Drayton family tradition continues at Central

YOU WERE a first-magnitude wideout in high school and college and the occasion is game No. 1 of your head-coaching career.

So, how many passes does your quarterback throw? Ten? Twenty? Thirty?

Try none.

OK, so the 2009 game was played in heavy rain. And it was muddy. On the flip side, the coach was quite familiar with one of his receivers, who would go on to semi-star that season despite his status as a sophomore.

"We joke about that a little now, the no-passes thing," Richard Drayton said. "But I didn't say anything then. Probably too scared. Plus, we won the game. I was just happy about that."

Richard Drayton III, known as "Tre" in the family, is now a 6-1, 210-pound senior at Central High. The Lancers' third-year coach is his father, Rich, who starred at Central and Temple and even had a shot with the Steelers.

"I never thought [no passes] would happen," Dad said yesterday, taking a brief timeout from practice. "But I always knew, as a coach, I would do whatever it takes to win.

"Because of the bad-weather day, I didn't want to put my quarterback in bad situations. I did call for a couple passes and guys were open, but he didn't want to throw because of the rain."

Amends have been made.

Tre, who dabbles in tight-end duties but can mostly be found at wideout (his defensive position is outside linebacker), boasts 58 career catches for 883 yards and 11 touchdowns. Plus, he does well in the classroom (3.1 GPA) and schools such as Lafayette are making inquiries.

At Central, Rich Drayton posted 1,170 yards of receiving in his junior and senior seasons, long held the Public League's one-game record, at 213, and was a first-team honoree on a 30-year All-Pub squad picked in 2005. At Temple, he made 122 career snags for 1,693 yards and five scores.

When Tre began playing weight ball, however, for a 75-pound squad, his first position was running back. Briefly. Almost as fleetingly as possible, in fact.

"That lasted two plays in the first practice," Tre said. "I guess they didn't like the way I ran the ball, at all, and they put me at tight end. And that was where I stayed, because they liked the way I caught the ball.

"I could have played somewhere else - my dad wouldn't have been mad - but I guess receiver was a natural position for me. Was probably going to be one since birth.

"I just like catching the ball. It's a fun thing to do. Mostly, I like the short ones the best, because I like doing stuff after the catch."

Dad and son said throwing/catching sessions go way back, and the former insisted the latter was always a willing participant.

Tre was helped, Rich said, by his involvement in basketball.

"Those guys always catch the ball with their hands," he noted, "so you don't have to worry about [bad form; letting the ball clang against pads]."

Though Central lost its opener to Imhotep Charter, it has since reeled off three consecutive wins. Drayton owns 15 snags for 169 yards and four TDs for the Lancers, who are idle this week and viewed as the Public AAAA Silver favorite.

The QB is Ryan Dydak. Other touchers are running back Jesse Gillis, fullback Hakeem Ellis, tight end Joe Kasztelan, wideout Gus Tolson and handyman Walt Pegues, a highly productive sub. The grunts are center Devin Cruz, guards Dave Rosario and Michel Okeke, and tackles Samuel Reid and Cameron Johnson.

Away from football, father and son . . . Well, they watch a lot of football.

"My dad writes down plays he sees on the NFL games," Tre said. "I just laugh at him."

Said Dad: "Actually, I see them using our plays. It'll be like, 'Look at the Jets, running our stuff!' "

On Central's game days . . .

"I do put the bug in his ear," Tre said. "We'll be getting ready to start a series and I'll suggest a certain pass play. Sometimes he'll blow me off and call a run play. I understand everything. He can't show favoritism. He's probably harder on me than anybody. I know how that works. If he goes soft on me, the other guys will expect it."

In that '09 season, one of the Lancers' managers was Tre's sister, RaeShelle Drayton. She also played basketball and is now a bowler at North Carolina Central. Mom Robyn heads the family, based on Sedgwick Street, west of Germantown Avenue, and she was Rich's girlfriend even in her days as a student at George Washington High.

"She used to go to all my dad's Central games," Tre said. "So, when I come home now and tell her how I did, she says, 'Sounds familiar.'

"My dad doesn't talk much about his career. But any time I'm around people he grew up with, I hear how he was the best. If he has game films, I haven't seen them. But everybody says it.

"He has always been good at teaching me technique. Like how to run my routes and plant."

Now, we'll conclude this story the way it began. With a surprise: Rich Drayton, former star receiver, is not sure his able-handed son should stick with pass-catching in college.

Say what?!

"The only differences I see between us are, he's a little bigger, but a little slower, too," Dad said. "If he were faster, he'd definitely be a better receiver than I was.

"Know what? I think he'd be a dynamic strong safety. If you bring guys out of the backfield, he's going to knock them over. And if you throw the ball in his area, he's going to catch it.

"But that's just me. I don't know what the college coaches think. They can put him anywhere."

He smiled. "As long as he goes for free."