Love You Joshie
Hard life, Tougher guy
By Bill Paterson
bpaterson@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 - 12:00 am Page 1C
Josh Fields is literally the big man on campus at Rio Linda High School.
The senior football star stands 6-foot-3, weighs 240 pounds and probably is the strongest athlete at the school. But the Knights' defensive tackle and tight end remembers a time when he felt very small, very weak. And insignificant.
"I was living in a fog for so long," Fields said. "I was in trouble all the time. Things weren't right in my life."
An indifferent student as a Rio Linda freshman, Fields appeared to be headed for the kind of trouble that snagged his father and older brother, both of whom are behind bars. Instead, Fields has undergone an athletic and social renaissance, thanks to a school-wide and community support group that has come to embrace his bid to become a better student and a better man.
"A lot of people see the smile, but they don't know what's behind the smile," Fields said. "For a long time school wasn't important in my life, and I was doing a lot of dumb stuff. But sports has given me something to look forward to. Now my platter is full. I have a routine, a purpose."
In 1996, when Fields was 5 years old and living in Antioch, his father killed his mother by slashing her throat after an argument during a camping trip to Brannan Island in the Delta. Clarissa Thompson, Field's then 21-year-old sister, became his legal guardian and that of another brother and sister.
For years, recurring nightmares would haunt Fields: The devil would emerge from the floor and smack him with a nail-loaded bat; or he'd see his father running up the street, bursting into the house and then crashing through his bedroom door just as he would wake up.
An angel-like apparition would also visit in his sleep. "It was my mom, coming to talk to me," Fields said. As Thompson fought to keep the family together – she also has two children of her own, Bria, 6, and Kayla, 16 – they were forced to move several times and endured their share of financial struggles.
The strong-willed Thompson admits it was a challenge dealing with her equally strong-willed brother as she tried to fulfill the roles of surrogate mother and father. "Joshua was constantly in trouble," Thompson said. "I was constantly getting phone calls from his schools. He'd get expelled. He'd be… transferred." But then, as a Rio Linda sophomore, Fields crossed paths with Jeff Henrichs, the Knights' first-year junior varsity basketball coach.
Even though Fields was academically ineligible when tryouts started, Henrichs encouraged the raw, gangly kid to keep coming back.
"Every day the coach would make cuts and post them on the door, and when my name wasn't on it I figured I had one more day," Fields said. "I kept coming back, then I found I made the team." Henrichs saw a young man with untapped potential. "He had natural ability, but you could tell he never had been around a team before," Henrichs said. "I could see he enjoyed being with the kids." Henrichs also learned that Fields lived just around the corner from his North Natomas home. They wound up having numerous heart to-heart talks on drives home after practice.
Henrichs said he could see that Fields had a desire to do something better with his life. "His sister has done a great job and set boundaries, but you could tell he was yearning for a male figure in his life," said Henrichs, an assistant football coach for the Knights.
Now Fields has become a big brother "and nice role model" to Henrichs' athletically oriented son, Scott, 10. While Henrichs has filled a mentoring role, so have others at the school as Fields expanded his athletic repertoire to football and track."Josh has shown a tremendous amount of growth in the last two years," said Jack Garceau, his line coach. "He's developed into a leader – his teammates voted him a captain this season. They know that he's had it kind of rough, so they've been pushing him and encouraging him."
None more than senior Joe Anderson, a football and basketball teammate. A good student and athlete, Anderson has served as a role model of sorts for Fields. And Anderson's parents, Scott, a landscape contractor, and Susan, a social worker, have become something of a second family to Fields, who said he has had no contact with his father since the killing.
The Andersons have had a hand in helping Fields try to shore up his spotty academics – he recently took the high school proficiency exam – and they are just some of many in the community and at the school who keep their eye on an appreciative Fields.
"I've gotten help from a lot of teachers, the administrators, even the security guards," Fields said. "They've known me when I was bad, and they didn't pass judgment. I think sometimes they want to see me do better than even I do." Joe Anderson has gotten so close to Josh he considers him a brother."We respect each other and we have each other's backs," Anderson said. "He's never really known his dad, and I've never met my real (biological) father. We've cried about it before, and he's the first male I feel that I could open up to. And I know he feels the same."
Although Fields has played organized football for two seasons – he was All-Capital Valley Conference last year – he's developing into a Division-I caliber player. But poor grades his first part of high school likely will limit the now solid C-plus student's short-term prospects to a community college.
"He finished the last semester of his junior year with a 3.0 (grade-point average)," Garceau said. "But he's paying the price for fooling around his freshman year. It's cost him potential D-I offers." Clarissa Thompson, who had to abandon her nursing studies to raise her extended family, is just glad to see little brother coming around after so much tumult. "I've noticed a 180-degree change in Joshua," she said. "Sports has helped keep him grounded. I'd love to see him go to college, find a major and find a profession."
"Every day the coach would make cuts and post them on the door, and when my name wasn't on it I figured I had one more day," Fields said. "I kept coming back, then I found I made the team." Henrichs saw a young man with untapped potential. "He had natural ability, but you could tell he never had been around a team before," Henrichs said. "I could see he enjoyed being with the kids." Henrichs also learned that Fields lived just around the corner from his North Natomas home. They wound up having numerous heart to-heart talks on drives home after practice.
Henrichs said he could see that Fields had a desire to do something better with his life. "His sister has done a great job and set boundaries, but you could tell he was yearning for a male figure in his life," said Henrichs, an assistant football coach for the Knights.
Now Fields has become a big brother "and nice role model" to Henrichs' athletically oriented son, Scott, 10. While Henrichs has filled a mentoring role, so have others at the school as Fields expanded his athletic repertoire to football and track."Josh has shown a tremendous amount of growth in the last two years," said Jack Garceau, his line coach. "He's developed into a leader – his teammates voted him a captain this season. They know that he's had it kind of rough, so they've been pushing him and encouraging him."
None more than senior Joe Anderson, a football and basketball teammate. A good student and athlete, Anderson has served as a role model of sorts for Fields. And Anderson's parents, Scott, a landscape contractor, and Susan, a social worker, have become something of a second family to Fields, who said he has had no contact with his father since the killing.
The Andersons have had a hand in helping Fields try to shore up his spotty academics – he recently took the high school proficiency exam – and they are just some of many in the community and at the school who keep their eye on an appreciative Fields.
"I've gotten help from a lot of teachers, the administrators, even the security guards," Fields said. "They've known me when I was bad, and they didn't pass judgment. I think sometimes they want to see me do better than even I do." Joe Anderson has gotten so close to Josh he considers him a brother."We respect each other and we have each other's backs," Anderson said. "He's never really known his dad, and I've never met my real (biological) father. We've cried about it before, and he's the first male I feel that I could open up to. And I know he feels the same."
Although Fields has played organized football for two seasons – he was All-Capital Valley Conference last year – he's developing into a Division-I caliber player. But poor grades his first part of high school likely will limit the now solid C-plus student's short-term prospects to a community college.
"He finished the last semester of his junior year with a 3.0 (grade-point average)," Garceau said. "But he's paying the price for fooling around his freshman year. It's cost him potential D-I offers." Clarissa Thompson, who had to abandon her nursing studies to raise her extended family, is just glad to see little brother coming around after so much tumult. "I've noticed a 180-degree change in Joshua," she said. "Sports has helped keep him grounded. I'd love to see him go to college, find a major and find a profession."
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