Cessna: Recent tragedies serve as reminder that life doesn't take a vacation

Former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett

Bryan-College Station Eagle 
Robert Cessna
July 02, 2023 at 02:26PM

Summers were made for vacations. I looked forward to them from elementary school through college. That hasn’t changed as a sports writer, so for roughly six decades, summers have been a time to unwind, relax and recharge.

I was on Florida’s beaches in Naples and Destin the last two weeks. My daily physical activity was pushing a cart full of chairs, beverages and tanning supplies from the parking lot to the beach. I amused myself by watching people along the beach and pelicans nose-dive for fish. The hardest decision was deciding where to eat. It was laidback with a capital L.

But I was only a weblink click away from returning to the harsh reality of life.

One day, my wife turned on her cell phone after getting off the beach to learn Texas A&M assistant football coach Terry Price had died. The 55-year-old Price played at A&M under Jackie Sherrill and R.C. Slocum and returned to Aggieland as an assistant under Kevin Sumlin in 2012 and was retained in 2018 by Jimbo Fisher.

Price was a solid player at A&M, helping the Aggies win a pair of Southwest Conference titles and earning all-league honors his senior year. Price was an even better coach — a great recruiter loved by players and colleagues alike. Today’s media doesn’t have much interaction with assistant coaches, so I had little contact with Price over the last decade. But I never heard a negative comment about him, only good stories. He made life better for everyone he came in contact with, whether it was family, friends or players. You could call him an unsung Aggie legend. Many have called his death a tremendous loss.

Price’s passing remained on my mind a few days later when a group of teenagers started screaming for a lifeguard. Within minutes, rescue personnel were on the scene. It was surreal as everything unfolded a couple hundred feet away. The uneasy feeling subsided as word spread the girl in trouble was OK, and within 5-10 minutes, she was on her feet. We also were informed the day before that riptides had claimed two lives.

This girl was lucky. Beach-goers couldn’t wade out more than about 10 feet into the water the rest of the day in that stretch where she had gone under. Newcomers were upset about being confined until they were told what happened. It was still a great day at the beach, even if the riptides had spoiled some of the fun.

Two days later when we got off the beach, social media was blowing up with news of former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett drowning on a Destin beach. We were just a few miles south on neighboring Miramar Beach when it happened. The riptides were initially reported as the cause, but officials said that may not have been the case as heat played a role in the death of the 35-year-old Mallett, who was attempting to swim to a sandbar reportedly 150 feet offshore.

Aggie fans certainly remember Mallett, who threw for 271 yards and four touchdowns in a 47-19 victory over A&M in 2009 and followed that with 310 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-17 victory in 2010. Mallett played only two seasons with Arkansas but made a huge impact. After spending six seasons in the NFL, he returned to Arkansas as an assistant high school coach in Mountain Home, serving as its offensive coordinator. After a season, he was named head coach at White Hall, Arkansas. He went 4-6 last year. Expectations were high for his second year. Who knows? Maybe one day he would have been on Arkansas’ staff. Sadly, he won’t have the chance.

Fans at A&M and Arkansas are both in mourning. They can take solace in that Price and Mallett were difference-makers. The fruits of their labor live on.

As I worked on this column on the eve of our final day on the beach, my wife received a text that Chace Murphy had died. Murphy spent nearly two decades as the public address announcer for A&M football and men’s basketball. He also anchored news for the Bryan Broadcasting stations and was part of WTAW’s “The Infomaniacs,” along with working at KBTX. I had the pleasure of broadcasting a high school football game with Murphy. He had a passion for it, putting his heart into the effort. Like many, I’m saddened at his passing.

God willing, I’m headed back to work this week. I was reminded several times during vacation I need to give my best every day and enjoy the grind while I can.

Robert Cessna’s email address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.