Former Sparkman football player living his dream in Super Bowl LX

HARVEST – All eyes of the sports world will be on Sunday’s Super Bowl which will feature former Sparkman High and Troy University star player Dell Pettus. He plays safety for the New England Patriots who will face the Seattle Seahawks in the 60th annual Super Bowl NFL Championship Game. Among those 70,000 attending the game in person at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Cal., and who will have their eyes peeled on Pettus, are his immediate family members comprised of parents Glenn and Tamara Pettus, and his younger brother, Micah Pettus, who just completed his college playing days at Florida State and hopes to join his brother in the NFL through the upcoming NFL Draft.

The Pettus family will be joined by two longtime family friends and also former football players at Sparkman High Khalil Griffin and Chris Joiner, who are scheduled to meet the Pettus family gathering at the stadium, which is hosting its second Super Bowl and is the third NFL title game to be held in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Patriots made their way to Super Bowl LX with a thrilling 10-7 victory over Denver in the blinding snow, high winds and frigid temperatures. Pettus, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, was in on numerous plays at safety for the Patriots’ defense and recorded one solo tackle. In the playoffs, the Patriots’ defense allowed the fewest points scored in the Wild Card, Divisional, and Conference Championship Games in route to a Super Bowl appearance in NFL history.

For Pettus, he was on the team a season ago when the won-loss record was 4-13. This season, a complete turnaround posting a 14-3 regular season record and Pettus feels he knows why. He said, “We had a tighter group of guys and easy to play alongside and for each other. Coaches instilled superb discipline, which made a difference.”

The game is a dream come true for Pettus, who, along with his younger brother and neighborhood friends played football whenever and wherever possible while growing up in the area of Harvest just outside Huntsville proper.

His younger brother, Micah (6-7, 340, offensive lineman), who finished his high school play at James Clemens High before playing college football at both Ole Miss and Florida State, said he can remember those early years with his brother as they always played situations like they were each in the Super Bowl. Micah added, “Now, he’s living it.” Micah has been training in Frisco, Texas and will meet his father and mother in California for the big game and is looking forward to watching his big brother play in the game they always dreamed about. “I know he’s excited to be there as we used to watch old Super Bowl games and sometimes wear the jerseys of those players who played in the game. My only advice to my older brother was to go out there and don’t embarrass the family,” he said with a chuckle. “Our close friends, we all played and grew up together playing for the Tennessee Valley Youth Football League and at Monrovia Middle School where we were the Panthers.”

For Pettus, who wears No. 24 for the Patriots, he’s one of 13 players in the game representing either high schools or colleges in Alabama.

“With my opportunities this season I feel I’ve been doing my best and I contributed to the team’s success,” said Pettus, who has a new member to his family with a son, Jayden, born about nine months ago.

“We are excited for this opportunity for the entire family and we are honored and consider this a blessing for Dell to be there in the Super Bowl,” said Tamara Pettus, who is a longtime teacher and coach at Monrovia Middle School. “Both of our sons have always dreamed of the NFL and Super Bowl since they were little boys. My husband and I always thought, even early on, Dell would be an athlete. When he was very young, he would climb onto our couch and loveseat and do flips with no hands. He would land a perfect flip and turn around and laugh. Also, when he was very young he would race to the door and tackle people who would be visiting. It was his greeting of saying hello.”

Pettus, his brother and his best friends played youth football for the Monrovia Panthers, although soccer was his first sport, he also exceled in baseball. While in the first grade, he brought home a flyer about joining the Panthers and it was there he achieved his first experience in organized football. His mother added, “In the very first game with the Panthers, we knew it was a done deal. Football would be his future.”