Blocton's Bravest Tiger?

It’s not the size of the tiger in the fight, but the size of the fight in the tiger

By Daniel L. Bamberg

Daniel@Centrevillepress.com

Normally when a tiger has been injured it hides because in order to avoid showing weakness to predators.  Coach Joe Clements of West Blocton is a tiger, he bleeds red (and white) but he isn’t your normal tiger.  He owns a hat embroidered with the statement “WBHS Tigers: A Way of Life.”  His story embodies a way of life that may redefine the pride of every tiger in the animal kingdom. Rather than moving to the shadows to lick his wounds, Clements has been and will continue to be on the sidelines at WBHS.

In April the assistant football coach who also graduated from WBHS was involved in an accident, which resulted in serious injury.  Coach Clements is now a paraplegic, but this is not the way he says the story will end. 

“I won’t be in this wheelchair forever,” he exclaimed in an interview last week, less than 24 hours after taking his first two steps since the accident.

His determination, his spirit to overcome and his refusal to see his condition as anything more than a stepping stone is inspiring his friends, his family, and West Blocton High School’s young football program.

“Little Joe” as his mother calls him, may have been born for football.  He’s a cornbread fed southerner who from what this reporter has been told, can hit like a bulldozer.  During his time at WBHS he stood out for his strength and effort.  He played for 4 years and started as a sophomore.

Upon graduation Joe carried his gridiron talents to Jacksonville State University.  Joe took a break from college and decided he wanted to pursue coaching.  His first opportunity came with the Bibb County High School football team in 2010.  There he was a valued part of a coaching staff and team, which went further in the State Playoffs than any other BCHS team in school history.  He also coached on opposing sidelines as his younger brother Justin played for WBHS during the first year return of the BCHS/WBHS rivalry.

In 2011 Joe got the chance he was looking for.  WBHS Head Coach Greg Farnetti invited Joe to help coach at the home school.  Joe was welcomed back into the ambush with open arms.

Clements and the WBHS coaching staff lead the Tigers to the state playoffs last year and nearly won the region in the effort.  2012 was going to be something to look forward to.  Joe was ready.

In April on a fateful trip to Hoover the back passenger side tire of his truck blew out on Highway 11.  The truck flipped ten times.  Joe was ejected from the vehicle on the second flip.  Days later when he came to, Joe discovered that the accident had paralyzed him from the waste down.  Joe was told he would never walk again.

“I was down and depressed for a while once I heard that,” said Joe.  “I do a lot of running around between coaching, going to school, and just my life in general.  I believed that would stop.  But I kept my faith, talked to God everyday.  That has given me the drive to look at this as a bump in the road that has to be stepped over, and I will step over it.”

Joe feels blessed to have survived.  Losing the use of his lower body isn’t a cakewalk, but after meeting quadriplegics he understands how bad the accident could have been. 

Joe does therapy everyday at home and twice a week in a physical therapists office.  As stated earlier, he took his first two steps a day before the interview.  He is motivated when he hears people explain that he can’t do something.  As Joe explains, he may not be able to do certain things right now, but he believes deeply that he will someday.

“I learned years ago that nobody really knows the full capabilities of the human body, not even doctors,” Joe explained.  “You can keep pushing and pushing until you find out what you are made of and who you really are.  Football has helped me learn this, and being around football my whole life has helped teach me to push myself beyond my own expectations.”

Joe explained that he loves competition and right now his competitor is a wheelchair.  He talked about the frustrations one has to deal with when being in a chair, but mostly he disregarded the chair all together.  He speaks like a man who is still standing and walking normally on two legs.  He’s still a coach and he is still treated like a coach.

“He’s one of the best men we’ve got,” said Coach Farnetti.

It isn’t just WBHS players and coaches who are motivating Joe.  His entire family has encouraged him.  Joe says his mother has been his rock through most of this.  His younger brother Justin has become a motivator. 

“When this first happened he (Justin) was down and upset,” said Joe.  “I told him that this wasn’t going to end me.  I explained to him that this was something to make me stronger.”

Joe’s also has the full support of the West Blocton community.  His positive emotions pour through his expressions as he explains how much he appreciates members of the West Blocton community.

“This is home, and always will be home,” said Joe.  “The people of this community are so supportive and that’s why I’ve never really wanted to call anywhere else home.”

His biggest support is perhaps his fiancé Johnel Smith.  She and Joe had only been seeing one another for a short time before his accident.

“You know she could have left me,” said Joe.  “I wouldn’t have held that against her.  I mean we had just started dating and then I lose my ability to walk.  I wouldn’t have thought less of her.  She stood by me and has continued to stand by me and now she’s my fiancé.  That’s a blessing.  That’s another thing I thank God for.

Joe makes a final statement one that is very familiar to Bibb Countians, especially those in the southern portion of the county. 

“I am keeping the same motto that Taylor Morton keeps,” Joe exclaimed.  “Never, never quit.  I ain’t ever gonna quit.”

Joe coached Taylor at BCHS in 2010 and Taylor sends Joe regular bible verses through text.  Just another push for a man who enjoys every push he can get, but perhaps is so self-motivated he needs little.

Joe breaks down with the team and exits the field behind the young ones as they charge into the field house.  When grass turns into concrete for a brief moment the chair stops.  “You need help?,” asks someone.

“No, no thank you, I’ve got it,” says Joe.

And he does.

(photo) West Blocton High School assistant football coach Joe Clements stands up for the first time not long after an April car accident, which left him paraplegic.  Two weeks ago he took his first two steps since being told he would never walk again.  He continues to help coach WBHS as a tiger, one who leads his ambush without hiding and licking his wounds.