Troy University Athletics
Players Mentioned
GAMEDAY REWIND: Remembering Corey McCullers
9/15/2015 10:29:00 AM | Football
Following each home game, TroyTrojans.com will post the feature stories from the previous weekend's edition of Gameday, the official Troy football game program.
On gameday, the program will be on sale at the Screentech booths, both on Tailgate Terrace and inside Veterans Memorial Stadium. There will also be program sellers throughout campus during the hours leading up to kickoff.
Corey McCullers' time in the Troy football program was brief, but his impact was significant. He was taken from the world at 19 years old during a fatal car wreck on June 20th, 2015. However, his spirit lives on.
His spirit is what set him apart. He walked on to the football team last fall as an offensive lineman from Holtville High School in Deatsville, Ala. Walk-ons don't easily garner the attention and respect of teammates, but McCullers was different.
"Corey was a comedian," said senior offensive guard Dalton Bennett. "Corey was a funny guy. Every day it was something else or somebody else. He was just a funny guy, a likeable guy, somebody you could laugh at or laugh with. He always had a smile on his face."
"Corey was the type of guy who would get along with anybody," added senior wide receiver Bryan Holmes. "His personality was great."
The news of his death came as "disbelief and shock" according to coach Matt Moore, who took over the offensive line duties in the spring with the hiring of head coach Neal Brown.
"I got a phone call from the deputy," Moore recalled. "He said he had just notified his parents when I got the phone call. It was just shock."
Bennett found out from coach Moore.Â
"At first it didn't sink in," Bennett explained. "It didn't make sense. Sixteen hours before that we had just gotten done lifting together and talking, telling everybody, 'See you in a few days. See you next week.' It didn't quite register because it was so fast. Anytime something like that happens it's like it's impossible. It can't happen. It doesn't happen. But the fact is that it did, and it does, and it's real."
The Deatsville community and Troy community showed up at McCullers' funeral in masses in support of their lost friend and teammate. McCullers was a young man who made long-lasting impacts on many lives.
"He proved himself to me after the first few weeks," Bennett said, "And to everybody else. He had an effect where you wanted to like him. I didn't know anybody who didn't like him on our team, coaches included. Going to meetings we would wait and see what he was going to crack on Coach Moore about. They were getting each other every day right before meetings.
"He worked hard," Bennett added. "I never heard him one time complain or say anything bad. Not once. He was always positive."
Nearly every teammate showed up at the funeral to celebrate McCullers' life.
"We lined up a couple of buses, and almost the whole team loaded up on hot buses with no air conditioning and went to the funeral," Moore said. "It completely filled up the church. His mom and dad, it really made them feel good to see that he was cared about by so many people. It was nice, the show of love, the show of support, that our team put out there."
It was the second death in as many off seasons for the Troy program, but that doesn't mean the death of McCullers was any easier to handle than the passing of Jadarius Garner in January 2014.Â
Holmes, a senior from Lake Butler, Fla., was friends with McCullers and gained the respect quickly of the younger, hard-nosed, baby-faced walk-on. Holmes found his solace in Chris and Mary Lou McCullers, Corey's parents. Chris and Mary Lou's presence at Troy Fan Day on Aug. 22 was heartfelt within the community.
"With Corey, his parents helped me deal with it a lot," Holmes said. "We got closer and gained a relationship with each other after it. I didn't even know that Corey talked to his parents about me. He let them know about me, and that made me feel better knowing that he talked to his parents about me and that I had an impact on his life."
McCullers was known on the field as an offensive lineman who played until or past the whistle, didn't mind getting dirty, but his joking personality, love for soccer and his 19-year-old face earned him nicknames like "Gerber Baby," "FIFA" and "Baby Face."
"He told his parents that I joked around a lot," Holmes said, "and that I gave him the nickname 'Gerber Baby.'"
The loss of McCullers to this world has been treated more so as a celebration of life by his teammates. He was "a nose-grinding hard-nosed son of a gun" according to Bennett, who has the reputation himself. He was a smart, versatile player who could play every position, and was expected to soon be a contributor on the offensive line according to Moore.
It was Corey's spirit that impacted his teammates. And it will live on as one Troy player will be recognized each week for sideline participation and spirit. The player who exhibits the most spirit through the season will be given a plaque at the end of the year in McCullers' honor.
According to Bennett, "Corey left an impact on everybody," and his spirit will carry on.
On gameday, the program will be on sale at the Screentech booths, both on Tailgate Terrace and inside Veterans Memorial Stadium. There will also be program sellers throughout campus during the hours leading up to kickoff.
Corey McCullers' time in the Troy football program was brief, but his impact was significant. He was taken from the world at 19 years old during a fatal car wreck on June 20th, 2015. However, his spirit lives on.
His spirit is what set him apart. He walked on to the football team last fall as an offensive lineman from Holtville High School in Deatsville, Ala. Walk-ons don't easily garner the attention and respect of teammates, but McCullers was different.
"Corey was a comedian," said senior offensive guard Dalton Bennett. "Corey was a funny guy. Every day it was something else or somebody else. He was just a funny guy, a likeable guy, somebody you could laugh at or laugh with. He always had a smile on his face."
"Corey was the type of guy who would get along with anybody," added senior wide receiver Bryan Holmes. "His personality was great."
The news of his death came as "disbelief and shock" according to coach Matt Moore, who took over the offensive line duties in the spring with the hiring of head coach Neal Brown.
"I got a phone call from the deputy," Moore recalled. "He said he had just notified his parents when I got the phone call. It was just shock."
Bennett found out from coach Moore.Â
"At first it didn't sink in," Bennett explained. "It didn't make sense. Sixteen hours before that we had just gotten done lifting together and talking, telling everybody, 'See you in a few days. See you next week.' It didn't quite register because it was so fast. Anytime something like that happens it's like it's impossible. It can't happen. It doesn't happen. But the fact is that it did, and it does, and it's real."
The Deatsville community and Troy community showed up at McCullers' funeral in masses in support of their lost friend and teammate. McCullers was a young man who made long-lasting impacts on many lives.
"He proved himself to me after the first few weeks," Bennett said, "And to everybody else. He had an effect where you wanted to like him. I didn't know anybody who didn't like him on our team, coaches included. Going to meetings we would wait and see what he was going to crack on Coach Moore about. They were getting each other every day right before meetings.
"He worked hard," Bennett added. "I never heard him one time complain or say anything bad. Not once. He was always positive."
Nearly every teammate showed up at the funeral to celebrate McCullers' life.
"We lined up a couple of buses, and almost the whole team loaded up on hot buses with no air conditioning and went to the funeral," Moore said. "It completely filled up the church. His mom and dad, it really made them feel good to see that he was cared about by so many people. It was nice, the show of love, the show of support, that our team put out there."
It was the second death in as many off seasons for the Troy program, but that doesn't mean the death of McCullers was any easier to handle than the passing of Jadarius Garner in January 2014.Â
Holmes, a senior from Lake Butler, Fla., was friends with McCullers and gained the respect quickly of the younger, hard-nosed, baby-faced walk-on. Holmes found his solace in Chris and Mary Lou McCullers, Corey's parents. Chris and Mary Lou's presence at Troy Fan Day on Aug. 22 was heartfelt within the community.
"With Corey, his parents helped me deal with it a lot," Holmes said. "We got closer and gained a relationship with each other after it. I didn't even know that Corey talked to his parents about me. He let them know about me, and that made me feel better knowing that he talked to his parents about me and that I had an impact on his life."
McCullers was known on the field as an offensive lineman who played until or past the whistle, didn't mind getting dirty, but his joking personality, love for soccer and his 19-year-old face earned him nicknames like "Gerber Baby," "FIFA" and "Baby Face."
"He told his parents that I joked around a lot," Holmes said, "and that I gave him the nickname 'Gerber Baby.'"
The loss of McCullers to this world has been treated more so as a celebration of life by his teammates. He was "a nose-grinding hard-nosed son of a gun" according to Bennett, who has the reputation himself. He was a smart, versatile player who could play every position, and was expected to soon be a contributor on the offensive line according to Moore.
It was Corey's spirit that impacted his teammates. And it will live on as one Troy player will be recognized each week for sideline participation and spirit. The player who exhibits the most spirit through the season will be given a plaque at the end of the year in McCullers' honor.
According to Bennett, "Corey left an impact on everybody," and his spirit will carry on.
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