Last Tuesday’s events in New York took a personal turn for Mississippi State University football player Richard Ball. While sitting at home last Wednesday, Ball received a phone call. He recognized his father’s voice, and he said what he heard next sent chills down his back.
“He (Ball’s father) said ‘your sister died at the World Trade Center,'” Ball said. “It was unbelievable at first, but I know it is true now.”
Ball’s sister, Keneisha Johnson, was driving by the twin towers when the first one collapsed, taking thousands of people down with it.
“She came to mind when I heard about the planes crashing into the buildings, but I did not really know what part of the state she lived in,” Ball said. “I didn’t even want to think that she could be in the city when that happened.”
Johnson’s funeral was held Sunday in New York, but Ball did not attend.
“I didn’t want to go,” he said. “I wanted to remember her how she was–I didn’t want to see her like that.”
Not missing a football practice since Sept. 11, Ball, a junior cornerback for the team, has not talked much about his sister’s tragic death to his teammates or coaches.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Head Coach Jackie Sherrill said Tuesday. ‘If she did die, he hasnOt said anything to me about it.”
Ball, a transfer from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, said he does not want to dwell on his sister’s death, but wants to move forward.
“I am just going to let God handle everything,” Ball said. “It is hard at times, but she would want me to keep playing.”
Johnson did not really like football, Ball said, but she always enjoyed watching him play.
“I know she is in heaven watching me,” Ball said, sure that his sister was watching him Thursday night at the game.
“I am just going to play like she is watching me,” Ball said at a Tuesday press conference.
“This is going to be hard at times,” he said, “but I am coping pretty good with it.”
Ball and his sister were two years apart in age.
“Everybody always said we looked like twins,” he said. “We had a lot of fun when we were little.”
Ball attributes his sound mind during this time in his life to his faith in God.
“I just always keep God in everything I do because I would not be here without him,” Ball said. “I thank him every day for letting me be where I am today.”
Johnson left behind two children, who are now being taken care of by family members.
Ball played in last night’s game despite the recent family tragedy.
“I’ve never lost anyone close to me,” Ball said, “but I think I am coping fine.”
“He looked like he took it really well,” fellow cornerback Korey Banks said Thursday night. “I still don’t know the whole story. When that happens (a family member dies) there is not much you can say.”
“All of us rallied around Richard,” fullback Justin Griffith said Thursday night.
An obviously emotional Ball did not want to comment after last night’s loss.