Hyphens Becoming a Habit for Cowboys Playing in the Secondary
STILLWATER -- This is the summer in which the media covering college football is giving credit to college football players for finding their voice. At Oklahoma State, this is the second preseason in a row where players found the need for a hyphen in their last name. As a result, football equipment coordinator Justin Williams and his staff found the need for needle and thread.
Cowboys All-Big 12 safety Kolby Harvell-Peel started the hyphen trend before the 2019 season and now one of his fellow safeties that has moved back outside is adding to the hyphen tradition.
Fans should not be confused when they see Jarrick Bernard-Converse starting at cornerback for the Cowboys. This is the same player they have known as Jarrick Bernard. The junior from Evangel Christian in Shreveport, La. played corner as a true freshman in 2018 and then last season made the move to the "strike" safety position in Jim Knowles' defensive scheme.
As a freshman, Bernard made 59 tackles, blocked a kick and forced a fumble in the win over Boise State, and picked off a pass and returned it 15-yards against Texas Tech. Last season in the different position he had 54 tackles and picked off TCU quarterback Max Duggan in the win over TCU.
He did all of that without paying homage to a man that had meant so much to him as he grew up. Now, it's official because Jarrick has been adopted and the name on the back of the jersey still may not mean as much as the one on the front of the jersey, but it means much more.
"Last year, my stepdad (Brian Converse), who's been in my life since I was four, he adopted me," explained Bernard-Converse. "I just felt like it was right to pay some respect to him, to get my last name added. I was going to get it added last year, but the paperwork didn't go through until this year. That's how it worked out."
Jarrick's story is similar to Kolby Harvell-Peel, his stepfather has more than filled a void. He has been Jarrick's dad. I find it awesome to hear a young man talk so enthusiastically about that person or those people at home that have helped make his dream come true. The people that have shaped the person that we all get to share in as Cowboy players and that we watch grow up further.
"His name's Brian Converse," Bernard-Converse said with a big smile on his face. "Like I said he's been my father figure since I was like four. I look at him like he's my real dad. I love him to death. He has my best interests' at heart. He always believes in me and tells me to do my best in everything. Just (wanted to) pay the respect to him. (When he heard) He was really excited and he was smiling from ear to ear."
Like Jarrick's jersey, Kolby Harvell-Peel's jersey has letters from edge of the shoulder to edge. Harvell-Peel went by Kolby Peel and added Harvell because it's his mother's name and her parents, his grandparents, Gina and Ernie.
“Harvell is the last name of my mother and my grandparents,” Kolby said last season. “Those were basically the three people who raised me, and they played a big part in my football career. Being a Division I college football player, you get a lot of exposure. I felt like if I could honor them by putting their name on that bigger stage, I wanted to do that for them.”
It did not take long for everybody, including the Harvells, to notice as Harvell-Peel had a monster season playing the "rover" safety position as he had 71 tackles, had five interceptions, and forced and recovered two fumbles. His 17 passes broken up led the Big 12 and tied for fourth in FBS. His season started rocking from game one at Oregon State.
“It gave me chills the first time I heard it on TV,” Gina Harvell, Kolby’s grandmother said to Scott Wright of The Oklahoman. “Still, every time I hear them say it, I don’t even know how to describe the pride I feel for our family and for him."
Harvell-Peel is one of the most dynamic leaders on the Oklahoma State team and I truly believe his voice gathered strength when he shared his persona and accomplishments publicly with the hyphen on the jersey.
Harvell-Peel and Bernard-Converse both return and are part of a defense that could be one of the best in a long time in Stillwater.
"I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to it," Bernard-Converse said the other day. "I feel like we can be the best it's ever been up here. We've got some really good potential. We just got to go out there and focus."
I'd say both those young men started focusing on what is really important when they decided to add to the name on the back and both have been stellar at playing to make the name on the front better.
