There was no time to hesitate.
When Ranier Rackley received news that his mother had taken ill, he had to go home. He knew he had to step up and do the right thing. With his mother, Velva Rackley, debilitated by illness, and 14-year-old brother Jeremiah at home, Rackley returned to Jacksonville, Fla. to become the man of the house.
The 20-year-old Rackley worked all sorts of jobs to support his family and did so without any resentment towards his mother, or anger caused by his current situation. He knew that, one day, he would return to the gridiron.
“If you have a dream to do anything in your life,” Rackley said. “Don’t give up on it, because you never know how God is going to bless you. You never know how it’s going to turn out.”
Rackley, a 26-year-old undrafted free agent from Elizabeth City State University, is patiently awaiting his opportunity in the NFL. He is the embodiment of perseverance. A decorated track athlete and two-star running back recruit at Andrew Jackson High School, his road has been anything but conventional. Yet despite his challenges in life, his head remains high and his faith strong. He recognizes his mistakes and has done his utmost to make amends for them with tireless effort.
“I can’t blame nobody for my mistakes,” Rackley said. “My mistakes were stuff I didn’t know at the time that I look back now and I’m like, ‘Dang, I should’ve did this, I should’ve did that.’ But I never let that ‘should’ve-would’ve-could’ve’ factor hinder me … I just kept pushing forward, kept my faith strong and that’s why I’m where I’m at now.”
AN EARLY BUMP IN THE ROAD
Rackley’s play on the field garnered plenty of interest from Division I schools; he even received scholarship offers from Central Florida and South Florida. However, his academics were not up to par.
As a result, the Andrew Jackson graduate decided to enroll at Georgia Military College in 2005. He set his focus on improving his grades while playing for the Bulldogs’ football team, never setting aside his ultimate goal of landing in the NFL.
Rackley starred as a freshman despite not traveling with the team on road games. A breakout performance in the team’s first home game — seven carries for 110 yards and a touchdown — moved him up the depth chart and provided him the opportunity to see more carries. He finished the year with over 700 rushing yards, according The Meat Locker Sports blog.
He appeared fully entrenched in the Bulldogs’ future plans as interest from top schools once again began to stir for the Jacksonville native. A devastating kidney infection hindered his ability to participate in winter workouts, though, which seemed to cause a rift between Rackley and head coach Bert Williams.
“The coach had the trainer coming in to watch me use the bathroom or whatever to see if there was blood in my urine,” he said. “Why would I lie? I love to play football.”
Talking to him, there is no sense of dishonesty from him. He is friendly and personable, but confident; the type of person you want to lead your team. But for some reason, his coach doubted the reality of his illness and put pressure on him to work out. He tried to tough it out, but when he returned to workouts, the pain was simply too excruciating.
“I told the coach before I started running… I’m like ‘Coach look, if I feel myself start hurting, I’m gonna pull myself out,’ and he said, ‘Alright, just go out there and see what you can do.’”
So he did. But when he removed himself with back pain, Coach Williams demanded he return. Again, Rackley did, but the pain ensued. He walked into the hallway to get a drink of water but when he came back, he was told he wasn’t welcome any longer.
EVERYTHING HITS THE FAN
Rackley transferred to Webber International University in Babson Park, Florida shortly thereafter.
He was in contact with many schools, including the University of Southern California. Rackley stated that former USC head coach Pete Carroll told him that, with Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush headed to the NFL, they wanted Rackley to be their next running back. However, he first needed to get his credits in order, as he lacked enough to transfer.
“[Because] Webber was a private school, they accepted me with my credit hours and everything that I had and that stuff at that time,” he said. “I already had my two years, so I couldn’t leave and just go to another JUCO (junior college). And I didn’t have enough credit hours in a sense to transfer anywhere or try to play at a big school or nothing like that.”
Rackley took the opportunity in stride, knowing that, if he performed well for the Warriors and kept his grades up in the classroom, a big school like USC would still be there waiting.
“They took me in and loved me,” he said. “Ever since I got down there it was all love. I was the first back to ever go over 1,000 yards in the school and I was one of the guys to have a lot of scouts looking at me going into my junior year.”
He starred at the non-collegiate NAIA school and was having a blast despite the school’s smaller setting.
“That’s when everything hit the fan.”
Having battled with fibroids (non-cancerous tumors) and cysts on her ovaries for as long as her son could remember, Velva’s doctors found what they believed might be cancer. With a history of cancer in the family’s past, Rackley couldn’t risk being away from home.
He returned home in Jacksonville to be by his mother’s side, while doing what he could to help around the house and keep the family afloat. Football was an afterthought during this time, as family comes first in the Rackley household.
“I only have one mom so I had to do what I had to do,” he said. “You could go to a thousand different schools or you could play for a thousand different football teams, but you only have one mom.”
Fortunately, it was discovered that Velva did not have cancer and a hysterectomy was performed to remove everything. It provided them a sigh of relief… but only for a moment.
Iodine was used to clean Velva’s incision, as is traditionally the case for infection control following surgery. Except she was allergic to Iodine and an infection landed her back in the hospital as a result.
“I was going to go back to school after she had the surgery and stuff,” Rackley said. “But then her whole wound had got infected, so she had to go back in the hospital again. So I’m like, ‘Look man, this is time for me, I’m gonna just be here for her, pay the bills, do what I gotta do and be there for my brother as well.’ So, I just stayed down there and, thank God man, she’s still here with me today.”
While his mother recuperated, Rackley stepped up for the family. He drove delivery trucks for Krispy Kreme and Aaron’s Furniture, and worked various odd jobs. He did anything he could to pay the bills.
“He was a blessing,” Velva Rackley said of her son’s decision to leave school and take up the role as man of the house. “That was a challenge that God was sending him through… [it was] a test of his faith that, could he even do it, knowing that God already had him ready on the back-burner at the time because he knew he was needed home with me?
“I thought that was just real, real touching. It was a very emotional time, but he handled his business. I’m real, real proud of him.”
RETURN TO THE GRIDIRON
During his time away from football, Rackley also welcomed his first child, Ranier, into the world.
With newfound motivation, Rackley began looking into returning to school after two years at home. Not long after, he was contacted by the football coaches at Elizabeth City State University, a little-known school located in the Inner Banks of North Carolina, that has turned out eight former NFL players.
“I always had my mind set on, whenever I get myself to a point where it’s time to get ready to go back to school, I’m going to go back to school.”
Rackley enrolled at Elizabeth City State University in the fall of 2009 as a non-scholarship athlete. He attended the school and participated with the football program completely at his own expense.
Out of shape and playing at a much lighter weight than he had in years past, it took time for him to get acclimated to playing football again. But once the season got underway, the speedster put together a successful comeback as part of a two-headed monster in the backfield for the Vikings, rushing for 244 yards and one touchdown.
Following his first season, Rackley received notice that he owed an outstanding balance of $10,000 which he needed to pay to the school before he could return and play football. He was forced to miss the spring semester and took that time to make money any way he could. He went to work back home in Jacksonville where he also held charity events ─ such as car washes and cookouts ─ to raise the money he needed to stay at ECSU.
“I knew that if I would’ve stayed home,” he said, “it’s a dead end. That was it for me.”
Miraculously, Rackley was able to raise enough money to pay off his debt and was re-enrolled in classes for the summer semester.
Big things were expected from the running back for his senior season with the Vikings. Interest was piquing among NFL scouts, many of whom had remembered his play in high school, at Georgia Military and Webber International.
However, Rackley found himself in a battle for playing time with local kid and former East Carolina University running back, Daronte McNeil. Despite being perceived as a greater talent than McNeil — an opinion supported by ECSU head coach Waverly Tillar himself — Rackley found himself entrenched as the back-up, seeing just “four or five” carries a game.
“Skill-wise I would say Ranier [was the better back],” Coach Tillar said. “He was a little bit more explosive. Once he’d get out into the open field and the speed would accompany him, you know, the second-level people didn’t have a chance.”
Coach Tillar reasoned that McNeil saw the brunt of the carries because of the team’s weakness upfront along the offensive line. As a power back, McNeil was a more favorable option as the workhorse for the offense because he could take more punishment.
Rackley carried the football just 33 times for 180 yards and a touchdown. He was the third-leading rusher on the team. The Vikings finished the season with a 6-4 record, led by a 1,000-yard season for McNeil.
TRYING TO MAKE HIS BREAK
Despite being underutilized on the field, Rackley says he was on the radar of many NFL teams that were baffled by his lack of playing time. Following his senior season, he entered the 2011 NFL draft and began training with his cousin and fellow Andrew Jackson High School alum, speedster Leon Washington.
“He keeps it 100 percent with me all the time, in the sense that he tells me what I should do. Don’t give up. Keep working,” Rackley said of his cousin’s guidance. “You never know what can happen so he’s basically trying to steer me in the right direction. He’s someone who I can look up to for certain advice and not just football, but life stuff.”
Washington, now a member of the New England Patriots, has been instrumental in Rackley’s progression in preparation for his break into the NFL.
“I know Ranier has great potential,” Washington said in a quote provided by Rackley. “When I was a senior in high school, and he was a freshman, he displayed incredible breakaway speed and toughness between the tackles. It was a real blessing re-connecting with my cousin in North Carolina. We’ve been working out hard and I truly feel that Ranier is NFL ready.”
NFL teams were apparently not in agreement with the latter statement, as Rackley went undrafted despite contact by some teams with positive things to say about the determined running back prospect.
But that has not deterred him from chasing his dream. Rackley is still working hard, even two years removed from his senior season at ECSU. He perseveres despite being faced with adversity. He has tried out for teams in the CFL and UFL, and was recently in talks about joining a team in the Indoor Football League. He worked out with the Philadelphia Eagles a year ago, clocking an impressive 4.42 in the 40-yard dash.
Rackley believes he still has much to offer both on and off the field. From his impressive combination of speed and power (which garnered him a comparison to Minnesota Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson by Coach Tillar) to his character and leadership abilities, the free agent feels he would be of great value to an NFL locker room.
LOOKING AHEAD
NFL training camps are now in full swing. Many players in Rackley’s situation are being picked up by teams and given an opportunity to show what they are made of. The Florida native has not heard anything yet, but he remains optimistic… as he always has.
Bill Carroll is an NFL draft analyst who worked as the Director of HBCU Scouting for Consensus Draft Service when Rackley enlisted in the NFL Draft in 2011. Carroll believes the back still has a place in the NFL.
“He has a skill set that’s comparable to [New York Jets running back] Mike Goodson,” Carroll said via Twitter. “If he can show that he can catch the ball really well and pick up blitz protections he has a chance as a third-down running back.”
Rackley has worked hard to improve his football IQ since hooking up with his cousin back in 2011. He has focused on breaking down film and pre-snap reads to help improve some of the flaws in his game.
In the meantime, he is staying busy. Working as a personal trainer for the elderly (who are looking to become more active in their everyday lives), Rackley is also a coach at a local YMCA youth camp in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
“I always had a passion for being involved with kids… I love it man,” he said. “I told a guy the other day, if you’re doing a job you love to do, you could work every day of your life.”
Rackley is adamant about the idea of being a coach in the future because of what he believes he has to offer kids on the football field and in life. For now though, he still has his sights set on achieving his lifelong dream with his faith placed firmly in God.
“It’s so easy to give up,” he said. “But if you know you’re staying faithful and you’re staying persistent in your commitment to your grind, you can’t lose.”
And if a team finally does come calling, he will be ready to go.
Louis Musto is a reporter and sports talk host for the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. All quotes were acquired firsthand unless otherwise noted. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.