They call it the City of Brotherly Love, but it often doesn’t feel so lovely.
Will Smith made it out of West Philadelphia — born, and raised — to become one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.
To the south, the city’s professional sports teams are housed, essentially, side by side. The NFL’s Eagles play at Lincoln Financial Field, baseball’s Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, and the NHL’s Flyers and NBA’s 76ers share the nearby Wells Fargo Center.
There are cheesesteaks, at the famous Pat’s or Geno’s or Jim’s, and others. There’s history, and culture.
That’s the good part, the lovely part.
But it’s not all good.
Will Parks and his brother, Delane Hart-Johnson, know all about the crime, the murder, the incarceration. They’ve seen it firsthand.
They never wanted to be just another statistic.
“There was always the motivation of, you know, just trying to get out of the hood,” Hart-Johnson said. “Not a lot of kids from Philly make it out. We were just trying to make a name for our city and show them you can make it out with football and not be one of the statistics, in a cell, or dead.”
Here’s a statistic: 193. That’s how many tackles Parks has in a four-year Arizona football career. Here’s another: 2. That’s the number of 80-plus-yard catches Hart-Johnson has this season for the New Mexico Lobos.
Parks and his brother will meet on the field Saturday — for the first time since they were kids — when the UA and New Mexico square off in the New Mexico Bowl. About 15 of the brothers’ friends and family will attend the game, and countless others will be watching in Philadelphia.
Parks, a senior safety, will finish his college career in Albuquerque. Hart-Johnson, a sophomore receiver, still has two more years to go.
Regardless of the final score, both have already won.
“Where we come from, there’s so many people that had the chance but didn’t make it,” Parks said. “We were in the few that went out there and stuck with it.”
From the days of “rumble football” in the streets to the New Mexico Bowl, here’s their story — from Will about Delane, and from Delane about Will.
The brothers, with love.
About Delane
UNM coach Bob Davie says Hart-Johnson is “the happiest guy. … I told him, ‘I love ya, but you can’t smile all the time,’” he said. “I’m one of those guys who’s nervous; he’s always smiling. He’s a happy, happy, good-hearted person with a lot of skills.”
Here’s what Will Parks had to say about his brother:
“We called him ‘Smiley’ when we were little. I don’t know why people don’t call him ‘Smiley’ now. You look at him right now, and he’ll be like this (smiles), smile for no reason. All he does is smile. That’s just how we are. We’ve got good personalities. We’re both a people-person. You might see he’s smiling, but I don’t smile as much as him.
“Throughout Little League, we played together, then once we got to high school, we kinda separated. Then he went to my high school after I left and came here, so this will be the first time we actually played against each other. So it’s gonna be pretty exciting.”
On the last time Parks tackled him: “Man, probably about seven years ago, but that was on the street, playing rumble football, just throwing the ball up, somebody catch it and somebody getting rammed into a car and breaks the window or something. That’s how we played football back home. Once there’s snow on the ground, we just put on the jumpsuits, three jackets and six pairs of shoes if you need to, and just go out there and tackle.
“We’ve been playing football for a long time, and now it’s time to break that bond. At the end of the day, let bygones be bygones and go out there and play football.
“From a physical standpoint, he’s physical. He’s one of those receivers that can use his hands. He’s about 6-3, 205, 210 pounds. From a physicality standpoint, being able to go out there and jam a lot of receivers and stay with them throughout the whole route, he helped me with it as far as when we go home and work out throughout the offseason. He’s that big receiver that can grab the ball, and he has hops, too.
“They should utilize him a lot. I don’t understand why they don’t. I would use him. As long as he’s out there doing his thing, he should be fine.
“We’ve been FaceTime-ing all week. I just tell him to get his popcorn ready while he’s on the field; when he’s off the field, keep the popcorn with him.”
About Will
Parks has “been terrific,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Since the day he got on campus, he’s been a guy that loves football, that wants to get better, that’s contributed since the day he’s gotten here, and he’s been a pure joy to coach. You want guys that you can build your program around, and Will’s been one of them.”
Parks radiates excitement, which is one of the reasons Hart-Johnson says he is excited to finally square off.
“We’ve talked, like, every other hour. We go at it every other hour.
“We always teed up and played with each other, but being on opposite teams is gonna be kinda fun.
“He would help me with what I should do on this play, and what the defender is gonna do, so it’s like we help each other out. He gave me a lot of IQ about football. We both play football at different positions and helped each other learn the game.
“We didn’t have a backyard or a yard, so we played street football. Sometimes we’d take it to a grass field and play, but we were always on each other’s team because that’s my brother, and I picked him first.
“We’d all get a little game of ‘rumble fumble,’ which was like every man for themselves, going against everybody by yourself. Then once we could get enough players we’d play team football, and me and Will would go up against our other friends.
“I mean, we relied on each other a lot (growing up). He did some things before I did. We’ve been on two different paths. He influenced me on stuff he already did and experienced, and I just learned from that.”
Will “always was a funny dude. But when it comes down to what he wants to do, he’s gonna work hard. At the end of the day, he’s really funny, he’s great to be around, he’ll make you laugh just as much as make you sad.”
“It’s exciting for me because I want to be on Will’s level, too, not only getting to that last college game, but at the next level, too. It motivates me to get right and get better and work hard. He influences me by his actions; that’s what I go off of.
“I’ll bring it for him. I told him he’s gotta keep his head on a swivel, because I ain’t playing with him. I know he’s my brother and all, but on the field we have no friends.”
