By Matt Schabert, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations
MOREHEAD, Ky. — It’s been a long journey for Morehead State football senior quarterback DeAndre Clayton. Between moving several times and three different colleges, Clayton finally found a home at Morehead State.
A native of Lorton, Va., and a business major at MSU, Clayton is the first recipient of the Minority Internship within the athletics department. The internship was created with the assistance of the OVC Inspires Initiative. He’ll be working with marketing and other operational projects in athletics.
“The OVC Inspires Initiative is a wonderful program that has helped, and is going to help, so many student-athletes across our league,” said Director of Athletics Jaime Gordon. “We decided to use assistance from that create a meaningful and experiential internship for minority students at Morehead State. DeAndre is the true example of a student-athlete. He is dedicated to his team and is dedicated to bettering himself through the experiences and tasks he’ll complete with this internship. He is already bringing great ideas to the table that will enhance our marketing and operational endeavors.”
While he’s endured some tough times and uncertainty, Clayton has always looked on the bright side and has the support of a large family at home and at Morehead State. Clayton grew up in the Washington D.C. metro area, specifically in Alexandria and Lorton, Va. He lived in Alexandria until the fifth grade and then moved to nearby Lorton where he lived with his mother and two sisters.
He also has two brothers and another sister.
“It was a different path, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it because it has helped shape me into who I am today,” he said. “I am the oldest of six children, I have three sisters and two brothers, so being a leader is something that I have had to do from a young age. While my parents are not together, they always made sure they were there for everything I have going on in my life. They also gave me two amazing stepparents who are where I get my two youngest sisters and two little brothers from.”
Clayton also has great admiration for his uncle, who runs TRG Real Estate in the New England region.
“Having them look up to me is why I try to be the best everything I can. The way they look up to me is the way that I look up to my uncle,” he commented. “He has always been a person that will tell me what I need to hear, he is also a big reason I choose to study business.
“Studying business has been challenging but I know that when I get my degree it’ll all be worth it.”
Clayton is on track to graduate in December. Just a few years ago, though, he was at a crossroads – multiple times in his college career path.
“I originally committed to Clarion University in Pennsylvania and I stayed there for a year and a half, but I just felt it was not the best fit for me,” he said. “I didn’t play a down of football there and I was struggling academically, so after the fall semester of my sophomore year I transferred to Malone University in Canton, Ohio.”
Everything seemed on the upswing then for Clayton until Jan. 1, 2018.
“My stepdad passed away in his sleep that day. This was devastating to me as he was one person who I could tell anything to,” he said. “I decided to dedicate that year to him and went just as hard in class as I did on the field. The year that started out on such a sad note ended up being a great year. Although we didn’t win many games our team was super close and were ready to prove ourselves the next year. I broke multiple single season and single game records at Malone and was ready to start marking my name in career records. The next year came around and we started up winter workouts as we usually did the second week of the semester.”
Clayton passed for more than 2,300 yards and scored 25 times as a redshirt sophomore at Malone.
Although he couldn’t have imagined what came next, it was another crossroads.
“February 1, 2019. It was a Friday, which was usually our conditioning day, the entire team received a text around 11 the night before to be in the gym by 6 a.m., so we all assumed that we would be starting our conditioning,” said Clayton.
“When I arrived in the gym around 5:50 am I saw the bleachers down and instantly felt something different was going on, but I proceeded to sit down and try to assess what was happening. At 6 a.m. sharp our coaches and the school president walked in. I am an optimistic person, so I was not expecting the news that was soon to come. I could tell it hurt him to inform us of the school’s next step. They decided that to have funds to spread to other areas of the school they would have to cut the football team.”
Clayton took some time to process, but it wasn’t long after that his connection to Morehead State began.
“The whole day after that felt like I was on cruise control. My best friend and I went to IHOP and discussed what I should do next, I knew that I would be able to find another place to play but I did not know if I could find a place that was a better fit for me,” he remembered. “I knew that with this happening though. God had something greater in store for me. Later, that same day I got a DM on twitter from (MSU Assistant) Coach (Andrew) Strobel asking how I felt and if I was ready to talk. This was the first school to contact me so there was an advantage that Morehead State held already.”
Clayton always had visions of playing Division I football.
“Once I started to talk to him a little more, I found out that it was a DI program and that kind of sealed the deal. I took a visit the next week and envisioned myself being successful here. The first week of March I committed to Morehead State and could not have been more excited, I had achieved a lifelong goal of mine to play DI football. In my first semester I had my ups and downs but made it through and ultimately enjoyed it when I got my chance on the field, I started to enjoy things more.”
He ultimately appeared in nine contests for the Eagles in 2019. After a slower start with a little less playing time, Clayton started to make a name for himself midway through the fall. He had a breakout effort on Oct. 5 against Davidson. Clayton rushed for 50 yards on just seven carries and was 6-of-6 passing. The next week at Jacksonville, Clayton scored a rushing touchdown and was 8-of-10 through the air for 98 yards. He biggest stage was at PFL champion San Diego where he threw for 133 yards and two scores.
After that successful first season at MSU, Clayton was ready for greater things in the 2020 season. Then his third crossroads appeared – the pandemic.
But, Clayton met the challenges head on and that’s when he started to become involved in athletics in other ways.
“With the pandemic our second semester was cut short, but one event that stuck out was the AIA (Athletes in Action) winter retreat,” he said. “Thank you to Rich Duffield, who told me and made it possible for me to go. I enjoyed the entire trip and there I got to connect with a few of my teammates on a deeper level as well as meet a few other athletes from other teams at Morehead State. I started to become more social and make connections with people outside of my team.”
He also started to have interest in the inner workings of the athletic department.
“In the Fall 2020 semester I decided to take all my classes online. With a few courses I needed for graduation only being available in person, my advisor told me that I could take a co-op position in place of the class I was missing,” he said. “This is when I met (Assistant Athletic Director for External Affairs and Senior Woman Administrator) Sara Hacker. I would say that we clicked very quickly and from there I have been happy to work with her in the athletic department. Last semester when we didn’t have any sports being played, I was tasked with watching how professional teams run their social media pages and got some ideas on things we could use for our sport team pages.”
He has broadened his experiences in 2021 as events start to be held again.
“So far this semester I have been able to work a couple basketball games as an usher as well as checking tickets. During the week we get assigned tasks – some small, some a little bigger – but I enjoy coming in everyday and working with our team. Working this job has showed me how exciting it is to work in college sports.”
Clayton has aspirations to own his own business after his football career ceases, but he does have hopes that he continue the game he loves at a professional level.
“After graduation, I want to continue to play football professionally because that is what I am passionate about, ” he said. “After football though, I plan on running my own training facility, that way I can still be around the game and put my degree to use. I would also be open to coaching because I can also teach the youngsters all the things I know from playing all of the years that I have. Overall I want make a positive impact on those all around me.”
That positive impact is already coming to fruition.