If you went to, watched, or heard about the recent Virginia Tech Football game against William and Mary, you may have heard the name Joey Slye and thought, who is that?
Well, it wouldn't be surprising if you didn't recognize that name, he is a freshman after all. But you may be surprised by the number of people who HAVE heard that name and the number of people who tuned into that football game, even though they aren't affiliated with Virginia Tech, to watch this one boy work his magic on the field.
As tweeted by VT Football, "Kicker Joey Slye became the first freshman kicker to open the season as Tech’s starting placekicker since Carter Warley in 2000." Not only that, but also he got the first tackle of the Hokie season. However his talent isn't the only thing that brought a whole community four hours away (as well as many others) to tune their TV's to the college game. His heart, his determination and his strength are what naturally attracts people to him. From the way he played, you'd never be able to guess that not even a year ago, Joey Slye lost someone very close to home.
On February 27, 2014, Slye lost his brother to leukemia. At the young age of 20, heaven gained an amazing angel, Joey's brother, AJ Slye. AJ was diagnosed during his freshman year at Salisbury University, where he was playing football. After his diagnosis, he spent 14 months battling leukemia, with most of his time at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Both during and after A.J.'s fight with cancer, Stafford County, the Slye's hometown where they both attended North Stafford High School, experienced a shift in their community. The people of the county all had someone to fight for and support: putting orange ribbons on their mailboxes, painting A.J.'s name and high school football jersey number (#6) on his high school football field, wearing 'Support AJ Slye' shirts and wristbands, and spreading a motto created while he was in high school: #AJSlyeHyped. Following in AJ's footsteps, Joey was the star of North Stafford's football team. Their mom also worked as a teacher at North Stafford. During the time, they weren't able to be with AJ in Tennessee, they were relaying his strength, courage and journey to everyone in Stafford. And AJ was always sending his support back to Joey, no matter their distance apart.
(Video for AJ Slye created by North Stafford High School) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUmLQAvlO54
Now that Joey has become a Hokie, I'm sure that he will not only bring his own, but also his brother's strength and courage to both the Tech community and the football field as well. I'm excited to see the great things this amazing boy will do. I'm proud to call him a fellow Hokie, and I'm always proud to say that I am #SlyeStrong.
If you didn't know who Joey Slye was during the first game, I hope you know a bit about him now. Doing his brother proud, he played an amazing first game as a freshman and will only get better. In four years, everyone will be screaming his name at every football game. So, look out for number 4(6) on the field, and I encourage everyone to be #SlyeStrong during the next football game as well as every other game to follow.
Disclosure: Sorry girls, he's actually taken.
