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Christian Academy, and moved in
with another family on the team.
He earned a full scholarship to
Auburn, and his new family and
Blaxon’s sister all came together
last spring to see Blaxon drafted by
the Tennessee Titans.
“This is a kid who could have
been walking the streets of Wilm-
ington, Delaware, having drive-by
shootings or doing drugs or what-
ever the case may be,” Sills said.
“We have a lot of those situations.”
Some kids have fathers in jail
for murder. Another’s father hung
himself in prison.
“It’s a struggle,” Sills said, “and
the school really is a ministry.”
Religion is a top priority at East-
ern Christian (a job advertisement
on the school’s website requires
applicants to be born-again Chris-
tians). On the sign in front of the
school is a Bible verse, 1 Corinthi-
ans 9:24, which says, “Do you not
know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the
prize.”
At Eastern Christian, they know
they have to run faster to get that
prize. But they succeed at an
incredibly high rate. Sills estimated
that out of 15 in a graduating class,
13 will play football in college for
free or virtually free.
And they come a long way from
where they started in order to do it.
Some kids come to school and don’t
have any lunch, so the Sills family
used to send extra food to school.
“Over the course of time, we get
the kids that have been forgotten,”
Sills said. “It just always makes you
cry when you see some of the situ-
ations that some of these kids are
in.”
* * *
As for Canteen and Watson,
they know they’re relatively lucky.
There’s a gamut of family situations
at Eastern Christian, and Canteen
and Watson were at the upper end
of that spectrum, despite growing
up in or just outside Wilmington.
Their parents made sure they had
everything they needed.
But the two players could always
have gotten into trouble. They were
right next to what Watson calls
“the worst part” of town.
They know the future they have
in front of them was never inevi-
table. They agree they wouldn’t be
here if not for Eastern Christian, if
not for their hard work, even if the
ball had bounced differently. The
world they left behind is a constant
reminder.
“I knew kids, of course I knew
kids,” Canteen said. “I had friends I
grew up with that chose the wrong
path. You’ve got to let those go.”
For both, the route was simple.
They went to school from around 8
a.m. until 2 p.m. on weekdays. Then
came football practice, weight
training, walkthroughs and extra
workouts. On fall weekends, they’d
travel to games all over the East
coast. Then came more offseason
training, and then camps to gain
exposure to college coaches.
Canteen and Watson cleared
every hurdle.
“They proved to me who they
were through handling that ethic,”
Thomas said. “Never complained.
Them two? Never heard a peep out
of them. Ever.”
Thomas coached Canteen and
Watson starting in middle school,
before Eastern Christian even
existed. They worked year-round
to get to this level. Watson became
an interception machine, always
finding himself around the ball
when it was thrown. Though he
hasn’t seen the field much at Michi-
gan, he showed a glimpse of his
capabilities with an interception in
the Spring Game.
Canteen, meanwhile, worked
with David Sills V relentlessly to
develop chemistry to match his
blazing speed. When Sills threw a
back-shoulder fade, Canteen would
know, and he’d adjust. When Can-
teen switched his route before the
snap, Sills would know, and he’d
adjust. Canteen has also played
sparingly in the past year (in part
due to a shoulder injury in camp),
but the Michigan coaches have
started using him on offense and
defense, presumably to try to uti-
lize his speed.
“Those are two kids that get it,”
Thomas said. “It’s not recreation
for them. This is something that’s
very, very special and near and
dear to them. They both have those
dispositions, which affords them
the opportunity to challenge them-
selves.
“At the end of the day, we live in
a microwave society. Everything’s
got to be done in 30 seconds. Most
young people are focused on other
COURTESY EASTERN CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
Sophomore defensive back Brandon Watson grew up right outside the struggling town of Wilmington, Delaware, but he and Canteen worked hard enough to earn football scholarships to Michigan.