Read Ch. 1 here.
If all the residents of Tifton, Georgia, Larry Dean’s hometown, attended a Tiger-Cats game at Tim Hortons Field, there would be almost 10,000 seats left to be filled. Dean’s hometown fans may not be physically in the stands, but their eyes are on Hamilton, and their support is on Dean’s mind. The small community of Tifton, The Friendly City, has played a significant role in facilitating Dean’s growth as a player, and as a person. Dean, the second year middle linebacker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, has carried with him a strong desire to give back, all the way from Tifton to his adopted hometown, Hamilton.
Dean holds parts of his youth close to his chest. His childhood is a piece of him, but it’s a piece he dredges to the surface only reluctantly.
“One reason community service is really important to me is because when I was younger my family would sometimes live in shelters and there were community service programs that we attended. They afforded us opportunities and shed light on things we probably wouldn’t have been exposed to,” says Dean.
Growing up, Dean’s family weathered stretches without a permanent home. He spent much of his childhood in shelters where he was deprived of recreational opportunities. If it weren’t for certain community programs, there would have been few, if any, opportunities available to him. Community programs exposed Dean to outlets otherwise inaccessible to children in similar circumstances.
Throughout his life, Dean has benefited from positive influences within the community.
“Community leaders, coaches, local mom and pop owners: I feel like they’re all my family. I have a big family,” says Dean.
His lifelong dependence on community services inspired the Larry Dean Foundation, his charitable organization. The Larry Dean Foundation focuses on aiding disadvantaged youth in his hometown. The foundation is responsible for organizing a number of community initiatives in Tifton and the surrounding area. It is currently overseeing the Big Hoops Basketball Tournament in Orlando Florida.
Before the start of each school year, the foundation supplies free school supplies and haircuts to young kids, because, in the words of Dean, “Look good, feel good, play good. You know what I’m saying?”
For the last three years the foundation has overseen a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, as well as a summer program that provides sack lunches for kids.
Because of Dean’s absence during the CFL season, some of the foundation’s youth football initiatives have been difficult to coordinate. One of Dean’s only regrets about playing in Hamilton is that he can’t be active in the foundation year-round.
“It’s what keeps me going, keeps me dreaming,” he says.
Fortunately for Dean, the Tiger-Cats have made an effort to be a positive force in the community, and Dean strongly supports the initiatives.
“It’s just something that’s near and dear to my heart, because I know what a role community played in my life,” says Dean. “The fans come out and support us every time we have a game. They have our back. It’s only right that we spend our time giving back – paying it forward.”
He believes it isn’t just a benefit to the community, but to the players as well.
“It shows that we’re more than just football players,” Dean says earnestly. “You know, at the end of the day, we’re still humans that have feelings, and can intertwine with the people. You can reach out and touch us.”
Dean is a fixture at community events hosted by the Tiger-Cats. It’s important to Dean each time he makes a community appearance, but some leave a deeper imprint than others.
“My favourite community event was on Halloween where we dressed like Super Heroes and walked through the hospital,” remembers Dean fondly. “Some kids there were going through serious things. The sort of things you don’t see every day. When you can walk through that kind of adversity and put a smile on their face, it’s always a good thing.”
Dean has been walking through adversity all his life. The community around him, whether Tifton or Hamilton, has played a role in his success that he will never fail to appreciate.
When Larry Dean steps onto the turf at Tim Hortons Field, he’s playing in front of his new Hamilton community, with all of Tifton in his heart.