New Jets receiver Mecole Hardman catches up with Post columnist Steve Serby for some Mother Day’s Q&A.
Q: Describe your mother, Latrivia Danyell.
A: Very strong woman … charismatic … will give you the shirt off her back … Very loving, caring. So many words you can say for her, man, but probably the strongest woman I know mentally, putting a lot of stuff on her shoulders.
Q: How did you find out about her 2013 brain tumor?
A: She told us. I’m the one that kind of like pushed the issue for her to actually get a deeper look into what was going on because I remember the day actually. In her room, she called me in there, my dad was going to work, she asked me to get her remote control for her off the floor. And to me, I’m like, “Why did you call me only to get your remote off the floor when all you really gotta do is pick it up?” And she was like, “I wish I could, but when I bent over, I had to sit down and pick myself up just to get back up.” I’m like, “What?” And she’d been going to the doctors and getting scans or something like that and they never seen nothing wrong with her. They were saying maybe she had some massive headaches whatever. So, “Nah Mama, it’s more than what they’re telling you, you need to really go get checked out, ’cause if you can’t pick up a remote, it’s something more wrong than what’s going on.” Finally, she was like, “You’re right,” and she ended up getting checked out, and she had a tumor on her brain the size of an apple. The surgeon who did it, he completely removed the whole thing. … The tumor was so big she had to come back home without her front skull. Literally like the front of her skull was off. They had to take it off ’cause her brain was too big. Her brain was so swollen that they had to take the front part of her skull off and wait for the brain to like de-swell and then come back and put the front of her skull back on.
Q: How long later did they put the front of her skull back on?
A: She didn’t have her front skull probably for like, it had to be like maybe a month. It was a good little minute that she did without it.
Q: What hospital was it?
A: I think it was Emory Hospital, I believe.
Q: How scary was this whole thing for you?
A: It was very scary. When you hear tumor, you think cancerous. And I didn’t know if it was cancerous, or if it was like one of those things where I could have a chance to lose my mama.That moment right there is what made me and my mama get so much more tighter. Having a tumor that size, man, is crazy, anything can happen. You’re coming home without a skull, the front of your skull, that is scary, you know what I’m saying?
Q: When did you find out that it was not cancerous?
A: Maybe like a few days after she started doing all her scans, they actually found it, and after they found out it wasn’t cancerous, it kind of was a little breath of relief, but it still was still serious, ’cause anything could happen, you know?
Q: The doctors told her she might not be able to see again?
A: Yeah, it’s things that they say like, “This possibly could happen, this could be the side effects of this.” That’s one of the side effects, yeah.
Q: You stayed with her at the hospital?
A: Yeah, I wouldn’t leave until I knew she was OK. She was in the hospital for a few days, but I know for a fact I was there every day. I didn’t leave at all.
Q: You slept at the hospital?
A: Yeah, I slept there. Maybe it was a night, maybe it was two nights, but I know I didn’t leave until I figured out everything was well.
Q: You would drive her after that because she couldn’t drive.
A: She couldn’t drive for a good little minute for sure, because she kind of lost her memory and stuff too, as well. She had very short-term memory for a point in time, and then after a while she started to like remember certain things.
Q: How much did you pray?
A: Oh, every day. At that point, God’s gotta be on your side. We’re a Christian family, so prayer is one of the main sources as well to make sure everything was fine.
Q: How many games did she go to when you played at Georgia?
A: She was at every home game for sure, ’cause it was only like 35 minutes away, and every close game. She would come to Tennessee, she would come to South Carolina, she would come to the Florida game in Jacksonville. Her and my pops were at a lot of games … mostly all the games, actually.
Q: Has she been to your pro games in Kansas City?
A: Yeah, she comes to all the home games. Her and my pops.
Q: You could look up in the stands and see her there, right?
A: My first couple of years, three years, I knew exactly where they were in the stands ’cause they all had my all jersey and stuff on, and then when I got the suite it was kind of a little bit harder ’cause they were on the far end.
Q: Will she be there on opening night against the Bills?
A: She most definitely will be here, especially a new team, first game, yeah she’ll be here.
Q: Do you speak to her before games on game day?
A: Always sends a text message like, “Good luck,” and, “Have fun,” “Do your thing,” and then I see ’em after the game.
Q: When you were a read-option quarterback in high school, did she worry about your safety?
A: She still worries to this day. That’s just that mother instinct, you know?
Q: How many siblings do you have?
A: I have two older brothers, I have two older sisters and I have a little sister.
Q: What is the best piece of advice your mother’s ever given you?
A: My mother’s always telling me, “Show me your friend, and I’ll show you your future.” Or she’d say something about girls like, “Mess around, get something you can’t rid of,” speaking about a baby mama. You see a lot of people that have problems with their significant other or the mother of their child, and it’s a bad situation or they put ’em on child support. It’s one of those things you don’t want to have to deal with, so if you’re gonna do it, do it right.
Q: Tell me about the birth of your son on Super Sunday.
A: My girl, Chariah, gave birth to my son on February 13, right after the game that night. I had kind of like two victories in one, the Super Bowl victory then my son coming, so it definitely was a great night.
Q: You had an injured groin and didn’t play in the game.
A: I went to the hospital to be with my girl, she was due any minute. She went into labor the morning of the Super Bowl.
Q: What’s the name of your son?
A: He’s the III, he’s named after me.
Q: How would you describe fatherhood?
A: I think it’s the best thing ever, man, especially having your son first. It kind of gives you motivation to make sure that they’re well off when they get older. I love it, man, it’s the best thing ever.
Q: How is your diaper game?
A: Great. At first I was taking a little too long, but then as time went I started figuring out how to quicken it up and learn different little techniques and things like that.
Q: What are you getting your girl and mother for Mother’s Day?
A: My mom, I’m giving her a vacation, her and my pops. A vacation of her choice, of where they want to go, doesn’t matter where they want to go … anniversary gift, Mother’s Day gift all together. And then my girl, I got her a purse, shoes, stuff like that, and also invested in her as well … gave her X amount of dollars and invested in her in what she wants to do with her career and what she’s got going on.
Q: Describe Chariah, and does she remind you of your mother?
A: Any girl that I’ve been with I kind of like model after my mom a little bit. You actually ain’t gonna find the exact mold of your mama, but she’s a good mother, she’s loving, she has a standard she likes to live by, very particular in what she likes. … A great person to be around.
Q: How will you spend Mother’s Day?
A: My girl’s family is coming to Georgia to my family as well, so everybody’s gonna be together.
Q: What was that moment like when your mother saw the house that you bought for her after signing your rookie contract with the Chiefs?
A: Oh, man, that’s probably one of the best moments ever. To be able to give back to your mom that they gave you so much. And both my parents. And just see the looks on their faces. To be able to do that is a bundle of joy.
Q: What are some childhood memories of your mom?
A: Make sure that our Christmas come to life, doing the necessary things. … A memory that’s funny, I was maybe in 11th grade, I was going to a South Carolina football camp, and then they had a night camp or something like that. My mom was driving — was it like a Beetle (laugh)? It was a stick, too! I say God was with us that whole trip ’cause we got on a hill one time and I just knew it was like, “Ah, we’re not gonna make it up this hill, like it’s over with.” We just had a great time going there just ’cause she was sooo dedicated to get me there to that camp (laugh).
Q: How does your mother feel now about you being in the Big Apple and catching passes from Aaron Rodgers?
A: She’s definitely loving that.
Q: Three dinner guests your mother might invite to her home?
A: My great grandmama, Laura Bell, for sure; Allen Iverson; that’s a hard one, man … I’m gonna say me.
Q: Best meal your mother has made?
A: Lasagna.
Q: Her favorite movie?
A: Maybe like a Tyler Perry movie.
Q: Her favorite singer?
A: This is tough, man. I’m starting to question if I know my mama, for real now (laugh)… dang. Probably Michael Jackson.
Q: What is your definition of a Mama’s boy?
A: You’re a child around your mother, and you always feel like the need to give her everything or do what she says type thing. Whatever Mama says goes. Mama does no wrong, you know?
Q: Sum up why you’re proud of your mother.
A: What she’s endured, and always have a smile on her face, man … chin up, chest out … just a very strong woman.
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