SCORECARDWhen you see kids smiling, you
see them learning, you see teachers
coming to you saying, ‘I figured
something out, I got this, this kid
loved it,’ ultimately that’s what
keeps you going.”
At Grassland, where the oldest
students were born two years after
Dyson retired, his gridiron days
don’t come up much. Some parents
have been known to geek out upon
meeting him, feverishly sharing
stories about their ecstasy during
the Music City Miracle, and their
heartbreak when Dyson was tackled
one yard short of a Super Bowl win.
But the kids? “The kids are like,
‘No way, you’re just the principal,
right?’ ” Dyson says. “Then when
they find it out, they’re like, ‘Is that
really you?’ ”
In fairness to today’s youth,
Dyson doesn’t exactly advertise
what he used to do for a living.
But any classroom troublemakersdispatched to his Grassland office
will find a couple of hints. One is a
bobblehead of Dyson from a 2017
giveaway for Titans season-ticket
holders, perched on his bookshelf.
The other resides next to the candy
dish. (He’s a principal. Of course he
has a candy dish.) It is a printout
of a meme created by one of the
Grassland teachers, featuring a
still shot of Dyson being wrapped
up by Jones after a nine-yard
catch, forever short of the end
zone. “When you’re late for class,”
it reads, “and you almost make it
before the tardy bell.”LIKE SO MANY others in a country
where more than 250,000 people
have died from COVID-19, Dyson
has suffered deep loss. His 65-year-
old father, Cleavon (Steve) Dyson,
died July 14, after contracting the
virus. “He had some heart stuff,
and he got to the point where theyhad to put him on a ventilator,”
Dyson says. “Nobody wants it to
hit home in that kind of way.”
Classes at Grassland resumed
in early August, on time for the
start of the 2020–21 school year,
though students were online-
only for three weeks before the
majority finally returned to
campus. Since then, Dyson’s
hands have been full with a
daily crush of issues related
to COVID-19. Sometimes it
is nothing more annoying
than having to remind a
student to put their mask
up after lunch. Other times,
as Dyson says he had to do
one day in early October, it
involves emailing parents of 20 kids
who were ordered into quarantine
after contact tracing by the county
health department.
Dyson still gets his fill of football,
providing pregame and postgame
analysis for Titans radio broadcasts
and helping to coach his son’s youth
team—Genesis is a wide receiver,
naturally. He also keeps in contact
with his brother, watching clips
online and offering advice. “He
enjoys what he’s doing, but I
know he’s still kind of missing the
coaching,” says Andre. “He coaches
a little bit through me.”
But the school is Kevin’s locker
room now, and every fellow
educator is a teammate. “Just being
able to go through this with your
extended family, your teachers, your
administrators, and figure out this
plan to best serve kids, to best serve
a community,” Dyson says. “That’s
what I’ve been pleased with.”38 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM
OUT OF REACH
The team’s leading receiver
`eDžǍǍǍ#;pjfe_X[]fli
^iXYjÆXe[XcdfjkXK;Æ
`eJlg\i9fncOOO@M%A MEME CREATED BY A GRASSL AND TEACHER SHOWS
DYSON BEING WRAPPED UP BY JONES, FOREVER SHORT OFTHE END ZONE. “WHEN YOU’RE L ATE FOR CL ASS,” IT READS,
“AND YOU ALMOST MAKE IT BEFORE THE TARDY BELL.”
BOB (^) R
OS
ATO