Gwen Kelley won $1.5 million in the Texas lottery three years ago, but that luck did not immediately spread to her grandson.
Billy Pittman, one of Kelley’s 21 grandchildren, was a top high school player, but his career at Texas nearly ended before it started.
First it was a quadriceps injury and a bout with Bell’s palsy in his freshman year. Then he hurt his other quadriceps and injured his shoulder in a scrimmage as a redshirt freshman.
“I told him we don’t quit in this family,” said Kelley, who lives in Cameron, Texas, and watches Longhorns games on television. “I told him education was the No. 1 priority and that quitting something he loved would just hurt him later.”
Long before his 63-yard catch at Ohio State or his two touchdown grabs against Oklahoma last weekend, Pittman was seriously considering leaving the game he had played for so long.
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“It was one thing after another,” said Pittman, who was hotly pursued by Nebraska as an option quarterback. “It would have been easy for me to quit. I’m glad I didn’t. It feels good to be out there because it was really tough to watch last year.”
Said Texas wide receiver Ramonce Taylor: “I told him to hang in there. You could tell he was frustrated.”
The biggest frustration for Pittman came one morning when his eye began to twitch uncontrollably. A doctor told him he had developed Bell’s Palsy, a non-fatal condition that results in weakness or paralysis on one side of the face.
“She told me I may not ever be able to move one side of my face,” he said. “That was scary.”
Pittman said the condition lasted about a month, and he resolved to enter his sophomore season with a clean mind. He got the early attention of quarterback Vince Young during voluntary workouts, and Young spoke with coach Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis about Pittman.
“I didn’t know he was that fast at first,” Young said. “After watching him move around against our defense, I called coach Davis and told him, `Billy P. is going to be good.”‘
Davis calls Pittman one of the team’s most precise route runners and believes the time Pittman spent in practice–the former high school quarterback served as the Longhorns’ scout-team QB his freshman year–has helped him mature into a good football player.
Pittman’s speed has helped the Texas offense take flight. He’s second on the team with 13 receptions and is tops with 311 receiving yards and 23.4 yards per catch.
And his emancipation from the injury bug has admittedly left him with thicker skin.
“After all I’ve been through, it’s good to know the hard work is finally starting to pay off,” he said.
And Grandma is making plans for the New Year.
“I’ve never seen him play a college game in person,” she said. “I would love to see him play in the Rose Bowl.”