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Armwood's Cross Gets Another Chance With Team

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By ADAM ADKINS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

SEFFNER - Dykerius Cross says he is ready to face the consequences for his actions. He also says he is thankful to be getting a second chance with the Armwood High football team.

Cross made headlines after his arrest Sept. 16 for breaking into a vacant home. Armwood coach Sean Callahan said the incident stemmed from the senior wide receiver being homeless.

Cross, who had been dismissed from the team before that arrest, spoke for the first time Tuesday afternoon after the Hawks' practice.

"I made some mistakes, and when you make some mistakes you've got to pay the consequences. I did something I wasn't supposed to do, and I'll face the consequences," Cross said. "You learn from your actions, and I've learned from what I did. I learned not to do it any more. ... I thought I could do what I want. When you do that, you get into stuff and you've got to get out of it. I just say I made a mistake and I learned from it. I apologize for my wrongdoings."

According to Callahan, Cross returned to school Monday and met with Principal Marc Hutek. Callahan said Cross expressed remorse about the incidents and the attention it drew to the school, and even asked if he could address the Armwood students and faculty to apologize. Cross' request was not granted, but the sincerity he displayed then and the assurances he gave Callahan during a meeting Monday afternoon that he had gotten his life back in order led the coach the reinstate him to the team.

"When I released him, I told him I would welcome him back. I just said you've got to get your life right," Callahan said. "He's assured me that he's going to follow the rules at home and that he's going to follow the rules at school."

While Cross said he never considered himself homeless, he said he was asked to leave his aunt's home during the summer because, "I didn't want to follow her rules," and he obliged the request.

From that point until his first arrest Aug. 24, when he was charged with misdemeanor trespassing after being found sleeping on the floor in a vacant home on two separate occasions, Cross did not stay at his aunt's Seffner-area home, he said. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Cross told the arresting deputies that he was homeless.

"I've got a home, I've got a family," Cross said Tuesday. "I've got a family that loves me."

Cross said he was staying at his aunt's home at the time of his second arrest Sept. 16, when he was charged with felony burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and misdemeanor criminal mischief. Cross said that arrest was because of an incident before he went back to live with his aunt. He declined to discuss details about the arrests or about his housing situation, saying only, "I did what I had to do."

Tuesday, Cross was back at practice. Hawks senior quarterback Mywan Jackson said the team welcomed him back with open arms.

"It's real good to see him back out here, knowing that he's been through a lot of things in his life," Jackson said. "People said that we weren't his family, but they didn't know the situation he was in. I feel real bad for what he had to go through."

Callahan said Cross will play Friday night against Newsome.

"It's a blessing from God," Cross said of getting a second chance with the team.

"What I did was wrong," he said. "You learn from what you do, and I learned never to make that mistake again."

Reporter Adam Adkins can be reached at (813) 657-4533 or aadkins@tampatrib.com.

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