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'He's challenging me:' Moody football star hopes to break dad's record at school, rebuild their relationship

Moody's own Keith Dailey is looking to break 100 tackles this season while mending a relationship with his father along the way.

MOODY, Texas — When the season starts Friday, Aug. 26, Keith Dailey will be starting more than a football season. He will be chasing records and mending a relationship along the way. 

"It definitely hardened me. I realized that I had to grow up faster than other kids," said Dailey, junior running back and linebacker for the Moody football team, "I couldn't rely on everything to be handed to me."

Football is more than a game this Moody Bearcat. It's a backbone; a family.

"I know that it helps me as a player to know that there are teammates who have my back knowing what I've been through," he said. "Knowing they'll help me through any situation."

Tragedy hit Dailey’s family when he was young.

"My mother passed when I was 3. That's really the time where everything got mixed up," Dailey said. "I lived with his parents, my grandparents now, and he shipped off to be in the military. So it was really difficult growing up."

Credit: Keith Dailey
Keith Dailey with his mom and dad in 2008.

His dad, also named Keith Dailey, left his son at a young age to serve in the military.

"It was very rocky. I didn't really talk to him for, I think the first 11 to 12 years of my life," Dailey said.

Without either parent at home, Dailey has found other people to fill that void.

Credit: Keith Dailey
Keith Dailey serving in the military.



Moody’s new head coach, Matt Hurst, has already made an impact.

"Keith is very independent. He's very self motivated. He is able to push himself to get better and that's a great quality to have in a player," Hurst said. "And also helps other kids kind of see that and push themselves as well."

Dailey's dad also wore the green and gold. So this year, he is attacking this season with one goal in mind: Beating his dad's record.

"His junior and senior year, he had 100 plus tackles and they went to playoffs his senior year," Dailey said. "So he's challenging me and I'm a competitive person and I want to take on that challenge."

Credit: Keith Dailey
Keith Dailey's father, Keith, wearing the green and gold at Moody High School.

Playing both running back and linebacker, it's a hefty goal. But if there's one person who believes in him, it's Hurst.

"He's got a ton of talent. Strength, speed, intelligence, all those things. And so yeah I could definitely see him having a great season," Hurst said. "And whether that's 100 tackles or more remains to be seen. But he can definitely reach that goal."

Dailey wants his dad in his life, and that bond is slowly starting to build.

"These past coming years, I've been receiving more calls and I have been giving out more calls," Dailey said. "So there has been a build of the bond that we've been missing. But it's definitely getting there."

One day, his father will retire and Dailey feels there is still time to build that relationship.

"They can become more of a family and we can just rebuild the time he missed," he said.

Credit: Keith Dailey
Keith Dailey as a young boy with his dad, Keith.

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