Loving family

"I didn't want anyone to see me cry," Stansberry said. "That hurt me in a way I'll never forget."

So the Capuchino High running back/linebacker chooses to remember his loved ones in a way that is simply unforgettable - with tattoos. Stansberry has a "R.I.P. Manadee" tattoo on his neck, and another tattoo on his right forearm honoring his aunt, Valerie, who died on Thanksgiving Day last year after a physical altercation on a San Francisco street. Stansberry also plans on getting another tattoo for a cousin who was murdered 11 months ago.

"My family means everything to me," Stansberry said. "That's why I do this - to honor them. This is what I want people to know about me. My body tells the story."

The story goes like this: A year ago, Stansberry was ineligible to play football because he didn't take care of business in the classroom, still overwhelmed with his father's death. Today, the strapping 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior gives the Mustangs a physical, bullrushing presence that every high school team needs. Stansberry has been making the most of his first year on the varsity. He rushed for 88 yards on 21 carries in a 28-13 win over Menlo-Atherton on Saturday, often running head-first into defenders and displaying the type of abandon coaches notice. Stansberry knows how to play only one way: shoulders square, head up, eyes straight ahead, ready for contact.

"Travis is a tough player, a hungry player," Capuchino coach Adam Hyndman said. "We're going to be grinding it out and running straight at teams, and Travis is the perfect back for that. He's a monster in the way he runs and he can be a machine. He's turning out to be the back we thought he could be."

Driven by tragedy, Stansberry got his priorities in order after his father's passing. At first, he was angry with himself for missing on the one last moment he could've shared with a man he commonly refers to as 'Pops.' The day before Manadee was hospitalized, Travis came home to see him lying in bed. Thinking his dad had a cold, Stansberry didn't think much of it, and was ready to go out and play basketball. Before he left the house, Manadee asked, "Where you going? Aren't you going to stay here and watch the show with me?" Travis chose to play hoops instead. That was the last conversation they had. Manadee was hospitalized the next day, and because of complications with pneumonia, was so heavily medicated at all times that he couldn't carry a conversation. Two weeks later, he was dead.

"Ever since then, I was mad at myself because I chose to play basketball," Stansberry said. "There's always going to be a chip on my shoulder. I felt guilty and mad, and I started feeling sorry for myself. That's when I lost focus and started messing up. I didn't pay attention in class, and didn't make grades. I started to think, 'what am I going to do now?' But I knew that was wrong. My dad wouldn't want me to be like this. We talked all the time about me playing college ball, and I always wanted to impress him and make him proud because he played sports as well. I wanted to keep him in my heart and do the things I knew I would be doing if he were still alive. I had to stay strong."

Strong indeed.

Stansberry sought solace on the basketball court and football field, and prepared hard for this season, lifting weights, honing his game and staying out of trouble. He tapped his grief for strength and emerged as the Mustangs' best two-way player. Stansberry, 17, grew up in a rough San Francisco neighborhood, and has watched countless friends and cousins get sucked up by drugs, violence, and hopelessness.

"Where we grew up, you don't see positive," Stansberry said. "That's why I felt I had it easy. Sure, I made some mistakes when I was young, but my mom made sure to take care of me and my brothers and sisters. I was lucky. My friends and cousins saw nothing but what was in front of them."

Which wasn't pretty.

Stansberry said the worst thing he's seen was someone getting murdered via gunfire. He credits his mom, Olga Donnelly, and grandma, Shirley Stansberry, for giving him hope even in the worst of times. The women in Stansberry's life have turned out to be his foundation and bedrock. Growing up, Travis didn't play Pop Warner because he didn't have enough money or transportation. So he filled his football void by playing basketball at his elementary and middle schools, as well as any pickup game he could find. Once he started his freshman year at Capuchino, football superseded hoops. Stansberry had always played tackle football with his friends, but never in an organized game.

He was in a place better than heaven.

"My first game, I had been waiting for that moment my whole life," he said. "It was unbelievable. I concentrate on football at Cap, but I still play a lot of pickup hoops. I needed something to keep me happy and my mind straight, and that's what football and basketball did for me. If I didn't have sports, who knows what I would be doing."

It's often been said that sports provides a metaphor for life, and no one knows that better than Stansberry. Sports have provided him with a sense of purpose, a mission to better himself and represent his family proudly. He knows every time he carries the ball, he's running for his loved ones, especially his dad, whom he considers his best friend, even though it wasn't the typical father-son relationship. Ever since he was born, Manadee surfaced in and out of Travis' life because of troubles with the law. For the 15-plus years that he knew him, Travis said his dad was sent to jail periodically for a series of crimes.

"I knew he would always come back, and he did," Travis said. "There were times I was mad, angry, disappointed, but my pop always had a good heart."

In the short time that they had together, the two would throw the football around or shoot baskets at the neighborhood park. In fact, Manadee, like any proud father, would tell anyone who was willing to listen that his kid would turn out to become something special.

So far, the kid has been putting on quite a show.