Story by Rusty Ellis
Photo by Kailee Means
Tuesday was a normal day for many people around the Upper Cumberland, as many people found themselves at basketball games with the season in full swing.
For DeKalb County freshman football player Alex Lemons, what he endured was the furthest thing from normal.
“There was a fire in their house, and Alex’s father was unable to escape,” said DCHS head coach Steve Trapp. “He lost his life in that accident, and Alex lost pretty much everything he owned and had. He lost it in that fire as well.”
Trapp has known Alex and his father, Ed, for all of Alex’s life, as the two met when they were in high school. That relationship budded further when they were both coaching in the same junior pro league in Smithville.
“We played football together in high school and we’ve basically known each other our entire lives,” Trapp said. “My football coaching career started in the junior pro ranks, and he was apart of that program for a long time…a majority of my football team played for him. He was always there to support not just his kid, but a lot of kids of DeKalb County. There wasn’t a person who didn’t like him, and that’s how he’ll be remembered.”
And it’s through that junior pro league that Trapp saw Alex play for the first time.
“I’ve known Alex ever since he was three or four years old,” Trapp said. “Always coming to our camps and saying ‘hey, I can’t wait to be in high school to be a Tiger.’ I’ve watched him play junior pro and he has a chance to be a good player for us in his career, and I know his dad was excited for that…he works hard and has a desire to be a good football player for DeKalb County.”
Trapp has always built his program around the idea of a family bond amongst players, and in a tragic time like this, one of his players needs the community’s support.
And how the community has shown up thus far has been incredibly encouraging for Trapp.
“I’ve been a head coach for 17 years and unfortunately, we’ve had too many of these situations,” Trapp said. “One thing you notice is when great things happen, this community rallies around us, and when these things happen, they rally around us as well…the one point I made to the team is let’s not wait until good things or bad things happen for us to show how much we love each other and how much we care for each other. That’s not a football thing; that’s a human-being thing.”
The simplest question one can ask is how they can help, and there are plenty of options to help. To start, an account at First Bank in Smithville has been set up in Alex’s name and everything donated will go directly to him. The contact at the bank is Casey Midgett.
“Him and Ed coached junior pro together and ran the baseball league together,” Trapp said. “He works at First Bank so we’ve set up an account in Alex’s name, and 100% of everything that gets there will go to Alex and his needs and can be can be managed the way it should be.”
The bank is located at 200 W Main Street in Smithville for any in-person donations.
Money can also be sent through Venmo to the football team directly, and they will transfer that to the account at First Bank. The account to send any donations to is @coreyarathbone.
“We know 100% of anything that comes through First Bank and our football program will get directly to Alex,” Trapp said. “This is what we’ve set up, and there’s already been a lot of support there. That would be the best way (to help).”