RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – Like most elite, senior high school football players, Rancho Cucamonga safety Tahaan Goodman was in the midst of it all -- school, playoffs, and the ever intense recruiting process.
Tragedy struck and Goodman had to take a step away from everything.
Goodman's brother, Isaac Brown, was shot and killed during the first week of November. He was 21 years old.
Goodman's world was turned upside down.
Everyone wanted a piece of him. Like most high profile recruits, reporters and recruiters were trying to pull him in every direction. He wanted no parts of it.
He was out of school for a week, barely able to muster up enough strength to make it to football practice.
As far as the recruiting game was concerned, he disconnected himself from that world. He cancelled his official visit to LSU. Yet, there were some that didn't understand he and his family needed their time to grieve.
Of those who understood and were respectful to the family was UCLA head coach Jim Mora and his coaching staff.
"That's one big thing about UCLA," said Goodman's mother, Apryl Brown. "They were the first people to call. We got a big envelope in the mail with personalized letters from every coach on the staff."
It was a gesture that meant a lot to the family, and still does.
At the time, Goodman wasn't doing much. If he wasn't at football practice, he was in his room mourning the loss of his brother.
There's the mantra that "life goes on," but dealing with the loss of a loved one can make that thought incredibly tough to grasp.
Somehow, Goodman needed to get back on his feet. To do so, he took an approach few high school seniors would dare try to conquer. With guidance from his mother as well as moral support from his coaches at B2G Sports, Goodman decided to follow the blueprint of those he looked up to.
"Professionals, the NFL, no matter what happens, they still got to play," he said. "It still has to be something they have to go through. It's still their job to get on the field. That's how I looked at it."
While Goodman viewed it that way, his mother noticed he needed to be around others. His morale was much higher when he was around his friends.
"I noticed that Tahaan would be happier and not as down when he was around other players and friends, and we got back into the swing of things that way," she said. "If he had friends that were over, he was good. If he was by himself, he was like me, tended to think about it a lot. Wonder why? Ask that question and it just wasn't a good thing to think like that because you would just go into a deep depression and that wasn't good."
Apryl left it up to Goodman to decide if he felt up to attending the UCLA game against USC as they tried to get back into the swing of things. Goodman decided he wanted to go and that would be the weekend he'd take his official visit.
"It was a great trip, a great experience for him and it helped him to move on," Apryl said.
At UCLA, there was a sense of family he noticed which helped him to realize that was something he wanted to be a part of.
"When you go down to Westwood and you hang out with all of the players and you hang out with the recruits, it's more (of a) family," Goodman said. "It's more honest. It's not different things being told to everyone. Everyone's being told the same thing. Everybody knows that it's competition and everyone knows that they need to work."
Goodman says if his brother were still alive he'd be right there with him for all of the events leading up to National Signing Day, which included a trip to San Antonio to play in the Army All-American game. He says Isaac would be happy about his decision to attend UCLA.
Goodman had dreams of he and Brown attending the same college one day. Now he's dealing with the reality of becoming the first in his family to attend a four-year university.
His role in the family has changed. He's now the oldest and knows the spotlight on him shone by his siblings, eight-year-old twins, Brooklyne and Bryce, is even brighter.
The memory of his brother lives on through his thoughts. On game days, he remembers Isaac by saying an extra prayer for him before taking the field. On the field he makes sure to wear some article of clothing that belonged to Isaac.
He knows Isaac is right there with him, and will continue to be.
