PASADENA - Kevon Seymour was thanking family, friends, coaches and teammates after he officially was invited Tuesday afternoon to play in January's U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.
The room grew silent as Seymour, standing at the podium with half a dozen cameras pointing his way, did his best to gather himself when it came time to thank his mother, Veronica Starling Donald.
The long pause was followed by impromptu applause that only seemed to fuel Seymour's overwhelming emotions.
"I didn't expect to go up there and cry in front of my teammates and reporters," Seymour said. "I got up there and it hit me. I couldn't say a word. I had to pause or else I wasn't going to be able to finish."
He looked back at his mother and offered a smile.
"I got teary-eyed myself," Donald said. "Even though he's an adult, he's still my baby. I was really happy for him. He had happy tears, so it was good."
There's plenty for Seymour to be thankful for. The four- star recruit is the No. 9-rated cornerback in the nation according to Rivals, and he's also rated 85th overall in the nation. Seymour has more than a dozen offers from some of the finest college football programs in the nation, including Florida, Nebraska and a handful of Pac-12 schools.
Seymour's rise to elite status started with his rough and humble upbringing in the housing project Community Arms, better known as Snake Pits to those who live there, in
spite of a strong presence of drugs and gang violence. It's one of the most dangerous housing projects in Northwest Pasadena and also includes Kings Village. For 17 years, Seymour has called this place home.
"It's called the Snake Pits because of the fighting and gang violence that goes on in there," said Seymour, who carries a cumulative 3.2 GPA. "I grew up there, my mother lived there and my mother's mother grew up there, so we have history. It's been hard because of the influence around me.
"I could have easily been sucked into that kind of life, but I wasn't because I'm a leader, not a follower."
Donald worked long hours as a nurse, doing the best she could to raise Seymour and his twin brother, Keon, an outstanding baseball player. Then, about four years ago, she met and married Ronnie Donald, who's since provided Seymour the peace of mind he'd long been hoping Ronnie Donald could provide, not just to him but also his mother. Seymour grew emotional describing his parents' peaceful, happy relationship.
"She's been working so hard for so many years," Seymour said. "Since Ronnie Donald came along, my stepdad, it made everything so much easier. I see how he respects her and never once raising his voice. You don't see them arguing at all, and I have a baby sister now. Everything's been running smoothly and going good for us."
That's an understatement. Seymour, a special teams nightmare for defensive coordinators and a show-stopping cornerback, will play in front of a national audience on NBC and become the first player in Muir football history to earn U.S. Army All-American honors. He joins Monrovia's Ellis McCarthy as the only duo from the San Gabriel Valley ever to be selected U.S. Army All-Americans in the same year. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl has produced 49 NFL first-rounders, including seven Super Bowl champions, 30 Pro Bowl selections and five Rookies of the Year. It's also produced a Heisman Trophy winner in Florida's Tim Tebow.
It's sometimes hard to believe all this started when Seymour was a 6-year- old playing Pop Warner football.
"I never envisioned any of this," his mother said. "I know he's always been a good athlete, but I never knew it was going to go this far.
"It's just unbelievable. It's like I have to pinch myself to see if it's a dream, and no, it's real."
Seymour's press conference also was attended by his girlfriend, Tori Floyd, Muir offensive coordinator Antoine Sims and Muir interim head coach Dave Mitchell.
He thanked Mitchell for his long but worthy motivational speeches, of which Seymour said, "He just starts preaching."
Seymour also made sure to thank Sims and former Muir cornerbacks coach Drew Peterson, who along with Sims drove Seymour and former teammate and cousin DaiDai McFadden to Cal's football camp last summer. Sims, with help from Peterson, helped put together Seymour's highlight reel that landed on the desks of major Division I football coaches.
Seymour, who said he hasn't narrowed his list of school choices and soon will make official visits to Florida, Washington, Oregon, Cal and Utah, also went out of his way to thank head coach Ken Howard, who couldn't attend because he's on administrative leave.
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