Former VHS football player wants to return to Vicksburg to make a difference

Former Vicksburg football standout Kenneth Tyler has graduated from Jackson State University with his master’s degree in sports management after overcoming some tough obstacles.

In 2009, Tyler moved to Vicksburg from Atlanta to live with his grandmother, Beatrice Tyler, shortly after his father was sent to prison on drug charges. He enrolled at Vicksburg High School. While he was trying to find stability in his life, Tyler turned to football to keep him out of trouble and off the streets.

“I devoted so much time to football because I thought it was my way out of any situation,” he said.

The 2009 season was a learning experience. He practiced with the varsity team gaining little playing time on the field.

In 2010, Tyler saw plenty of action on the field playing defensive tackle under head coach Alonzo Stevens. When his senior football season came around in 2012, he became a starter on both offense and defense. Tyler was one the  main offensive lineman blocking for the Gators high powered offense, where the team broke plenty of passing and receiving records in Warren County with the guidance of their coaches.

“I appreciate my coaches being there for me when I needed them, and none of it would have been possible without them,” Tyler said.

Tyler eventually signed with Hinds Community College and was red shirted his freshman season in 2012. ”

College football was a big jump for me, I played only offense instead of defense unlike I did at VHS,” said Tyler.

Tyler played the 2013 season receiving playing time with Hinds, but he became a star player the next year.

In his sophomore year at Hinds in 2014, Tyler became a big recruit early in the season when he received offers from Kentucky, Stanford, South Carolina, North Texas and Minnesota. Most of those offers would be short lived. Tyler blew out his knee in the fourth game of the season, and the only school that took a chance on him was Jackson State University. He accepted the offer and enrolled in spring 2015, with encouragement from his grandmother.

Tyler went on to play at JSU, but in his junior season, he realized his knee was not the same after the injury and that his best game of football was behind him. Tyler hung up his cleats after that season, but he finished his bachelor’s degree at Jackson State in education in 2016.

After finishing his degree, some Arena Football League scouts talked to him about playing again. Tyler sank into depression, forcing him to re-evaluate his life. Tyler declined the offers and re-enrolled at JSU to pursue his master’s in sports management. He graduated Saturday, Dec. 7.

Tyler plans to pursue a career path as a teacher, coach and athletic director. Making a difference for kids in the Vicksburg community has always been a goal for him.

“I want to reach out to them before things get out of hand, and I want to effect change,” he said. He would also like to start off teaching locally.

“I just want to go where God calls for me, and I will follow his orders,”he said.

Tyler’s father has now been released, and he has both parents in his life and loves them both dearly.

“With the help of everyone in my life, I am the true definition that it takes a village to raise a child,” he said.