Argonauts.ca staff
TORONTO – For most, Father’s day is a day of tribute, when we honour the men who raised and shaped us into the adults we are today. For Tori Gurley, Father’s Day also serves as a sad reminder of who and what he lost on a tragic day seven years ago.
Ironically, it was on Mother’s Day 2008 when Norristorius “Tori” Gurley found out that his father, Norris, had passed away following a car accident in Las Vegas. Tori was 19, and fresh off his redshirt season at South Carolina, where he transferred after one season at New Hampton Prep. The six-foot-five receiver, who should have been entering the most exciting period of his life, was devastated.
“It was a tough time emotionally,” said Gurley. “I lost my best friend that day. I had a great relationship with my father throughout my life.”
Though his father lived in Las Vegas while Tori and his two younger brothers lived with their mother in South Carolina, Norris had a profound impact on Tori’s life, and was a pivotal part of him achieving success not only as an athlete, but as a man.
“Even though he lived in Las Vegas, he put me in touch with the right people,” he said. “He and my mother were separated but he did a great job of being in my life and supporting me, guiding me to where I am today.”
Tori was lucky to have another paternal resource, one who was ever-present since he was a young boy. During his father’s days as a basketball player at Virginia Tech, he roomed with Dell Curry, and the two became close enough friends that when Tori was born in 1987, Dell was asked to be his godfather.
“Him being roommates with Dell, I was able to learn from professionals,” Tori said. “I learned how he carried himself, and how hard he worked on a daily basis. It helped me build the work ethic I have today. Dell was always around throughout my life, and is only ever a phone call away. It was a blessing to have everything work out the way it did.”
Still, the loss of his father accelerated Tori’s aging process, as the 19-year-old realized that his role as an older brother would fundamentally change.
“My brothers were 15 and 17 when he passed and from that point on I knew I had to be a leader and an example for them,” he said. “I understood that I had to be a little more stern on my brothers and that my mother could only do so much. I needed to be the man of the house and I just took it one day at a time.”
Following his father’s death, Tori, who until then had his mother’s surname, Childers, legally changed his last name to Gurley to honour him. Today, Gurley honours his father in the only way he knows how, by constantly striving to be a better football player, teammate and man than he was the day before.
“I honour him in how I carry myself and how I respect men in general” he said. “Something I take pride in is being a great man, competing every day, and trying to bring out the best in the people around me.”
“Every time I come out onto the field I thank God, I thank my grandmother, my mother, and of course I thank my father, because they were the ones that believed in me when nobody else did,” he continued. “Everything I do I do for them.”