Howard U: Brothers in Arms

His Dream Deferred but Not His Duty, McElrathbey Carries On

Ray Ray McElrathbey allows a moment to consider the consequences of growth. He can smile about how three years ago teenage exuberance filled his mind with football fancy. Now he sits gazing at the suburban sprawl from a friend's eighth-floor apartment in Hyattsville as a college graduate, a father, a former Clemson reserve running back, a Howard graduate student and a survivor. He's a changed man.

It's crazy, because I'm in D.C.," McElrathbey said, staring into the late-afternoon haze. "The first time I got in a plane to go to D.C., it wasn't that bad. The second time when I came back, and I knew this was the place I was going to stay for at least the next two years, it was real strange. I wouldn't put myself in D.C. No way would I put myself in D.C. That's just what life is. It's unpredictable."

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