Around the time of Super Bowl XLI Darnarius Green met Miramar High School head football coach Damon Cogdell. He began participating in Miramar's spring practices, traveling each day from his home school to the one across the county line. He was a good enough football prospect to be recruited.
Although he was only 16-years-old, Darnarius had already been arrested four times on gun related charges. President Bush and the Congress allowed the ban on the sale of assault weapons to expire in September 2004 and they were easy to come by. At most parties of the day, young men like Darnarius would pose for pictures brandishing guns and later post them on mySpace pages. In the three years prior to Super Bowl XLI scores of children and youth of color had perished violently in South Florida, the victims of such weapons. In 2007, the hometown of the Chicago Bears recorded 31 murdered children during the school year. Arne Duncan, then-CEO of public schools, expressed disappointment. "If that happened to one of Chicago's wealthiest suburbs -- and God forbid it ever did -- if it was a child being shot dead every two weeks in Hinsdale or Winnetka or Barrington, do you think the status quo would remain? There's no way it would," he said.
When Darnarius Green left his home one night he asked his little brother to pray for him. He got into a van with others and drove away. Ironically, Coach Cogdell was driving by Opa-Locka's Bunche Park moments after Darnarius was found there. The Miami Herald reported that according to police, "It was unclear if that is where he had been shot or where his body had been dumped."
The Damon Cogdell coached Miramar High Patriots made an historic run to the school's first ever football State Championship this season. The team will be honored as part of Super Bowl XLIV festivities. Chicago recorded a new record number of school-aged children killed, including the brutal beating death of 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert on the sidewalk outside his school, Christian Fenger Academy High.
The year before Super Bowl XLI Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, killing an estimated 1,600. Over 700 residents are still unaccounted for. Most of the lost were without the means to escape. Those who did leave are scattered across the country in a Diaspora that still endures. In a very real sense the New Orleans Saints will play hard in Super Bowl XLIV to heal the city. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was recently quoted as saying Hurricane Katrina was "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans""
Paul A. Moore
A Miami Public School Teacher
Reporting from Super Bowl XLI to Super Bowl XLIV
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