High School Sports

SAKS — The moments inside a high school locker room before kickoff is one of the most exciting times in all of sports — if not life.

The testosterone-charged youthful exuberance of adolescent boys compounded with the anticipation of competing in a game that can't be played apart from raw emotion creates a synergy rarely duplicated elsewhere.

In the chasm in time that exists, Saks' Mytez Madden seeks out a place of solitude amid all the mania. The senior finds a space all to himself and begins to reflect upon his responsibilities as the team's middle linebacker, the quarterback of the defense.

He thinks about what he has to do.

He thinks about what his teammates have to do in order to win, as well.

But at some point, his focus always shifts away from football and to his grandfather, the late Hollie J. Byrdsong who passed away in June of 2007 at the age of 69, mere months before the start of Madden's junior season.

And every time, the tears begin to roll down his face.

"I think about my granddad and how he wanted me to succeed and how he always told me never to give up," Madden said. "He was at a lot of my games from Junior B and midgets. I try not to let him down. I know he's looking over me.

"If I mess up, I feel like I messing up for him."

And this year in his quiet time, more solemn thoughts are likely to occupy his mind.

Getting a call

It was the day after Thanksgiving in 2007.

Madden got a call from an aunt at 1:30 a.m. "I thought I was in trouble or something," he said.

"She told me I needed to wash my face and sit down," he said.

She had something to tell him, "'Your dad was murdered,'" he recalled.

Madden's birth father, Donald Byrdsong of Sweet Rock, died of gunshot wounds in a double-shooting in the Friendship Community at a residence on Woody Lane in Talladega County near Oxford. According to police, the other injured
victim, Whitney Elston, was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle. Both were shot by a third party.

Upon hearing the news, Madden said all he could do was put his head down and cry.

"I cried all night," he said. "All I was thinking was, 'Why'd it have to be my dad?' I was just talking to him the other day.'"

Madden spoke to his father a week before he was gunned down. He knows — for a fact — that last conversation.

"I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me," Madden said, "But I never thought that'd be the last time he said it to me."

Once he dried his eyes that night, Madden's focus shifted away from himself and onto his grandmother, who had just lost her husband and now her son.

"I just thought, 'I gotta go up there to be there for her,'" he said. "She'd just lost her husband. It was a tough year for her."

Among all of this, it had been a banner year for Saks, and Madden in particular, on the field. The Wildcats went 9-3, winning their region and advancing to the second round of the AHSAA Class 4A state playoffs in their best season since 1995. Madden led the Wildcats' defense for the second year in a row with 118 tackles and 23 for a loss. His efforts nabbed The Star's Class 4-6A Defensive Player of the Year Award and an All-State honorable mention.

Mytez's stepfather, Shannon Noel, whom Madden also calls Dad, has been instrumental in guiding the 17-year-old through the trials and tumult.

"He's been a big help," said Madden's mother, Mary Noel.

Outside of his immediate family, which also includes an 8-year-old brother Shannon Jr. and now, a four-month-old sister LaMonica Noel, Madden said the coaches and faculty at Saks have been there for him the most.

"The faculty sent flowers to the funeral," Madden said. "The coaches have been there a lot. Anything I needed, they were there. We've all gotten closer, and my players have been there, too. It just made us realize that you can leave this world at any moment."

Saks coach Clint Smith said that's just what family does for another.

"Mytez is a great kid," Smith said. "As coaches, you want your kids to know that you're there for them whether it be with a shoulder to cry on or an ear to hear. We want them to feel comfortable coming to us with anything. Our hearts and prayers go out to him. We treat these kids like they're our own, and we want to be there for them in every aspect of life."

Football

The game of football, Madden's love, provides him with a reprieve from his grief.

"I don't know what I'd do without it," he said.

With it, he's carved out a promising future for himself, holding scholarship offers from Jacksonville State and South Alabama. This past summer, Madden, who'll likely play defensive back on the next level, camped at Auburn. The two-star recruit is listed as being recruited by Tigers' defensive end coach Terry Price.

"It's a great feeling," said Madden of the attention from college programs. "But at the same, I don't like to talk about it because I don't want to get the big head. I want it to be about the team — not Mytez. That's why I don't even bring it up."

Even with the sudden death of his father, his mother wasn't worried about it causing her son to slip on the field.

"He's never been the type to let anything affect his football playing," she said. "He's been playing since the first grade."

Smith said Madden hasn't changed one bit.

"If anything he's more inspired," Smith said. "There's been no drop off with his work ethic. He's been solid all the way around. That's one thing you never have to worry about with Mytez. He's going to be ready to play."

When the Wildcats are getting ready to take on Wellborn tonight in their season-opener, Madden will likely wander off to be alone in the visitors' locker room.

Maybe he'll think about his grandfather who he used to talk to about "anything, mainly football, but also fishing."

Maybe he'll remember the stories he heard about his father's athletic prowess, including one tale of his father doing a split in the air while leaping a defender en route to a touchdown.

Maybe he'll be thinking about the time he went to Six Flags over Georgia on family day with his father. It's one his fondest memories ever.

The tears will likely roll down his face again, the culmination of his pain, pride and passion for the game.

But one thing is for sure.

Once he emerges from his quiet time and hears the band playing and the Saks supporters screaming, he'll be ready to go.

"All that adrenaline will be pumping," he said, "and I'll just be thinking, 'Mytez you can't screw up tonight. You've got to go out here and do your best."