Cardinals' Darnell Dockett says uncle came to rescue after tragedy
BY RICH CIMINI
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
TAMPA - Darnell Dockett doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve; they're under his sleeve - a 60-word poem tattooed to his right forearm. It's an ode to his uncle, Kevin Dockett, the man who saved his life.
Their relationship, born from tragedy, has endured 14 difficult and wonderful years. Now the tough times are over, and the Cardinals' burly defensive tackle can look into the eyes of strangers, as he did Tuesday at Super Bowl XLIII Media Day, and proclaim confidently and without sadness, "I can overcome anything."
And he wasn't talking about the Steelers' blocking schemes.
When he was 13, living in Decatur, Ga., Dockett lost both parents in a span of four months. His mother, Cheryl Hambrick, was shot in the head, an execution-style murder in their home. Dockett found the body, a grisly discovery that could scar a hardened adult, much less a teenager.
It was July 4, 1994, a senseless death on the nation's birthday. Returning from a friend's house, Dockett unlocked the front door and heard nothing - an unusual, eerie silence that alarmed him. He took a few steps and saw her lying on the hallway floor, in yellow pants and a white T-shirt, in a pool of blood.
Dockett didn't cry; he just froze. He stood there, devastated and mute, until his 18-year-old sister arrived. He didn't want her to see what he saw, so he forced her out of the house. They drove to a gas station, where they called the police. With no sign of a forced entry, and with Hambrick a known drug user, it was easy to paint a picture of how and why the horrific crime might have unfolded. It remains unsolved.
The young boy was supposed to move in with his estranged father, who was living in Maryland, but that never happened. His dad was suffering from pancreatic cancer, his 230-pound body having withered to 170. Soon he was dead, too, and Dockett, a troublemaker who already had been in and out of juvenile detention centers, was an orphan, heading in a bad direction.
"I think it made me become a real tough person," said Dockett, one of the more personable players on the Cards. "I don't have any down days. If anybody who knows me comes into our locker room, they know I'm happy, they know I'm cheerful. I look at life now as though I've already had my misery days."
Dockett's paternal uncle, who lives in Burtonsville, Md., did what no other family member was willing to do - he took him in. Darnell's new life wasn't all play dates and ice-cream cones, that's for sure. He continued his rebellious ways, skipping school, stealing bikes and walking out of stores with candy stuffed in his pockets.
"He was a bad kid," Kevin Dockett said matter-of-factly in a phone interview. "He had no respect for others, no respect for teachers or adults."
Asked how he finally got Darnell to obey rules, Kevin Dockett laughed.
"Hickory," he said, referring to the name of the wooden paddle he used on Darnell's behind.
"That did the trick, believe me," his uncle said. "Talking and talking, that wasn't working. He needed a spanking."
Darnell went to Florida State, where he teased coaches with his immense physical skills but disappointed them - and NFL scouts - with his behavior. He was erratic on the field, and he was arrested in a shopping scam in which he purchased clothes for next-to-nothing prices. He was ordered to perform community service, but the threat of being thrown out of school forced him into soul searching. His biggest ally was - and is - his uncle, so Dockett decided to write a poem as a form of gratitude.
"He was the only one who was calling me every day, telling me it's going to be all right, you're going to make it," he said. "We did it; we made it."
Dockett, a third-round draft pick in 2004, made the Pro Bowl in 2007. He enjoyed another solid year and made the Cards' biggest defensive play of the postseason, forcing a botched handoff between Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Michael Turner - a fumble that was returned 27 yards for a touchdown by Antrel Rolle in a wild-card game.
In the NFC title game, Dockett recovered a fumble on the final play, one of those wacky "Stanford band" plays that never had a chance. The Cards were going to the Super Bowl, and Dockett clutched that ball tightly in his meaty right arm, pressed against the tattooed poem.
Fittingly, Kevin Dockett was there. Before the game, he asked his nephew for three things: A good seat, a hot dog and a souvenir ball. He was speechless when Darnell tossed him The Ball, the giver finally becoming a receiver.
"It was one of the best feelings I've ever had in my heart," the proud uncle said. "Unfortunately, I can't put it into words."
Darnell took care of that, on his forearm:
For believing in me when no one else would.
When the odds were stacked against me, beside me you stood.
For being my friend,
brother, confidant and father.
Because of you I know blood is thicker than water.
Words can't express my gratitude,
Nor any amount of money.
From the bottom of my heart,
thank you and I love you.
Donny.
Darnell (Donny
) I wish you the game of your life this coming Sunday! Then a SB game ball to your uncle Kevin!
