LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — No matter how many times you hear Las Vegas Raiders' running backs coach Deland McCullough's story of how he found his biological parents, it's a tale that never gets old.
“I got my records sent to me, I found out who my biological mom was, I tracked her down through Facebook, I called her, we had a great conversation, I said well shoot who is my dad, and she said your dad is a man named Sherman Smith," McCullough said.
WATCH | Deland McCullough's inspirational story
McCullough was given up for adoption as as baby. In 2017 at 45 years old, he discovered his dad was a man who he had known since he was 17.
“I was completely blown away and she didn’t understand why," McCullough said. "I said I know him and she said how and I said he recruited me to college, he was my coach my freshman year, and he’s been my mentor for over 20 years.”
Smith was unaware he had a son, as McCullough was born out of wedlock and his mother, Carol Denise Briggs, didn't tell Smith. However eight years later, the three have created a lifelong bond.
“It’s like completing a circle," McCullough said. "Her [Carol's] words are so calming to me and her presence, and the things he [Sherman] did for me, his saying was — you might not be looking for a father, but I’m going to treat you like my son, so he said that years and years ago not knowing I was looking for my father and I was his son.”
Now following in his father's footsteps, McCullough tries to embody that father-like figure for his players.
“He always treated me and the other guys he coached with such a high level of respect, getting to know guys, having a relationship with them, caring about them on and off the field, creating guidelines for their success, being somebody they can count on, that’s more important than Super Bowls and all those things, the relationships that I have they go way beyond, the time I have those guys are the things that are most important to me.”
Taking his story one step further beyond the field, McCullough hopes his book called, "Runs in the Family: An Incredible True Story of Football, Fatherhood and Belonging," brings healing to others like it did to him.
“I’d love to tell you I came out of it, I’m just perfect, no, I’m still growing through some of those things, the book was therapeutic for me," McCullough said. "Everybody is living their own story right now and the challenge I make to people is — what will your story be ultimately, so you have to embrace that, I’ve embraced my story and all of the warts that come with it, at the end of the day, Coach Carroll is looking for people of high character and more importantly, guys that can move the needle as a coach and get players to do something that they couldn’t do on their own — so that’s why I’m here.”
As the saying goes, like father like son. Sherman Smith coached under Pete Carroll when he was leading the Seahawks, and now Deland is doing the same with the Raiders.
