AFTER PROVIDING THE TITANS WITH THE
GREATEST MOMENT IN THEIR HISTORY, FORMER
WIDE RECEIVER KEVIN DYSON IS STILL IN
NASHVILLE, MENTORING KIDS AS A PRINCIPALH
SCORECARDMIRACLE
WORKE R
ALF AN hour south of
Nashville, the principal of
Grassland Middle School
is known to turn heads for his
stylish getups. Some days he roams
the grounds rocking a bow tie, other
days a blazer but no tie at all. He
dons cardigans and Converses, vests
and Vans, each ensemble accented
by a dark, scholarly beard that looks
dusted with powdered sugar. A
stodgier member of his profession
might settle for a rotating five-day
wardrobe of ill-fitting, drab suits.
Not Kevin Dyson.
“The kids seem to notice how
I dress,” says Dyson, 45. “So, you
know, I’ll mix it up.”
On this late-October morning,
however, the former Titans
wideout—best known for starring
in two all-time famous NFL plays,
both in the 1999 playoffs—is just
another casually clad telecommuter,
wearing a ballcap and hoodie
while talking on Zoom from his
basement. Class is in session atGrassland, but Dyson and his wife,
LaRosa, have been staying home
with their two young children,
who are isolating after coming in
contact with a close relative they
later learned tested positive for
COVID-19. So it goes as an educator
and a parent in a pandemic.
“It’s the up and down,” Dyson
says of his job. “One week is very
good, very quiet, then the next you
have kids being quarantined.”
Fortunately, son Genesis (age
nine) and daughter Korynne (seven)
tested negative. At Grassland, a
public school with 1,000 students
and faculty, safety measures have
kept case counts relatively low.
Everyone wears masks inside, no
one drinks from water fountains,
temperatures are checked at the
entrance and one-way halls lined
with arrows aid social distancing.
But Dyson knows better than to let
his guard down.
“It’s unfair to students, to parents,
to teachers and even administrators,because we’re all somewhat held
captive by the virus,” he says. “We
can’t be normal right now.”
Even in normal times, the zig
route where life has brought Dyson
would have baff led his former
self. This is his second year as
principal at Grassland and his
14th in education altogether, more
than twice as long as he spent at
football’s highest level. Sure, no34 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM
BY ALE X PRE WIT T
PHOTOGRAPH BY K E VIN D. LILESWHERE ARE THEY NOW?
DAPPER DOC
Armed with a Ph.D. and
strong sense of style,
Dyson stands out in the
halls of Grassland.