ORLANDO, FLA – It’s really a question of what’s louder? The weights clanging or Boris Jackson shouting out instructions.
It doesn’t seem to faze Kameryn Metcalf who is locked into an intense workout. The recent Dr. Phillips’ alum is on a mission.
“I’m just working towards 20 years from now not having to work,” he smiles in between sets of deadlift. “Not have to work not just for me but for my family.”
So far, he’s put both in great position. Graduating with a 4.8 GPA, Kameryn, the first three-year football captain in program history, is off to Columbia University this fall to continue his career. His leadership skills and drive have become legendary in program circles.
“It’s not something you really think about,” Metcalf says. “You do it to help the guys around you because you can help them, you’re helping yourself.”
It’s a mission many see take its course on the field or weight room, but it starts right at home.
“For me to just keep going and pushing,” he says sitting on his bed looking at old pictures. “In the end I did it and I did it for my family.”
He did all of this for his brother and best friend, Kaden. Two years younger, Kaden has a condition called Ring 22 Chromosome. It affects things like his speech but not the size of his smile.
“Kaden is just so happy that it makes you feel good about what you’re doing,” Kameryn says. “That’s a big driving factor to keep you going because you know that it brings joy to someone else.”
Of course, like any set of siblings, there is some hot debate. Kaden insists he’s more charming and funnier, but does guarantee one thing.
“I’m going to miss him. I’ll miss him.”
So will Kameryn’s rock; his mother Leah.
“When people say you did this you did that, I give all the credit to her,” he says. “She’s the one who kept me doing what I was supposed to do.”
Leah Metcalf is Kameryn’s biggest supporter. There’s pure joy on her face when she reminisces about her son’s football and academic journey.
“You want to make sure they have everything they need to get to the next level, to be all they can be. He did it. That’s what I’m most proud of and it wasn’t easy. It was very hard.”
That’s because Kameryn’s biggest inspiration and hero watches from afar.
“When I mean the strongest role I don’t mean just because he’s my dad. The things he instilled in me when I was young were so real to me.”
Army Major Mike Metcalf instilled discipline, belief and drive in Kameryn from a young age. His message in life was to simply stay the course.
Mike earned what is commonly referred to in military circles as ‘3 Tab.” He was airborne, green beret and a ranger.
To the Metcalf’s, the man who served seven different tours seemed invincible. That changed as Kameryn recalls a car ride to a football practice in February 2019.
“He put his hand on the steering wheel and if he’d let go it would slide off. We were kind of laughing about it and we did that for a couple of days. He told me aunt who’s a doctor and she was like this is something serious.”
Scans showed Mike had a diffuse midline glioma, a rare tumor, on vertebrae C4 and C5. Two months later a biopsy revealed stage 4 cancer.
“When I say it moved so quickly, I mean it moved so fast,” Leah says.
Over the next few months, Mike’s condition rapidly worsened.
Like he had done so many times before.
“He wanted to fight,” Leah said. “That’s what we did. He wanted to get treatment at all costs so he could get more time.”
Mike made routine visits to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville to continue his fight. That remained until late July when he came home to rest. Two weeks later on the morning of August 9, 2019, Kameryn recalls the moment vividly.
“She woke me up and I just knew. She was like he’s gone but you can talk to him.”
Mike Metcalf died. He was 40 years old.
“I went out there. Paramedics were already in there. He was laying there. I sat there for about 20 minutes and held his hand. I looked at the time and was like I got to go to practice. I was like if he was here he would tell me to get my behind to practice.”
That’s what Kameryn did on that day and every single one to follow. His motivation was simple. Stay the course. Just like his father told him throughout his life.
Three years later, Kameryn has fulfilled a promise to his father.
“You’ve got to complete the mission,” Leah said. “This is the first mission. I tell him all the time, he’s a hero. He amazes me every day.”
Kameryn’s mission is complete finally with a message to his father.
“What’s up dad?! It’s Kam. Man we did it,” he says looking into the camera. “We stayed this course. We finished this mission. Two more months I’ll be at Columbia. You know I’m putting in work this summer. Love you.”
Kameryn heads to Columbia University for practice in August. His next mission is to earn a degree and honor his family every single day.
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