Emotions flowed outside of the west end of the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday following the Oregon Ducks’ 34-17 loss to Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Parents of the Ducks football team gathered there to greet their sons after a tough loss that capped a difficult season for many.
This wasn’t like the typical postgame gathering of parents as they meet up with their sons following a game. Most Oregon parents hadn’t seen their children since the summer, before they left for Eugene to begin preparing for a season that was on, then off, then on again.
The COVID-19 pandemic not only shorted the Pac-12 Conference’s season, it also built a wall between parents and their adult children. Parents weren’t allowed to attend games. The program encouraged players not to see their families out of fear of them catching the virus from a well-intentioned family member and then infecting other players.
The Fiesta Bowl, however, did allow parents to attend. And many took advantage in what some parents described as both joyous yet sorrowful given the many circumstances involved.
“The whole season has been a rollercoaster of emotions,” said Sherri Johnson, mother of wide receiver Johnny Johnson III, who is from nearby Chandler, Arizona. “But it was nice to finally hug my son after a game last night.”
The weekend also marked the first opportunity since last season’s Rose Bowl for the close-knit UO parent contingent to reconnect with one another.
However, something was missing, besides a victory. The atmosphere wasn’t the same, many parents said. Missing were tens of thousands of Oregon fans cheering on the Ducks.
“We didn’t do ‘Shout’ in the fourth quarter,” Verone McKinley Jr., father of Verone McKinley III, said with a laugh. “That’s why we lost.”
The Fiesta Bowl didn’t go the way the parents had hoped. The stadium experience lacked warmth. But still, the overall experience helped add a positive ending to an up-and-down season.
“Seeing the stadium was cool,” said Fred Redd, father of wide receiver Jaylon Redd. “Seeing all the Ducks parents was cool. That’s where it stopped.”
Fred and Alicia Redd, parents of Oregon Ducks wide receiver Jaylon Redd, are pictured at the Fiesta Bowl, where they watched Redd and the No. 25 Ducks play No. 10 Iowa State in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021.
The Ducks did not play well, to be sure. But at least they played and parents could attend. After winning the Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl last season, the parents hoped for a repeat performance this season. But the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Pac-12 Conference to first cancel and then start a shortened season without fans or families in attendance.
Consequently, many parents hadn’t seen their sons since last summer when the Ducks began hunkering down for the upcoming season. Once games did resume, parents were limited to watching games on television only. That proved frustrating, especially for parents of seniors, given that this could have been their final run with the Ducks.
“It was really tough,” Sherri Johnson said. “With this being his senior year, I was determined to be at every game this year and then everything happened. That was just a really big disappointment.”
Johnny Johnson III, his mother said, has not yet decided if he will enter the 2021 NFL draft or return for another season with Oregon. The NCAA is not counting the 2020 season toward players’ eligibility. So, Sherri Johnson could have a chance to redo her son’s senior season in 2021.
Same with the parents of Jaylon Redd. Fred, and his wife Alicia, had to watch the Pac-12 title game at home even though it was in their hometown of Los Angeles. They have rarely missed games in Jaylon’s four years.
“It was tough because you really couldn’t enjoy the season,” Fred Redd said.
In 2019, Verone McKinley Jr. made it to 13 of 14 games, traveling from Carrollton, Texas. He planned to attend as many games as possible in 2020 before the season got flipped upside down.
“Not being able to see him in person was a big adjustment,” Verone McKinley Jr. said. “Before this year I can’t tell you a time where I haven’t seen him play in person.”
McKinley Jr. said he considered traveling to Eugene on a game weekend just to see him, even though he couldn’t attend the game. But his son said he shouldn’t.
“He said, ‘Dad, don’t break our protocol,’” McKinley Jr. said, imitating his son.
The Ducks didn’t want players being around family at all out of fear that a parent infected with coronavirus could pass it along to their son, who then could infect teammates.
After home games during a normal season, parents usually meet up with their sons at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex.
“You take for granted how you see them after the game for that 20 to 30 minutes,” McKinley Jr. said.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 02: Oregon Ducks fans watch warm ups prior to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Iowa State Cyclones at State Farm Stadium on January 02, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)Getty Images
Outside of Saturday’s game, only parents who were taking their sons home could see them outside of the stadium. The rest were hustled onto a bus and taken to the team plane headed back to Eugene.
Parents said they were grateful to be at the game but noted how the environment left a lot to be desired given that fans were absent.
“It’s not the same when it’s just the families,” Aremon Habibi, uncle to Habibi-Likio said. “You want to feel the presence of all the fans, too.”
Parents sorely missed the electricity created by the fans.
“It was quieter than I would have liked it to be,” Sherri Johnson said. “Oregon’s always really loud and it was really quiet.”
Parents were seated in what the stadium called “pods.” Each family could get up to six seats in one row. Between every two seats were four seats flipped up and zip tied in place so nobody could sit there, to create separation.
Each occupied row was separated by an empty row to create distance between groups. Consequently, families couldn’t bunch together and cheer.
So, parents who would usually sit together and hoot and holler were separated, and that made the event less exciting for the families.
The stadium staff, according to Atousa Habibi, mother of running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio, were aggressive while making families follow protocols, which she understood, but said it also created angst among some of the families.
“It was emotional,” Habibi said. “You think about your boys and they are just so used to having family and that energy at the stadium. But it was weird. The parents were almost kind of numb. Because, they didn’t know if they could stand up and cheer. If they had to sit down and cheer. There were so many rules.”
Oregon Ducks moms are pictured at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, where they watched their sons and the No. 25 Ducks take on No. 10 Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. From left: Shelle Coleman (Nick Pickett), Atousa Habibi (Cyrus Habibi-Likio), Tamisha Benton-Graham (Thomas Graham Jr.), Sherri Johnson (Johnny Johnson III), Kim Jefferson (George Moore), Alicia Redd (Jaylon Redd).
A highlight of the weekend for many parents came through reconnecting the night before the game. For Ducks parents, getting together at games has become nearly as much fun as watching their sons play.
A few years ago, parents organized a Facebook page used for communicating, announcing events and posting photos and videos. That brought the parents closer together and led to more organized tailgate parties and other functions, especially the nights before games when their sons are sequestered.
This season, such events were of course nonexistent.
“It was frustrating not being able to interact with the parents, as well,” Fred Redd said.
Until this weekend.
Many parents hadn’t seen one another in a year. So, they were glad to at least be able to socialize at their hotels. They wore masks and talked.
“That was fun,” Fred Redd said. “Got to the game, stopped being fun.”
Ah yes, the game. The team lost more games this season while going 4-3 than last season when the Ducks went 12-2. These parents aren’t accustomed to attending defeats.
Still, it meant a lot to the players that families could be there.
“I’m happy we got to see him play at home,” Sherri Johnson said. “But it’s not the outcome we were hoping for.”
The experience also meant something to the players, especially for those from Arizona like Johnson and quarterback Tyler Shough, who like Johnny Johnson III is from Chandler, Arizona.
“It means everything,” Shough said. “Just the opportunity has been a blessing to come down here and play in front of your family. The result’s not what we wanted. It definitely hurt a lot.”
None of the Oregon faithful were happy with the game result. But many found joy in simply being a Ducks family once again.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress(Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress(Facebook).
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