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Oakland senior goes from refugee to football standout

George Gbesee sat on a cold metal bleacher this past week, sharing his life story.

The Oakland senior was days from playing in the biggest high school football game of the season to date. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and flashed a smile.

“It’s a long story,” he warned.

To understand how the Oakland senior got to Friday’s Class 6A football state quarterfinal at Blackman, it takes some time to tell.

But it’s worth it.

Gbesee’s life story is one of hardship and sacrifice. But it’s also one of faith and triumph.

It’s a story that began 18 years ago when he was born in a refugee camp in Ghana, Africa. It includes moving to three different states, living in two different children’s homes before finally making his residence here, where he has been welcomed by Jerome and Kelly Rothacker of Milton, whom he refers to as his “pops and madre.”

“Not a lot of people that come from this situation make it this far,” said Gbesee, who is a recent Wofford college football commitment and will be the first from his birth family to attend a four-year college. “I am really proud to say I made it. I knew what I needed to do and got a second chance.

“I got a chance to start all over. I can guarantee if I had stayed where I was I wouldn’t be where I am.”

Gbesee and his parents moved to Philadelphia when he was an infant. He said he grew up in a “bad part” of the city and was surrounded by gang violence.

“My parents didn’t want me to get exposed to that,” said Gbesee, who is one of six from his family.

So his parents prayed about it. The answer was to send their son, who was in the second grade at the time, to a children’s home in Indiana to get him away from the situation.

He moved back home less than a year later. And things went well at first. But the violence around him continued. Again, it was decided that it would be best if Gbesee leave.

“My mom and dad are strong Christians,” Gbesee said. “They wanted something better for me. At the time, I didn’t understand that because when you are young, you just want to be with your parents.”

They chose to send him to the Good Shepherd Children’s Home in Murfreesboro.

Gbesee spent four years living at the home, a place for disadvantaged boys and girls. He was soon introduced to the Rothacker family through their two boys, Michael and Kevin. They all were attending Bellwood Christian Academy where Kelly Rothacker was a volunteer.

Gbesee befriended the Rothackers and often spent holiday weekends with them.

“Holidays, when other kids went home to their families, his was too far away,” said Kelly Rothacker. “He would come and stay with us.”

Gbesee stayed in the children’s home until he was 14, when he went back to live with his birth parents. Things went well for a while, but eventually the gang violence began to creep up again. He had to get away.

So he called Kelly Rothacker.

“I gave him my phone number and told him if he ever needed anything, to call,” she said. “I did that for all of the kids because you never know what they are going home to.”

The Rothackers discussed Gbesee moving in and quickly agreed they would take him into their Milton home.

“As long as he was doing what he was supposed to be doing, I told him I’d be there for you and support you and encourage you along the way,” she said.

Gbesee maintains a 3.5 grade-point average at Oakland and has a college future through football, despite never playing the sport until high school.

Kelly Rothacker says Gbesee, a receiver and defensive back for the Patriots, taught himself how to play from watching YouTube videos.

This season he has 43 tackles, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries on defense. And he leads the team with 28 catches for 564 yards.

“I’ve told him on multiple occasions that he has no business being as successful, considering his background, as he’s been,” Oakland coach Thomas McDaniel said. “He’s always done a good job academically. He’s always had a great attitude at practice. He’s just a high-energy, fun, lovable personality.

“Everybody has sacrificed so much for him just because what it meant for his future. Now, he is the first one in his family to get a chance to do something like this. He’s overcome a lot of obstacles, but he would be the first to tell you that God has opened up a lot of doors that has helped him get to this point.”

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