Football mom to be on the road for 12 games
By Steve Williams
If there’s ever recognition for Best Moms who support their sons in football, EuGenie Latham should be the captain.
It’s tough for a football mom who now has three sons playing college football on three different teams.
But EuGenie put together a schedule that will allow her to see one of her sons play each Saturday for 12 straight weeks.
EuGenie sent me a copy of it , which she titled “Latham Boys’ Mom Fall Schedule.”
Her youngest sons are twins – Brayden and Cayden, who were standouts at West High School and key members of the Rebels’ Class 5A state champions last fall. She also has an older son, Ferendez Latham III, who is in his senior season of college.
From this point on, I will refer to Brayden, Cayden and Ferendez by their nicknames – as their mom does – and those are Butterball, Slim and Trae.
Butterball, a running back, is now at Eastern Kentucky University; Slim, a defensive back, is at University of Virginia at Wise; and Trae, an offensive lineman, is at University of North Greenville in South Carolina.
EuGenie and her boys moved to Knoxville from Alabama five years ago. She not only brought West High two talented players who would go on to play college ball, but she herself became a fixture at West games as the Rebels’ loudest fan.
“God has blessed me with lungs and so I use them,” she said. “I want them to know Momma is right here cheering for you.”
“Ms. Latham’s love for West High School was so ecstatic,” recalled WHS Executive Principal Dr. Ashley Speas recently. “She loves her boys, our coaches, our team and our school. Brayden and Cayden are pretty special boys and the love they show is definitely what OneWest is all about.”
And it’s that kind of support she plans to bring to her sons’ college games, too.
EuGenie, however, already knows her loud cheering will face a challenge at some of the bigger college crowds. In fact, she said Butterball and EKU played in front of 60,000 fans at the University of Cincinnati on Sept. 2.
While Butterball had a good game, particularly for a freshman against the Bearcats, EuGenie’s first road trip of the season took her to UVA-Wise, where the Cavaliers walloped Union College KY 48-0. Slim dressed out for the game but didn’t play due to a finger injury.
Still, the two-hour drive from Knoxville was well worth it before the game even started.
“I got there early so I could experience their (pre-game) ‘Walk,’ said EuGenie. “Slim got out of line in the Walk to give me a hug and a kiss.”
Momma Latham also was mindful of the importance of the season-opening Saturday and said she sent her sons a voice message “because I wanted it to be more personable. It was their first college game and their first time touching the field, and I wanted (to remind) them to experience it and take it all in.”
This past weekend (Sept. 9) had EuGenie scheduled to go to Lexington to see Butterball and EKU play the Kentucky Wildcats.
All three of her sons have given her college football gear to wear to the games. “Butterball sent me an EKU shirt, Slim sent a UVA-Wise hat and a T-shirt and Trae had a shirt made for me with his name Latham put on the back for his game,” said EuGenie.
On Sept. 16, it will be Trae’s turn to have his mom on the scene as North Greenville will host West Alabama in a 7 o’clock night game.
While things are much better now, it was an emotionally tough time for EuGenie to go through when her sons left home for college. Butterball left on May 27, two days after graduation, and Slim left on Aug. 4.
“I missed them terribly,” she recalled. “I missed the noise. I missed the laughter. I missed the doors opening and closing.”
Her new job as a Vocational Rehab Counselor for the State of Tennessee has helped consume her weekdays.
And now with her football schedule, she certainly looks forward to her weekends.
