U.Va.’s Mosley dedicating his final season – Richmond Times Dispatch
Credit: PHOTOS BY DEAN HOFFMEYER/TIMES-DISPATCH
U.Va. safety Corey Mosley, being stopped on a return against Virginia Tech in 2009, has one more chance to beat the Hokies.
CHARLOTTESVILLE –
As Corey Mosley prepares for the 2011 college football season, the Virginia safety will be playing for the father figure he lost last year.
Mosley, who played high school football at Henrico, found out hours before senior day ceremonies last year that the uncle who was going to walk across the field with him had been shot the night before in Chesterfield County.
Patrick Mosley had been Corey’s mentor since he was 8 years old and made an effort to attend as many Cavaliers games as he could.
On Nov. 13 of last year, Patrick was going to be honored before Virginia’s game against Maryland. Instead, Corey received an early phone call from his uncle Mark, who said he was driving up by himself.
U.Va. coach Mike London, safeties coach Anthony Poindexter and other members of the staff joined Mark as he shared the news.
“I could see in his eyes something was wrong,” Corey Mosley said Wednesday. “He told me and I broke down. Coach Dex stayed by my side the whole time, and they were all very supportive.”
Mosley, who still had a year of eligibility remaining but was on track to graduate in December 2010, then had to decide whether he wanted to suit up for that day’s game, which he was scheduled to start.
“In my heart, I didn’t really want to play,” he said. “But we had been talking all week, and my uncle (Patrick Mosley) was looking forward to it. That’s what we lived for. We spent a lot of time around sports, and him coming to watch me play, so I went out there for him.”
Mosley recorded five tackles that day before heading home to grieve. The funeral was the following Saturday, and London allowed him to miss the team’s game against Boston College to attend.
He returned the next week for the final game of the year against Virginia Tech, once again logging five tackles. He credits his teammates and coaches with helping him make it through the season.
“It was a hard time because I really wanted to finish out the season, but grieving at the same time was difficult for me,” said Mosley, a fifth-year senior who is playing this season as a graduate student. “My teammates never left my side. They were there lending their support, and the whole coaching staff was, too. They played a big part in helping me to finish the season out.”
The loss was a devastating setback for the Mosley family, which lost Corey’s father, David, in a Henrico shooting in 1996.
Mosley said he’ll play this year in memory of the two.
He is expected to be a prominent player for the Wahoos and was selected as one of the representatives to address reporters during Wednesday’s media day festivities. That’s where he spoke with The Times-Dispatch about his uncle’s death, his first public comments since the shooting.
Mosley said that among the life goals he established with his uncle, two of them stuck out.
The first was to graduate, something Mosley accomplished in December. The second was to beat Virginia Tech.
Having returned as a fifth-year player, he’ll have one more opportunity in November.