Blazer Profile: Senior Wide Receiver Frantrell Forrest

Oct. 19, 2010

By Leslie Wilhite
UAB Athletic Media Relations

UAB wide receiver Frantrell Forrest is not the strongest person in his family. Forrest will be the first to admit that title belongs to his mother. What makes this woman so extraordinarily strong? Sandra Forrest has battled three different types of cancer during her life - Breast Cancer, Hodgkin's Disease and Leukemia - and won. It is her fight that keeps Forrest motivated on the gridiron.

Forrest grew up in Mobile, Ala., as the youngest of five children. When he was 7 years old, he began pestering his dad about playing football because his brother Francis, who is a year older than Frantrell, was already playing in a Pee Wee league. One day, his dad came home, handed him some pads and said, "Come on." That day changed Forrest's life forever.

Forrest began his football career in a Pee Wee league playing alongside his older brother. Known as "Francis' little brother," the younger Forrest never had qualms living in his brother's shadow.

"Growing up, I was always trying to be like my brother," Forrest says. "I still to this day wish I could be as fast as he is. I played against him a couple times. At the time, I was playing cornerback and I was praying they didn't give him the ball because I knew he was going to run past me. They'd give him the ball and he was gone. He's the best football player ever in my eyes. My big brother is my best friend, favorite football player and favorite everything."

And now that the two are grown, Forrest feels there is more of a mutual admiration between the two brothers.

Frantrell Forrest (back left) with members of his family.

"My brother is the type of person that likes to boost me up and make me feel good about myself. I still look up to him. But now in a sense, it feels like he looks up to me, too. Every chance he gets, he comes up here to stay with me and watch me play. He'll have some type of joke at the end of the game whether we win or lose. `Why'd you do this?' or `You could've done that!' But he boosts me up, makes me feel good and tells me some good things that will make me be better."

The relationship between the two Forrest brothers is just a glimpse of how close the entire family is. Forrest also has close relationships with his three sisters, in addition to his first cousins, who he says are more like brothers and sisters. And at the core of this tightly-knit group is Forrest's mother.

Sandra and Francis Forrest.

Sandra Forrest was pregnant with Frantrell during one of her bouts with cancer, but it wasn't until Forrest reached middle school that he saw first-hand his mother's battle. Forrest recalls the difficulty in seeing his mother in the hospital and knows nothing in football can compare to that struggle.

"I remember being in middle school and it didn't even cross my mind that my mom was gone for like a month. It really didn't hit me. I know I was talking to her on the phone a lot, but I didn't really know what was going on at the time. I just know she was gone for like a month. She was in Birmingham (for treatment) the whole time. It was hard going to the hospital to see her a lot of times. That was the scariest, hardest thing I've ever seen."

Despite her struggle, Forrest's mom kept a positive attitude and that deeply impacted Forrest's outlook on everything in his own life.

"My mom was always like, `You know I'm going to get through this. You know how strong I am. You know without a shadow of a doubt God has this and he's going to lift me up and give me the strength I need to get past this.' That's how my mom and grandmother raised me. No matter what's going on in my life, including her cancer or me on the football field, God is going to bring us out of it. And to this day, he's brought me past everything."

So when it came time for Forrest to decide on a college, his mom and dad pleaded with him to go to West Virginia, but Forrest had no intention of straying that far from his mom.

"I didn't think too much about it," Forrest says. "My mindset was pretty much I wanted to be by my mom."

Although Forrest is a few hours away from his mom who still lives in Mobile, their relationship remains solid as oak. They often talk on the phone in the wee hours of the morning, even if Forrest has to be up early for practice.

Frantrell and his mom, Sandra.

"She'll call me at three or four in the morning sometimes, but she sounds like it's two in the afternoon," Forrest says with a laugh. "She can call me anytime. I'm just happy to hear her voice every day because I know that at any point and time she could've been gone. But she's still here and she's going to be here for a long time in my opinion. She's my best friend and she is an extraordinary woman." And when it's gameday, you can look up in the stands and find his mother cheering him on.

"One thing before the game, as long as I see my mom and get my good luck kiss in and she gets hers, then I'm ready to go after that. A lot of my motivation comes from who I call the strongest person on this earth. Everyone looks at their mom as a strong person, but I really take that to heart when talking about my mom."

The strength and motivation Forrest has gained from his mother shows in his performance on the field. He currently ranks third in UAB history in career receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.

So even though Forrest may not finish his career as the best wide receiver at UAB - he openly admits that title probably belongs to Roddy White - he'll settle for a different legacy.

"If I could be remembered as a good person, good teammate, great player on and off the field, then I'd be happy."

And maybe he can settle for being the second strongest person in his family.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics

Blazer Profile: Senior Wide Receiver Frantrell Forrest

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