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She Can't See Him Play, But She Still Can Cheer Him On

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By KATHERINE SMITH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

VIDEO: Seeing The Big Picture | Special Report

TAMPA - Sometimes you hear Jennifer Fletcher before you see her.

She's the one at Jefferson High football games, a self-described 'sideline coach,' yelling after every play. She yells at the cheerleaders too, encouraging them to get some chants going.

'I love when the cheerleaders do their cheer 'We got spirit, how about you?'' Fletcher said. 'I'm like, 'I've got more spirit than all of you.''

She saves her loudest cheers for her son, starting center Adrian James. When he walks by her section of the bleachers, Fletcher screams his name loud enough that the opposing bench probably can hear her.

'Sometimes he'll put his fingers up like, 'OK, I hear you lady, hush,'' Fletcher said.

Not that Fletcher knows when James is walking by. She has to be told. Just like she has to be told what's happening on the football field.

That's because Fletcher is blind.

She'd give anything to see the action on the football field instead of relying on her sister Karen to act as a play-by-play announcer. But as much as she misses watching a football game, there's one obvious thing she misses the most.

'My kids' faces, of course,' Fletcher said.

It Began With Headaches

Fletcher suffers from a condition called Pseudotumor cerebri, a disorder in which pressure in her brain caused her to gradually lose her sight. She began experiencing headaches two years ago and that led to blurry vision and seizures. Eventually, she was properly diagnosed, but by then it was too late to save her vision.

Fletcher permanently lost her sight in December. On New Year's Day, she was completely in the dark.

'At first, they didn't know what it was,' Fletcher said. 'They kept chalking it up to stress. By the time they figured out, it was pretty much too late to do anything about it, so here I am.'

James remembers the day his mother sat him down and told him she would never see again. He cried. Then he listened.

'She taught me you never know what's going to happen,' James said. 'You just have to go with the flow. Life's not going to be what you expect. It's not going to be easy.'

'I want my boys to be strong in most any situation,' Fletcher said. 'I know that's not always realistic, but for the most part, I want them to be strong and tough. Sometimes as a single parent, you have to be strong and tough even if things are hard around you so your kids can have a good example.'

Leading By Example

Jefferson offensive line coach Spencer Van Meter can tell that Fletcher has set a good example. It's not just evident in James' work ethic, which helped propel him from last season's backup center to starter this year. It's mostly apparent in his attitude.

Van Meter heard from other players about Fletcher's condition and the added responsibilities at home. He didn't hear it from James, who, Van Meter said, never complains about anything.

'He's the kind of kid that's going to be successful no matter what he does,' Van Meter said. 'He's got a positive attitude. You never see him down.'

There have been a couple of times James admits to being scared. Like the time his mother suffered a seizure at church. Seeing his mother on the floor scared him.

Or the time during one of her hospital visits when a nurse tried to draw blood from his arm because he was sleeping in the bed while his mother slept on a nearby couch.

'I didn't sleep too good the rest of the night,' James said.

As the Dragons' starting center, James bears a lot of responsibility for making things click offensively. He's the one who identifies the defensive scheme and makes the pass-protection calls.

'When she first lost her sight, the football field seemed like the only place I could go to get my mind off of it really,' James said.

Away from the field, James doesn't live the life of a 'normal' teenager.

'I never dreamed that I'd have to lean on him so early in his life or ever in his life,' Fletcher said. 'I've always tried to raise him to be a strong young man, knowing that he'd have to go out and face the world on his own one day.'

They're A Good Team

On most days after practice, James squeezes in homework, some television, video games and phone time with a variety of chores. He's a regular at the grocery store and has been quite adept at chauffeuring his mother to her various functions.

They tag team laundry. James washes the clothes, while his mother folds them. He also washes the cars and cleans the bathroom and kitchen.

'You name it and he does it,' Fletcher said. 'Of course, he's a typical teenager. Sometimes I have to tell him more than once, but he does it. I know he's tired because he plays football and he goes to school and he works with his uncle on the weekends, but he maintains a good personality. He tries to be very respectful and that is a great help to me, not having to fight with a teenager.'

Fletcher attended the Lighthouse for the Blind to help her regain her confidence and learn how to do some things for herself.

'For someone to go through what she's been through and still get up and smile, I think it's pretty good,' James said.

That smile, with the slight space in between her top teeth, is the same one on James' face. That's something they share.

They also share a passion for Friday nights. That's James' time to play the sport he loves and forget about his problems. It's one of the few days Fletcher gets out of the house and gets to participate in something just like everyone else.

James wondered whether his mother would continue to attend his games after she lost her sight.

Friday Night Is Family Night

'I didn't think she would enjoy them like she used to,' he said. 'But I still hear her screaming.'

Actually, it's the entire family, which includes cousins, uncles and James' younger brother, Dwight. Fletcher is the youngest of 11 siblings. Karen, the football commentator, is two years older and believes there's a miracle in her sister's future that will allow her to see again. She also believes there's a reason the baby of the family is going through this.

'It is very hard to see her going through that, but I think God trusted her to handle this,' Karen Fletcher said. 'Not everybody can handle what she's going through.'

As much as her sister hopes for a cure, Jennifer Fletcher is resigned to her life now, knowing it's part of a greater plan.

'I don't know the full reasoning and the full purpose yet, but I know that there is a reason and a purpose,' she said. 'I haven't figured out why yet, but I believe things happen for a reason.'

COMING NEXT WEEK: Jefferson senior Darrell Young caught a touchdown pass in the Dragons' victory against Leto last week. It was something Young wishes his father could have seen. Young actually wishes his father knew about all the other good things going on in his life. Unfortunately, Young has never met his father and has no idea where he is.

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860 or ksmith@tampatrib.com.

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