DALLAS, Texas – University of Mississippi art professor Matt Long has a longstanding tradition of inviting his ceramics students to his home, where they make pottery in a wood-burning kiln. When the professor altered his tradition by inviting a 6-foot-6-inch, nearly 300-pound Ole Miss Rebel basketball and football player to join the group in 2008, Long didn’t realize he, and his son, Chris, would make a connection that would eventually stretch to the Dallas Cowboys.
Jermey Parnell, now an offensive tackle for the Cowboys, bonded with the Longs through a love of art and rock collecting.
“It’s always a pleasure to have students like Jermey,” Long said. “As a professor, I realize that I have the opportunity to affect students’ lives beyond the classroom. However, it is not often that I see a student deal with a child in such an unselfish and potentially life-affecting way.”