“We were so lucky to have him,” said Derek Gammon, current principal at Mansfield ISD.
MANSFIELD, Texas — Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was talking about his future on the phone, but it was a moment he had hoped would happen in the past.
When the call came in that the Detroit Lions had selected him for the NFL Draft, a man stood up, cheered, clapped, and wiped away a few tears, the exact moment Rakestrow envisioned his destiny. I was thinking back.
“Today was the last day of school for fourth grade. I don't know how he did that,” said Derek Gammon, now principal at Anna Mae Dalton Elementary School in Mansfield ISD.
Back in 2012, Gammon was teaching fourth grade math in Duncanville.
Rakestraw was his student.
“For some reason, he snuck back into school. I went to class and looked at the desk, and there was a letter on the desk.”
The letter said, “You are the best teacher ever.'' “You always had my back and gave me confidence.”
That was the most important line for Gammon.
But here's a line that made him laugh. “I hope you're still alive. If I ever reach the professional ranks, I'll tell you about you.”
Ennis was a small child with a big heart.
They bonded over football. Gammon is a North Texas native who played at Duncanville High School and is an avid Dallas Cowboys fan.
He knew Rakestraw had big dreams and was smart and fast, but teachers wouldn't necessarily choose Rakestraw as a student to become a professional baseball player.
“He lived in an apartment right behind where I taught. I would sometimes see him outside, and even after he left me, I would jump over the fence and talk to him. We used to throw the football together,” Gammon said.
“We emailed when he was playing high school football at Duncanville and when he was in college at Mizzou. We always keep in touch,” he said.
According to many scouts, Rakstro was small.
“You couldn't tell him he couldn't do something. If you told Ennis he couldn't do something, he'd prove you wrong,” Gammon said. And he proved many people wrong in getting to his position. ”
On the second night of the NFL Draft, Gammon was partying with family and friends, waiting to hear back.
At that time, Gammon took out a letter that Rakstro had left on his desk more than ten years ago.
They hugged each other with framed notes and took pictures together.
When Rakestraw posted it on social media, the internet went wild.
“As a fourth grader, I made this promise. If I make a promise, I will keep it no matter how hard it is,” Rakstro wrote.
This post has been liked and shared thousands of times.
Gammon, who calls himself an introvert, even created an account about “X” just so he could see and reply to it.
A few days later, Rakestraw texted him and asked him to Google his name.
“I couldn't believe it,” Gammon said.
There are dozens of articles and thousands of social media posts.
“Ennis didn't write that letter because I taught him a lot of math that year,” Gammon said. “He wrote this song because we were close, we had a good bond, and football was one of our bonds.”
“The kids remember how we played together at recess, how we took an interest in them, how we went to their games and recitals,” he says. said. “What is sometimes not recognized in education is that teachers do everything for children.”
Gammon isn't the type of person who likes attention, but he said Rakestraw deserves it in every way.
“He had a dream when he was 10 years old and he made it come true,” Gammon said. “I was really lucky to have him. There are teachers who have done just as much as I have, or even more. And I hope they all get the same attention.”
Gammon said he is determined to go every time the Cowboys play the Lions.
He will wear a Cowboys cap and Lions jersey with Rakstro's name on it.
“I have to represent him, I have to support him, and he worked too hard to do that,” Gammon said.
