Behind the Facemask: C.J. Holton
August 8, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla.–They are stories of perseverance. Stories about growing up, becoming men and being a part of a family. One-by-one, we hear from them. These are the Miami Hurricanes…
C.J. Holton | Linebacker | Junior | Crawfordville, Fla.
The U. When I hear that, I think about dedication and motivation to be one of the greatest schools in the country. The family history the school has, the great coaches that have been through here and of course, the great education that you get here.
Competition here is by far the toughest competition that you’ll have as far as your teammates competing with them each day all summer. On the other side of the ball, there’s someone who is as powerful as you, strong as you and fast as you. That makes everything better. Come game time, you’re playing someone who is a level down, in your eyes, competition-wise and it just makes the game easier. That’s the way that I look at it.
Playing football has given me the opportunity to better myself, better my life, create opportunity for my brother (FAMU) and sister (Johnson and Wales) to attend college, for my mom to have a reward of me making it with as much as she’s done all of her life working two jobs, being sick and having to go to work.. Me being here is a way of showing my mom, who’s the love of my life, that I love her. I think about her every day. She pushes me, motivates me.
I think getting a scholarship and going to school opened my sister’s and brother’s eyes. My sister played basketball and I don’t think she really took it seriously until she saw me. Then she was like wow, it’s free money, I can take advantage of this opportunity and go get me an education in life and do something that she loves at the same time. My brother played football also. He never really thought that he would make it to college. I can just see that in his eyes. He’s hungry. He’s a miracle child. He was in my mom’s stomach when she was shot in the head. For him to make it to college, that made my day, made my life and made me want to push for everything for myself.
When I was six years old, I remember my grandfather, who passed of cancer, waking me up for peewee games. He would take me to Hardees early in the morning and get me and some of my friends a nice breakfast. Then he would take me to the rec park early and we would hang out and play football. He was really my coach. I’m from the country–I’m a real big country boy. He taught me everything that I know. I remember being with my grandfather, which was my father figure. I remember him picking me up from practice, taking me games. It was a real enjoyable time in my life.
When I was introduced to the Golden Era it really put championship in the back of my mind. From day one, when he stepped foot in the building and talked to us, I just had this adrenaline that went through my body when he said, “I will push you to be the greatest that you’ll ever be.” Ever since the UTough workouts and the spring practices, I see the progression of everybody. I see that everybody is pushing forward and motivated to do whatever it takes to get to the championship. I really believe in the Golden Era. I’ve seen progress and from last year to this year change from last year to this year. I’m real excited to see what the outcome is this season.
I will never forget the game when I was in high school we beat my rival team and my best friend jumped into the crowd and hugged our moms after the game. That was probably one of the happiest moments that part in my life and I’ll never forget that moment in my life.
The hardest part of being away from home is being away from your family and friends, the home-cooking, of course. Being away from my mom and her inspiration that she gives me and my brother’s motivation that he gives me and that from my sister and grandmother that kinda keeps this fuel in my body that one day that one day we can all be together in the same area within five minutes of each other. Being away from home kills me inside every day, but I know that I have to get my degree and play football to better my lifestyle.
I didn’t think that I would be here today when I look back because I just always thought that things came easy to me. When I was in high school I didn’t take education as serious as I should have. I got here late. I had to go to summer school to finish a math class to get my GPA up to come here. I thank God every day because He worked a miracle for me to get here. Through 10th grade I just played football since I was five years old, that was all I knew. I just thought you played football and you just went to college. My mom always pushed education on me, but I just never really thought it would come down to those few points for me to continue playing football and go to college. I’m very grateful to be here. I never thought that I would be at the University of Miami after the stuff that I had to go through to get here.
Family I have one of the closest, loving families. We are all close. I can call anybody and ask for anything. My family means everything to me. I would do anything for any of my family. My mom’s situation makes all of us close. For us to be her kids and for us to all be in college that really gave her an inch on life. It makes her happy every morning to wake up knowing that all of her kids are in college.
We are all buying into Coach Golden and what he and his staff are giving us. We are hungry and all ready to get on the field this season.
I was raised in a house of eight people in a three-bedroom house. That made me push harder. My mom was always working and I remember always coming home to the house and it being crowded that always motivated me. When I see that house now, it brings tears to my eyes. That house is just that powerful to me. I’ve had many days in there. It pushed me to be where I’m at today. That household of eight people with the three bedrooms definitely created me. I saw the pain in my mom’s eyes, she wanted more for us, but you know God puts people in situations for certain things to happen.
When I played football as a kid, I pretended to be Walter Payton. I was a running back. I was always overweight and the tallest in the rec park that I played in. I had to bring a birth certificate to prove that I was actually my age. I would stay outside at night and just run around with a ball in my imaginary world thinking that I was Walter Payton. In games, I pretended that I was Walter Payton. From high school, I was a Sean Taylor That helped me out a lot. From high school on, I was a Sean Taylor guy. He was the most electrifying guy I’ve ever seen play the game of football.
If I could spend a day with anyone, it would be my mom because I don’t see her that much. We would do stuff that we used to do like watch Sanford & Son, cook up a meal that we usually eat. One of our favorite meals is pork chops, cornbread, mac and cheese and collard greens. I know it would make her day for me to spend time with her.
People might be surprised to know that the way my mom raised me, I have to have a clean surrounding. My room has to be clean and that I love cooking. I like to try different recipes.
I’m a hurricane because growing up there was no better school to be at. I saw it watching games, I saw it watching TV. Guys I grew up with always wanted to come here, so that pushed me to want to come here even though Florida State was right up the road.
At the U, I’ve learned so much from Ramon Buchanan.
My favorite thing about being part of the U family is everyone knows that you’re a very hard worker. You can just walk around proud that you’re part of the U, knowing that you’ll out-work everybody.
One thing that everyone should know about Miami football is that it’s not easy being a Hurricane. Period.
Make sure to check in for a new Behind the Facemask profile each and everyday in preparation for the Hurricane football season opener. For a review of all past profiles, check out Behind the Facemask Central.
