GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- When her only son
told her the news, Estella Floyd -- everyone who knows her calls her Rená --
didn't think anything of it.
While the subject
was popular with the media and fans, when Gators coach Will Muschamp announced in
the spring that junior cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy was going to be a two-way
player this fall, Floyd figured the UF coaching staff saw what she has seen for
nearly 21 years.
First, Purifoy has
more vigor than probably anyone she has ever met, and second, he is willing to
do whatever it takes to help out. If that means playing offense, defense and
special team for the Gators, well, that is no surprise to Floyd.
Growing up in Cantonment,
a suburb located a few miles north of downtown Pensacola in the Florida
panhandle, Purifoy was a load for single-mother Rená from an early age.
When Loucheiz was 4,
he needed surgery to repair a hernia that developed in his abdomen from when
his umbilical cord was cut. The surgery went well and as he was released from
the hospital, doctors told Floyd that it was important that Loucheiz's activity
be kept to a minimum for a couple of weeks while the wound healed.
Floyd was on the
phone with doctors shortly she got home with Loucheiz.
"He was in the
center of the bed jumping up and down and jumping onto the floor," Floyd
said. "I called the doctor back, 'You've got to put him back in the
hospital because I can't keep him still.' He was all over the house."
As he got older and
assumed more responsibility at home, Purifoy became a constant source of
attention in the house he shared with his mom and older sisters Kamisha and
Alexzandrea.
He also started to
play peewee football and flash some of the athletic ability that has made him
an All-American candidate entering his junior season at UF.
Purifoy was so fast
few could keep up with him, including the family poodle he would race each day
after school along the fence line. Purifoy would put the dog on the inside of
the fence, and he would race up and down on the outside.
Inevitably, the
poodle would stagger back to the front door with its tongue hanging out.
His sisters had no
chance to catch little Loucheiz when Floyd told them to go get their brother
for dinner.
"I would have
those girls run and try to chase him down,'' Floyd said. "They would come
back so tired, out of breath, 'we can't catch him.' It's funny to look
back."
*****
Rená, Kamisha and
Alexzandrea formed the epicenter of Purifoy's life growing up.
They watched over
him, kept him grounded and away from the influences that can sidetrack a young
man's life.
"They are his
backbones,'' Floyd said of her daughters.
Sports served as the
outlet for all that energy that burned inside Purifoy.
His extended family
included an array of cousins that helped him develop into the dynamic force
Florida fans watched a year ago as Purifoy blossomed into one of the nation's
top defensive backs and special teams players.
Purifoy and cousin
Shaq Purifoy, who signed with Grambling, formed a lethal duo for opponents at
Pensacola's Pine Forest High.
Purifoy, listed at
6-1, 189 pounds, was never the biggest player on the field. But he was usually
the fastest and nearly always the feistiest.
"I really
didn't play football with the younger people because I was always faster than
them,'' he said. "So the older boys always ended up picking me up on their
team and I ended up playing ball with them. That's how I got tough. I don't
like to get hit and not hit back."
A few hundred miles
away from home at UF, Purifoy has gained a newfound celebrity around campus
following his breakout season and the expectations that followed.
Purifoy started 12
games last season and finished with career highs for tackles (51), forced
fumbles (3) and passes defended (5). He also made a huge impact on special
teams with two blocked kicks and an average of 23.9 yards on seven kickoff
returns.
He tries to keep it
all in perspective amidst the growing attention.
He knows that is
what Rená expects.
"We didn't grow
up with a lot of money,'' Purifoy said. "This is my life. This is more
than a game to me. For [success] to come to light, the whole picture is just
being put in place."
Floyd, 46, worked
multiple jobs while Purifoy grew up. She taught special education students at
Pine Forest, worked at a community center mentoring special-needs kids,
attended junior college and later the University of West Florida to improve her
salary, and was Purifoy's chauffeur to and from many of those sporting events.
In high school
Purifoy starred in football, basketball and track.
The life mileage
began to take a toll on Floyd during Purifoy's senior season of high school.
A turning point
happened in the middle of the night three days before Pine Forest's game
against Pace for the district title.
Purifoy was asleep
when Rená woke him up. His mom's heart was dying.
"She had
congestive heart failure,'' Purifoy said.
Floyd actually
flat-lined in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
"They had to
pull me out of the ambulance and work on me right on the side of the road,''
Floyd said.
By the time Purifoy
arrived at the hospital, a different one than he expected due to the scare in
the ambulance, the scene was grim.
"It was tough
because my mom and me are really close,'' he said. "All I saw were a bunch
of tubes."
Fortunately, Floyd's
condition stabilized the next day and she held out hope of attending Friday
night's big showdown between Pine Forest and Pace.
The doctors delivered
the news: she needed heart surgery to replace a defective valve.
Over the next couple
of days Purifoy spent much of his time going back and forth between school and
the hospital. He decided to play in the game.
"I wanted him
to play and he played his heart out, too,'' Floyd said. "I watched it on
the computer in the hospital."
Pine Forest won the
district championship 34-17.
Purifoy, a
quarterback/running back/receiver in the Eagles' split-back veer offense,
accounted for 372 total yards and two touchdowns, including a 96-yard kickoff
return.
"He is super
competitive, just a fiery player,'' said former Pensacola News-Journal sports
writer D.C. Reeves, who now covers Florida State for the Rivals.com network.
"I remember when we would pick against his team in the newspaper, he would
always come over and say something before the game to let us hear about it."
*****
If Purifoy had not
chosen football, Brad Grant, his basketball coach at Pine Forest, believes
Purifoy could play college basketball.
Purifoy was a
standout guard/small forward for the Eagles in Grant's first season in 2010. He
averaged 17 points a game and led Pine Forest to its first district title in 28
years.
He carried the same
mentality onto the basketball court as the football field.
"He brought his
heart and lunch pale to work every day,'' said Grant, who remains close to
Purifoy. "He was part of a big deal. He would schedule [football]
recruiting visits around when we had games. He only missed one game. That says
a lot about a kid. He didn't want to let his teammates down.
"Loucheiz is
one of those guys that anything he sets his mind on he is going to do it."
Bill Vilona followed
Purifoy's blossoming athletic career as a columnist for the Pensacola
News-Journal. He said Purifoy has the talent to be an elite triple-jumper or
sprinter if he had chosen that route.
"He was that
good,'' Vilona said. "The only issue with him was if he was going to
qualify."
Floyd had similar
concerns when Purifoy started high school. As a freshman at crosstown Tate
High, Purifoy's grades were not meeting Floyd's expectations.
She moved him to
Pine Forest where she taught. Soon, his grades improved. It was a time in
Purifoy's life that he looks back on now with a more mature appreciation.
He was in danger of
taking the wrong path but began to realize what was at stake for his future.
Growing up without a steady father figure also played a role in his turnaround,
as has the fact he is now a father.
"I kind of grew
up trying to take a different path than him,'' Purifoy said of his father, whom
he has had an off-and-on relationship over the years. "I had to realize I
had to make a change in schools if I wanted to go to a college."
*****
Purifoy quickly
developed into one of Muschamp's favorites because of his toughness and
blue-collar approach.
While Pensacola
produced one of the best players in Florida football history -- running back
Emmitt Smith -- the area has produced few Gators in recent years. Prior to
Purifoy, the last top prospect Florida signed from Pensacola was linebacker Jon
Demps in 2005.
Purifoy's emergence
and the success in recent years of Pine Forest alums such as Redskins running
back Alfred Morris, Falcons offensive lineman Mike Johnson and former USF
defensive end George Selvie has shined a spotlight on the program led by
veteran coach Jerry Pollard.
Purifoy is symbolic
of the type of player Pollard prefers.
"They don't
really leave here with these glowing reputations,'' Vilona said. "They
don't get jaded in high school. We're remote. We're not in the mainstream of
Florida, so a lot of the people don't get noticed that well. I also think that
it benefits these kids because they don't get big heads. And Jerry Pollard,
he's not a flamboyant guy and his teams aren't flamboyant. He is an old-school
coach."
Purifoy fit in
perfectly.
In high school
Purifoy would often spend the night in the school's weight room, wake up and
watch three hours of game film, and then finally go home.
He has taken the
same approach this offseason trying to learn to play receiver.
"It's very
difficult for a guy that's had tremendous success at a position when you're
trying to learn another position,'' Muschamp said.
Last week as Purifoy
strolled through the Gators' locker room, he goaded back-up quarterback Tyler
Murphy for not sending him a text at 6 that morning so he could join the
quarterbacks in a passing drill.
Junior Jeff Driskel
is confident that Purifoy has the ability to make an impact on offense in the
passing game regardless if he misses a drill or two.
"He's an
athletic freak and a guy we want to get the ball,'' Driskel said. "He's
really embraced the challenged and done a good job. He wants to learn. He's a
student of the game."
*****
Purifoy's drive to
succeed is fueled by several factors.
The woman whose name
he has tattooed on his arm is the guiding light. His mother's health has
improved -- she had to stop teaching after suffering another heart attack, this
one at school -- and she is able to get to most home games.
Still, she needs
dialysis treatments three times a week and is in need of a kidney transplant.
Floyd is scheduled to take a trip to Birmingham, Ala., at the end of August to
have tests to see if her sister is a compatible donor.
"I'm getting
stronger,'' she said. "I have my good days and bad days. It's a process
I'm going through right now."
Purifoy checks in on
his mom regularly. His sisters live in the same neighborhood and help her out
as she tries to get healthy.
There is talk that
if Purifoy has a strong junior season, he could be a first-round NFL Draft
pick.
That dream sprouted
in his head when he was in high school and saw his mother struggling to support
the family.
Now that the dream
seems close to reality, the fire inside burns hotter.
"I just watched
her do so much to the point where I'm tired of her doing stuff,'' he said.
"I feel like it's my turn to do something for my mom and two sisters.
That's who raised me. It's time for me to give back.
"She needs a
kidney. We are working on it. When the opportunity knocks, you've got to take
advantage of it."
In life, and
football, that is the mission Purifoy seeks to complete.
