Pure Energy

DRE’ BLY KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE HE GETS HIS INFECTIOUS PERSONALITY

BY LEE PACE

PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI, UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS & DRE’ BLY

“Men are what their mothers made them.” — RALPH WALDO EMERSON“ If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder Dré Bly is a bundle of energy. The former Tar Heel All-America cornerback who now coaches that position for Mack Brown was raised by a pair of schoolteachers in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Dad D.A. Bly was calm and reserved, mom Gloria excitable and bubbly. “Gloria is a live-wire, full of enthusiasm, very outgoing,” says Kenny Browning, who recruited Bly out of Western Branch

High. “His personality takes more after his mom.” “No doubt Dré got his bubbly, fast-paced, energetic personality from his mom. She is a ball of fire,” adds Carl

Torbush, who was defensive coordinator during Bly’s 1996-98

Carolina playing career. Donald André and Gloria Bly were the first members of their respective families to graduate from college and both later became elementary school teachers. Their oldest daughter,

Donna, became a high-school biology teacher. From his dad D.A., young Dré learned to reason and exercise caution. Dré was always undersized, and it was his father who insisted he start with baseball and soccer in a competitive venue before venturing into football. “My husband wanted to make sure that his body and bones were really developed before he actually got on the field with football,” Gloria says. When Dré got too excited, his father could reel him in. One school that made quite an impression on Dré during the recruiting process in 1994-95 was Syracuse, and Dré was bubbling over when he returned from his official visit. “Dad, they have a dome you play in. It’s so cool,” Dré chirped. “Son, have you stopped to wonder why they need a dome?” his father asked. That was that for Syracuse. An assistant coach at Western Branch High during Bly’s junior year kept telling Bill Myers, a Carolina graduate who worked in the school system and helped the football staff with prospect ideas and recruiting information, that they were “missing the boat on this Bly kid.” The coach one time told Myers that Bly couldn’t shoot a basketball but still scored 32 points in a game. “They started pressing and Dré is so quick, he just stole the ball and laid it in,” he said. The coach later told Myers that Bly couldn’t hit a baseball

“YOU COME TO SCHOOL AND ARE TRYING TO BE THE ALMIGHTY FOOTBALL PLAYER AND YOU WANT TO PORTRAY AN IMAGE. THEY MIGHT MAKE FUN OF YOU, SAY YOU’RE SPOILED AND SOFT IF THEY THINK YOU’RE A ‘MAMA’S BOY.’ I WAS THE PROUDEST ‘MAMA’S BOY’ THERE EVER WAS. AND I’VE BEEN ONE FOR 43 YEARS.”

out of the infield but was still hitting .400.

“He bats left-handed, beats the ball into the ground and outruns them to first base,” he said.

Browning and Myers first went to see Bly play football, and Browning crinkled his eyebrow reading the roster in the game program that Bly was listed at generous 5-foot-10. Gloria always worried about Dré’s size and that he’d get hurt among the bigger boys. Dré made her promise she wouldn’t run onto the field if he ever needed medical attention.

“I don’t need you to come out on the field if I get injured,” he said. “I’m going to be fine. I know I’m your baby and all, but I’m going to get up and I’m going to be fine.”

“I’d run to the gate, but that’s all. I know my limitations,” she says.

Bly proved he could overcome being short a couple of inches with quickness, instincts, heart and all the intangibles he’d been taught at home. “There was a lot of love and respect “ “IT MEANT THE WORLD TO ME TO GRADUATE, TO DO WELL from one member of that family through all the others,” Browning says. “He was fortunate in that regard to come from a caring family.”

ACADEMICALLY. GRADES WERE From his arrival in Chapel Hill in August 1995 (he was red-shirted his

IMPORTANT AT CAROLINA. THEY first year), Bly was not timid in telling WERE FOR COACH BROWN AND COACH TORBUSH. THEY WERE FOR anyone he was “a mama’s boy.” “You come to school and are trying to be the almighty football player and

MY PARENTS. IT WAS IMPORTANT you want to portray an image,” Bly says. THAT I GRADUATED AND FINISHED.” “They might make fun of you, say you’re spoiled and soft if they think you’re a ‘mama’s boy.’ I was the proudest ‘mama’s boy’ there ever was. “And I’ve been one for 43 years.”

Predictably it was Mrs. Bly who celebrated the most when her boy made a big play for the Tar Heels—particularly those 20 career interceptions.

“I’m just a hyper person, and you couldn’t keep me in my seat when we were at a game and he intercepted or had a good play,” Gloria says. “I just went completely uncontrollable.”

Bly started for three years and had one year of eligibility remaining when he decided to turn pro after the 1998 season. But he promised his parents he would get his degree before he left, which he did in 1999 before going on to a decade-long career in the NFL.

“It meant the world to me to graduate, to do well academically,” he says. “Grades were important at Carolina. They were for Coach Brown and Coach Torbush. They were for my parents. It was important that I graduated and finished.”

Gloria is renowned for her cooking as well, particularly fried chicken with macaroni and cheese, rolls and a green vegetable. “Whenever I brought my teammates home, when I bring my kids now, that’s “ “I’M LIKE A CLONE OF MY MOM EVEN RIGHT NOW. IT’S CRAZY THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY AND THE the go-to meal,” Dré says. Donna Bly in early 2021 organized a 75th birthday celebration for her mother, but because it was during the COVID-19 era, it was a “drive-by” event. “She had over 100 cars which was EXCITEMENT THAT MY MOM HAS AT cool and they lined up on the street 75 YEARS OLD. I PRAY THAT I HAVE THAT ENERGY AT 75.” and we surprised her,” Dré says, then marvels at her energy level. “I’m like a clone of my mom even right now,” he says. “It’s crazy the amount of energy and the excitement that my mom has at 75 years old. I pray that I have that energy at 75.” Don’t bet against him.

FAMILY HELPING FAMILY

DANNY GREEN GIVES $1 MILLION TO ENDOW SCHOLARSHIP

by Adam Lucas • originally appeared on GoHeels.com on March 23, 2021

You know Danny Green as a 2009 national champion, or as the Tar Heel who dunked on Greg Paulus, or as a threetime world champion.

Green values all of those accomplishments, of course. But there’s something you might have forgotten about him that, even today, is very meaningful to him: He’s a North Carolina fan.

“It’s in my blood,” Green says. “I was a fan before I ever got there. And when I got there, I knew it was an honor to be part of it. Anywhere I go, people recognize me for being part of that program and part of that school. It’s a huge honor for me to be remembered in that way. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. I bleed it every day.”

It’s not surprising, then, that Green had an instant connection to the recent video in which Roy and Wanda Williams described their affinity for the University of North Carolina. In the video, Wanda talks about getting cold chills driving up the hill to see Franklin Street. Green instantly related to that comment.

The North Babylon, N.Y., native shares a similar background with his former head coach’s Asheville upbringing. Both needed assistance in order to have the opportunity to attend college. And both had a life-changing experience in Chapel Hill.

That’s why Green made the decision to donate $1 million to endow a basketball scholarship for the Tar Heels. He loves the program, of course. You will not find anyone, anywhere who is more instantly ready to do anything they possibly can—jump on a Zoom call, stop by the Smith Center, text a struggling player—to help Carolina.

this school year, he participated in a Zoom call for all current student-athletes, just because he wanted them all to know the importance of being a Tar Heel. But it’s more than that. It’s the way he feels the four years in Chapel Hill changed his life. “Coach Williams had us working with the Special Olympics and doing Christmas shopping for those less fortunate,” Green says. “Coach Pop(ovich) in San Antonio was very similar. Those things helped raise me. If you make it, you have a responsibility to take care of those who need help. It was a way to change a person’s day, and maybe even change a person’s life. I’ve been one of those kids. People in my community couldn’t afford to go to school. Being part of those activities helped build a foundation for me.” Green is on the short list of greatest Carolina Basketball winners of all time. He is one of just three Tar Heels (Michael Jordan and James Worthy are the others) to win NCAA and NBA championships. He is one of only two players in basketball history, along with LeBron James, to start for three different franchises that won NBA titles. The player who still hasn’t picked up his rings for those two most recent NBA championships knows where his legacy began—in Chapel Hill. “I’ve been trying to find ways of giving back,” Green says. “I’ve always wanted to do something. Eric Montross (member of the 1993 national champions and current Rams Club staff member) gave me some information on it, and I thought it was a great way to do something that honors something I’m so passionate about.” In normal times, a gift like this would have been cemented with in-person visits and sit-down meetings. One of Williams’ favorite in-season releases is traveling to watch his former players in the pros; this year, of course, COVID prevented those trips. In 2021, conversations about the gift were accomplished mostly through Zoom calls. But the impact remains the same. “When Eric (Montross) called me and told me what Danny was doing, it was emotional for me,” Williams says. “Danny Green loves this University just like Roy Williams does, and I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who loves the University more than I do. To have one of my players say I want to be part of this was emotional. It’s hard to even talk about. It makes me feel like someone else believes in this place the same way that Roy and Wanda Williams do, and that means so much to me.” Green thinks back to that video honoring his former coach. He can recite it almost word for word—it was clearly impactful for him. Tonight he will play at Golden State and Thursday he will be in Los Angeles, but right now, he is mentally in Chapel Hill, and you can feel it in the passion in the way he talks about his school. “The opening is what sunk in for me,” he says. “When Wanda talked about getting chills driving up that hill, that’s the same way that I feel. I got a chance to play for North Carolina for four years. That’s still unbelievable to me. I got a chance to play for someone who loves Carolina so much, and that’s the same way I feel. This scholarship was an easy decision for me. “If you can help people in need, especially your family, you do it. And Carolina is my family.”