Sports

Will work to play

• On Saturday nights, members of the South Georgia Wildcats are the center of thousands of fans’ attention, but once the crowds clear and lights fade, many are struggling to pay for pursuing a dream.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY — Pierre Lee spends Saturday night’s wearing No. 2. A standout defensive back who plays to the cheers of 5,000 adoring South Georgia Wildcats fans.

After games, he hangs behind on the field with a marker and signs lines of autographs as an athletic superstar.

And four to five nights a week, Lee is also No. 2.

But he doesn’t sign autographs.

He’s aisle No. 2 — at Wal-Mart.

“It’s exhausting coming in after practice,” Lee said of his job away from the field, “because you want to go ice down, rest your legs, rest your body.”

Instead, after a day of football practice for the hometown team at the Civic Center, Lee ventures over for his night shift, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., at Wal-Mart.

And he’s one of the lucky ones.

“I had to have a job in order to come down here,” Lee said. “People think we get more money than what we get.”

A life of glitz and glamour draws deep laughs around this locker room. Life in the af2, more precisely, life pursuing a pro football dream, means temporarily making “the minimalist of wages,” one player scoffed.

And the only bonus comes in the form of a $50 check — if they win.

One tour through the Wildcats starting lineup will find a group of players, not starving, not thirsty — but certainly struggling.

Like so many people these days, Wildcats players need extra cash to live, fill up gas tanks and, in some cases, stay on the field producing a winner for the city of Albany.

Former Westover star and current Wildcats Player of the Week, Antwone Savage, admits he could have to quit playing if he can’t find another job.

To this point, it has been an empty search.

“I said it to coach a couple of times,” said Savage, referencing leaving the team. “I am trying to still stick it out. I want to play football, though. I am still trying to do this and make it to the AFL.”

Roughly one-third of the current Wildcats have second jobs and with some exceptions, the other two-thirds want one.

Coaches and management have attempted to find matches for players, but with uneven success.

Players are willing to do most anything outside of fast food.

A few currently work at Ready-Ice, loading trucks. A small percentage of offers would be turned down.

Though Wildcats coach Derek Stingley can’t commiserate with his players, having starred in the AFL in a time before the af2 even existed, he certainly understands the stress — mental, physical and financial — associated with chasing a dream.

“It is tough,” Stingley said. “These guys are coming over here, the main priority for being here, of course, is to play football. Then they still are left, wherever them came from, with bills and rent. The amount of money they make might not cover all of it.

“They get themselves in a situation of soul searching, saying, ‘Should I hang around? Is this helping me if I walk away? Should I walk away from something I love?’ ”

It wears on many players. In fact, a handful left during training camp for financial reasons.

“You have to make a sacrifice,” quarterback Cecil Lester said.

Fullback Melvin Parris has battled through three seasons in the af2. Now 30 years old, he came back to the Wildcats for the opportunity to play for Stingley and attempt to win a championship.

With a knowing grin, Parris admits, “this is it” for him — his last chance to advance.

He would be thrilled to have a job while the financial restrictions of dedicating half of his year to this low-paying league wears on him.

“You are in the game, so you are just happy that you are getting paid to play,” Parris said. “When you are younger you don’t have to worry about it, but when you get older, you start thinking about it.”

Most Wildcats try not to worry about it jumping in between meetings, practices and preparation for a key division contest with 3-0 Florida on Saturday at home.

There, they will again be superstars, entertaining on the field and signing autographs off it.

Once the lights dim and adoring crowd clears, however, the same financial restraints will remain, along with a looming night shift at Wal-Mart — if you’re lucky.

“I hope it gets better because you have to deal with them mentally, at least those who want to fight through it and stay around,” Stingley said. “I hate to say it, but if they can’t stay, they have to do what is best for their family. I wouldn’t take it personally, I understand that.”

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