In Yazoo County’s spring game, a rising junior wide receiver caught a short slant pass and took it 30 yards for a touchdown, rushing past a slew of defenders.
That in itself was not a miraculous thing. The same receiver routinely hauled in passes all summer long in 7-on-7 events, beating corners and safeties at every turn with his speed, quickness, and route-running prowess.
But when he tossed the ball back with his left arm and jogged back to his teammates, he revealed his right arm, which, thanks to a birth defect, was not properly formed and ended right around his elbow.
Despite his handicap, KJ Irving was not and will not ever be deterred.
He’s fought his entire life to achieve his dream of earning a starting spot as a wide receiver for the Panthers, beginning when he was a much smaller young man.
Birth
From the outside, Kanisha Reynolds’ pregnancy was a normal one.
She took proper care of her body and went to the doctor’s appointments, where they assured her everything was going according to plan.
Reynolds never suspected that anything could be wrong. She never suspected that there would be a flaw in her baby boy.
In fact, she never found out a thing until it was time for him to make his entrance into this world.
“I had several sonograms, and no one told me his arm was going to be like that,” Kanisha said. “When I was delivering, the doctor leaned over and said, ‘right arm defect.’ My mom was there, and she cried. His dad was there, and he cried. I had no idea what was going on.”
KJ’s arm stopped growing right before the elbow, leaving two connected fingers and part of a palm.
Kanisha was stunned.
“When they took him to the nursery, my blood pressure shot up,” Reynolds said. “I had to go into a quiet room. I couldn’t have any visitors or anything like that because my blood pressure was so high.”
The hits kept coming for Reynolds when she was informed her son failed his initial hearing test.
As a devout Christian, Reynolds did the only thing she knew to do in a time of extreme duress. She went to prayer, hoping desperately that she would be heard.
“After his hearing test, they said he couldn’t hear,” Reynolds said. “I started praying and I said, ‘Lord, please let him hear. I can’t imagine trying to teach a child sign language with only one hand. Please let him hear.’ I didn’t sleep a lot the next few days. I did more praying than anything. I felt like God was the only person I could talk to. We had to go back for another hearing test, and he passed it with flying colors.”
If nothing else, it was the first sign to both Reynolds and Irving that they could overcome.
Overcoming the odds
“He’s loved football for as long as he could hold one,” Reynolds said. “Most kids had teddy bears, but he had a football.”
The love of football struck KJ at a young age like an illness, infecting him and leaving him unable to shake it off.
Even as a 6-year-old, he slept with a NERF football and dreamed of one day being able to play.
When he got a little bit older, that dream came to fruition. His mother enrolled him into a summer little league program to play for the South Jackson 49ers.
With a team to call his own, Irving had to choose his future position, and the one he chose was a shocking one: wide receiver.
It might sound strange to many that a kid with only one fully functional arm would want to play a position where the use of the hands is essential.
But his reason for choosing that position as a child had nothing to do with logic or reason. It was simple decision of pureness and innocence.
“All of my friends played receiver, so I just wanted to be like them,” Irving said.
Before he could join his friends on the field, he had to learn to catch the ball in his own unique way. He had to focus on both acrobatic, one-handed catches and pinning the ball to his chest as a means to secure it instead of using his hands, which goes against conventional wisdom.
“Learning to catch the ball was hard,” Irving said. “I had to learn to use my body to make catches instead of my hands. I can catch the ball with one hand, but I normally try to use my body.”
Even after he began to learn the nuances of the game and how to best use his particular skill set to thrive, he still had to be put into position to succeed, to be given an opportunity.
That didn’t come easily, and the process was only expedited when Reynolds felt she needed to address the situation with the coaches.
“At first, he didn’t get a lot of playing time,” Reynolds said. “I had to go talk to the coach. I told him if he gave my son a chance, he could catch that ball. He told me that KJ came to him as well and told him he could do it. He finally put him out there, and he caught some touchdown passes that year.”
Breaking into the lineup was the first challenge he faced, but when he was given a fair crack at it, KJ showed enough ability and potential to earn his way onto the field.
Those were the first days he heard from the vast group of people that didn’t believe in him.
“I had a lot of doubters,” Irving said. “It was tough at times. People didn’t think I could do it. They still don’t.”
His first touchdown was a huge moment for Irving, but for Reynolds, it was validation of her belief in her son.
The only problem is that she was forced to miss it due to work.
“When he scored his first touchdown, I was at work because I worked on Saturdays, which was when they played,” Reynolds said. “When they played local games, I went on my lunch break to watch, but when they had to travel, I wasn’t able to make them all. They were in Natchez when he caught his first one. Some of the parents called me to keep me informed on the away games. They called me screaming, and then I started screaming.”
It was the first of many touchdowns to come for Irving.
The Push for Equality
Knowing full well what to expect with the coaches at Yazoo Middle School from her previous interactions with teams, Reynolds went and spoke to the coaches to try to get her goal accomplished.
She wasn’t trying to win over the coaches or charm them into giving him a starting role. She also wasn’t trying to offend them in any way that would lead to them punishing her child.
She simply wanted him to get an opportunity to prove himself, the same opportunity afforded to each and every player on the team.
“I just went to them and told them that he could do it if given the chance,” Reynolds said. “I wanted them to know that he was coming and was coming wanting to play. I just wanted them to treat him like they would anybody else because he’s just a normal child. If you punish one child, punish my child. I didn’t want him to get any special treatment. I want him to be treated exactly the same as any other child.”
Life is tough, and Reynolds wants her son to be adequately prepared for it after high school.
One of the biggest lessons she has tried to teach him is that things in life aren’t given out for free to everyone. They’re earned.
She tried to teach him that lesson by using his favorite food against him.
“His favorite thing to eat after a game is a Baconator,” Reynolds said. “KJ loves a Baconator. I would take him after every game to get a Triple Baconator Combo. That’s a $9 meal after every game. Like I said, I treat him like a normal child, and we had one particular game where he didn’t do a thing. On the way home, I drove right past Wendy’s and didn’t stop. I told him he didn’t do nothing, so didn’t deserve nothing. That next game he caught a touchdown, and I told him, ‘You’re getting your Baconator, baby!’”
Irving has been forced to learn these lessons earlier than most, but he’s stepped up and responded accordingly.
He earned opportunities.
Most importantly, however, he made the most of them.
The Dream Come True
Growing up in Yazoo County, Irving watched the Panthers play under the bright lights on Friday nights with his friends and classmates, wishing and hoping to one day join their ranks.
On August 18, the Yazoo County Panthers will get on their bus and travel over to Murrah to face the Mustangs to open their season.
And starting at one wide receiver spot will be KJ Irving.
“I was so happy when I found out because I had been working a lot with my coaches and stuff like that,” Irving said, beaming with pride. “I had been good at 7-on-7. I caught a touchdown and had more than eight catches each time we went out there. It really means a lot to me.”
His hard work paid off, his mother’s prayers were answered, and people will be looking his direction because of his athleticism and ability instead of his physical abnormality.
If his story ended there, it would be an iconic tale of perseverance, hard work, and the sheer will of the human heart.
But Irving’s story didn’t end there. He has accomplished so much already, but he won’t sit around and reflect while there is still so much left to accomplish.
In fact, he already has another big goal in mind.
“I would love to earn a scholarship at Jackson State University,” Irving said. “I think the odds are 50/50 that I get a scholarship there. That’s a lot higher than I would’ve given to myself years ago.”
It may be hard to believe that we could see a collegiate wide receiver with one whole arm starting games and hauling in touchdown, but it was also hard to believe we’d see one starting for a playoff-caliber high school team.
Irving proved everyone wrong.
He’s is used to the doubters and haters. He feeds off of them, and they only fuel his fire.
His story began as a surprise to all, and he’s still surprising people daily.
It will be an uphill battle to earn the scholarship, but if anyone is up for surprising the collegiate world, it’s KJ Irving.
