Bradwell Tiger football standout Vontavious Pennyman signed to play football at North Carolina Tech, staying in a Tiger uniform for his college career.
“It’s weird the colors and uniforms are almost the exact same as Bradwell,” Pennyman said after he signed on the dotted line.
“It means a lot to me. I feel like I’ve worked very hard to get this far and I’m trying to see how far I can take this and make it a career.”
Pennyman said he hopes to play on the defense as a corner and, while he plans to go as far as possible with football, his studies are important too.
“I’m focusing on football but you have to have a back up plan,” he said. “Everybody doesn’t make it to the NFL and not everyone is the next Michael Vick so I’m going to study hard too. I’m looking into pharmacy or sports management as my studies.”
In his senior year as a Bradwell Tiger Pennyman had 21 tackles with 7 assists and blocked 5 passes.
“It means a lot to the family and myself,” Christopher Williams Pennyman’s father said. “It’s going to give him an opportunity to pursue his dreams. With all the obstacles he had to overcome this year it gives me extreme pleasure for him to be able to do this.”
Pennyman’s mother, Jacokaliyn Williams, died of a heart attack on Nov. 25 while visiting family. To add insult to the loss, while the family was away at her funeral, someone broke into their home and stole the family’s Christmas gifts and other items.
In addition to Pennyman, Williams left behind her daughter Jaquanna Williams.
“I know she would be proud of me,” Pennyman said. “I plan to continue my work especially my studies for her. I talked to her before she died and she told me that she wanted me to graduate high school and continue my studies.”
“She wanted my sister to stop whining too but we are still working on that,” he joked.
His father hopes that Pennyman’s younger sister will see this as an example that everything is possible with hard work.
“It’s weird the colors and uniforms are almost the exact same as Bradwell,” Pennyman said after he signed on the dotted line.
“It means a lot to me. I feel like I’ve worked very hard to get this far and I’m trying to see how far I can take this and make it a career.”
Pennyman said he hopes to play on the defense as a corner and, while he plans to go as far as possible with football, his studies are important too.
“I’m focusing on football but you have to have a back up plan,” he said. “Everybody doesn’t make it to the NFL and not everyone is the next Michael Vick so I’m going to study hard too. I’m looking into pharmacy or sports management as my studies.”
In his senior year as a Bradwell Tiger Pennyman had 21 tackles with 7 assists and blocked 5 passes.
“It means a lot to the family and myself,” Christopher Williams Pennyman’s father said. “It’s going to give him an opportunity to pursue his dreams. With all the obstacles he had to overcome this year it gives me extreme pleasure for him to be able to do this.”
Pennyman’s mother, Jacokaliyn Williams, died of a heart attack on Nov. 25 while visiting family. To add insult to the loss, while the family was away at her funeral, someone broke into their home and stole the family’s Christmas gifts and other items.
In addition to Pennyman, Williams left behind her daughter Jaquanna Williams.
“I know she would be proud of me,” Pennyman said. “I plan to continue my work especially my studies for her. I talked to her before she died and she told me that she wanted me to graduate high school and continue my studies.”
“She wanted my sister to stop whining too but we are still working on that,” he joked.
His father hopes that Pennyman’s younger sister will see this as an example that everything is possible with hard work.