DJ McClelland wasn’t focused on football when a tornado tore through his Granger home last March.
McClelland, twin sister Skye, brother Nathan and niece Serenity were huddled in a bedroom in the center of the house when the roof was blown off. It sounded like a freight train had crashed through the front door. The walls have collapsed. For what “looks like an eternity,” the tornado destroyed the house in about 20 seconds, he said.
Fortunately, everyone survived. McClelland suffered from headaches that lasted almost two months. One of the bedroom walls collapsed on his head, causing a severe concussion. In retrospect, the fallen walls protected everyone from the flying debris. A total of 458 homes in the Granger area were damaged or destroyed that day.
McClelland no longer stops at tornadoes. Instead, he reflects on a wonderful football season filled with team and individual accomplishments. He was scheduled to play in the Dream All-American Bowl this weekend at AT&T Stadium, dedicated to the nation’s top high school players. And this year, he earned a spot on the American-Statesman All-Central Texas football team.
“Every teammate of mine came to help” after the tornado, McClelland said. “There were hundreds of people outside. Sirens were heard.”
Granger, a town of nearly 1,200 about 35 miles northeast of Austin, has also responded to the family’s needs. Five families will lend their RVs. The construction of the new house has not been completed.
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Granger was selected to finish third in the six-team Division II District 13-2A but went 11-3 and played four rounds in the state playoffs. The undisputed leader of the pack was McClelland, who played a major role in offense and defense. He received the State Class 2A Ford Built Tough Player of the Week award after beating Bruni in late September.
During the season, McClelland carried the ball 220 times for 1,987 yards and scored 32 touchdowns. He caught 35 passes for 560 yards and seven touchdowns. He scored four more touchdowns on special teams. Defensively, he made 101 tackles, 22 from behind the line of scrimmage, and also threw five fumbles and intercepted two passes. He earned his All-Centex spot as a utility player.
“The DJ is a great leader because of his character, which has developed in the process of education,” said Grainger’s trainer Steven Brosh. “It didn’t take long for him to develop that key trait that made him an outstanding young man.”
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Brosh was one of the first people to arrive at the McClelland home after being hit by the tornado. McClelland moved in with Granger defenseman Nathan Tucker before friends and neighbors borrowed their RVs. Tucker describes McClelland as “a brother from another mother”. McClelland stayed with the Tuckers for two months.
Tucker said he saw the tornado heading straight for McClelland’s house and panicked when he saw the roof come off.
“It was like a scene from a movie,” said Tucker, who also plays a catcher on the school’s baseball team. “My stomach just dropped. My parents had to force me to move because I was breaking down. I was traumatized. It was a blessing from God that they were in the only room in the house that didn’t completely collapse.”
Danny Ray and Amanda McClelland were at work when their relatives managed to escape the tornado. The DJ and his twin sister were talking to their parents on their cell phones when the roof was blown off.
“I called Skye and my husband was on the phone with a DJ,” Amanda recalled last week. “I tried to talk to her about it, trying to calm her down. The next thing I realized was that she started screaming. My daughter finds it disrespectful to swear, but when she started swearing again and again, I realized that it was bad. Obviously, then the roof fell off, I screamed, damn it, and she started screaming: “Mom, mommy, mommy.”
The screams didn’t stop until Skye heard voices. DJ, Nathan and Serenity were covered in debris.
Ten months have passed since that terrible March day. DJ is preparing for his last semester of high school and is looking forward to returning to the track team. His concussion wiped out much of his junior season. He wants to play American football. He received offers from Trinity University, Blinn College, and the University of New Hampshire.
McClelland, who has a 3.8 GPA (on a 4.0 scale), said he will miss his relationships with his teachers and teammates as he embarks on the next chapter of his life. Growing up in a small town, he is used to being the center of attention both on and off the playgrounds.
According to him, the tornado was one moment in time. These are the good times he will take with him.
