from them."

While each practice is a moment to be held onto and cherished, there's always something special about a game. And not just for Angie and Ronaldo and Granny Annie, but for every parent or family member, the thrill of watching their son running onto the field in full uniform to play for a team in front of thousands of people, is a thrill that they wish could go on forever.

And on Monday morning, they'll get to experience it one more time.

"We still have this sense of pride."

"It seems like time flies. I can't believe I've had as much fun as I've had, and built the relationships that I've had. My time at Cal has been beyond my expectations and it's something that I'll always cherish."

When safety Thomas DeCoud came to Cal as after a strong career at nearby Pinole Valley, the Bears were just off of a 7-6 season in head coach Jeff Tedford's first year, when the potential of the Golden Bear football program was still a long way from being realized.   Since then, he's played a part in a team that's headed for its fifth consecutive bowl game, when it plays Air Force in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

"It's been great to be part of something and help build into being a success especially when it hasn't had much success," said DeCoud, who as a redshirt freshman was part of the 2004 team that spent much of the season in the top 10. "That '04 team was scary throughout, and even with this year's team, we've slipped up and had a few hiccups along the way, but we still have this sense of pride of trying to start a tradition and hopefully it'll stay instilled with the younger players."

While DeCoud has regrets that the season turned out the way it did, he saw signs that the team was on the verge of coming out of its funk, but eventually key injuries and an uncharacteristic convergence of errors was just enough to keep the Bears from victory.

"The season didn't go the way we wanted it to," said DeCoud, who led the team with 106 tackles, and a career-high 16 against Washington."In midseason, when we started slipping, we lost our swagger. During the last few games, we had signs that we were picking it back it up and showing more energy, but we were still making mistakes.   But we've shown great character, and we've come out of every week trying do what it takes to get better."

But DeCoud can look back on being part of a Cal team that earned a share of the Pac-10 title in 2006, and soared to new heights in 2007, albeit briefly. It seems hard to believe that just a dozen weeks ago that the Bears were ranked #2 in the country and were on track for a season where the Rose Bowl would have been considered a letdown. But even though the season ended badly, that two week period when the Bears won a tough game at Oregon and soared up the polls was a high water mark for the Cal program.

"The win over Oregon was like icing on the cake," said DeCoud, who was named honorable mention All-Pac-10, and is currently listed on numerous draft boards as one of the top safeties in the country. "To go up there and to win at Oregon was the high point of my career, and it showed that Cal was capable of being up there with the elite teams. Autzen Stadium's a fun place to play. The fans are rowdy, they're on your back and it really helps fire you up. Plus, the stadium is beautiful.""

With fond memories of the Bears' past two bowl games, he's hoping that this year, they can make it a third.

"The Holiday Bowl win last year was a great way to finish off a great season and it was nice to be able to celebrate with your team," said DeCoud. "The Las Vegas Bowl was one of my personal highlights. The game was in Las Vegas, the game itself was a lot of fun, and I can't think of a better place to be with my teammates."

At the football team's awards banquet, DeCoud ended up winning the Andy Smith (player with the most Big C Time),  Most Valuable Back (defense), Cort Majors (team captain) and the Bear Backer Award (most valuable player - defense). The last award has special significance because it's an award that's voted on by the team.

"It's a great honor," said DeCoud,  "It's touching to see the team acknowledge the hard work we've put in, and it's great to know they appreciate how I play because I appreciate how hard all my teammates play.  We've shed a lot of blood, sweat and tears together, and the honor was huge and I'm thankful to all of them."

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