Descendants of John Fenner

Derrick Steven Fenner

[b 6 Apr. 1967 at Washington, DC] Derrick was raised in Oxon Hill, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC, the only child of supportive middle-class parents. In high school, he initially played basketball, then he was recruited to try football instead, given his size and agility, so he joined his high school football team. As a sophomore, the Oxon Hill football team was runner-up state champion (class AA), losing the title game to Churchill. As a junior, he scored a 65-yard rushing touchdown on his first play of the season. As a senior, he rushed for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns. He graduated from Oxon Hill in 1985.

Form there, Derrick was offered a position on the football team of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. As a freshman, he rushed for 393 yards and set new school records, including most yards by a freshman in his first game (109 against Wake Forest), most catches in a game by a freshman (6 against Florida State), and most total catches by a freshman (14). In 1986, as a sophomore, he led the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with 1250 rushing yards, and on 15 Nov. 1986 he set the ACC single-game record with 328 yards against Virginia.

In spite of his successes, his personal life was interfering with his aspirations. By some accounts, he was living the good life, with expensive clothes and a red BMW; on the other hand, “He missed a team bus. He was benched for lethargic play. Finally, he was suspended from the team with academic problems and missed [the 1986] Aloha Bowl.”[1] Others viewed him as a lone wolf, not tight with the rest of the team. Then in 1987, his problems off the field completely derailed his aspirations. On April 9, he was arrested in Clinton, MD, for cocaine possession, carrying a concealed weapon, and driving without a registration. In an attempt to get his academics back on track, he enrolled in summer classes, but on June 2 he was arrested for first-degree murder in connection to a drug-related shooting, and jailed in Upper Marlboro, MD. Marcellus Leach, age 19, was killed on May 23 at the Kirkwood Apartments in Hyattsville, MD, a place known to be popular for drug traffickers. For Derrick, it was a harrowing experience:

I remember thinking, “God, what if I get convicted for a murder I didn’t commit?” I knew I’d go crazy if something like that happened, so I started thinking stupid things. I decided I’d kill myself if that happened. And I meant it. I know I would have tried. . . . I kept thinking every day would be my last day in there, but it wasn’t. I’d stay up crying half the night sometimes. The worst time of all was when I had a hearing and was denied bond. It was like, “Oh no, they really are going to get me on something I didn’t do.”[2]

While in jail, he coped by praying and taking part in Bible study classes. On July 15, he was released on a $100,000 bond, and he was baptized two weeks later at True Way Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Fortunately, Derrick and his attorney were able to assemble enough exculpatory evidence to show he was not at the apartment complex at the time of the shooting, so the murder charge was dropped on 30 Nov. 1987. In January 1988, he was granted a temporary reinstatement at UNC, enrolling in six hours of correspondence courses. A few weeks later, he was involved in a verbal altercation at a fraternity party on the campus of Duke University in the early hours of 14 Feb. 1988, leading to him being banned from that campus. On 15 Apr. 1988, he was given probation for the cocaine charge, and the weapon charge was dropped; the probationary status on the drug charge kept him from returning to UNC.

The following fall, Derrick was granted a full scholarship to play for Gardner-Webb, a private college in Boiling Springs, NC. He reported to school and was preparing to play, pending eligibility clearance with the South Atlantic Conference, when he was notified of a problem: players were required to maintain 24 semester hours from year to year, but he had not been in school since the spring of 1987, so he was not eligible to play. He had another brush with trouble on Christmas morning, 1988, when he was defending a friend outside a nightclub and was grazed by a bullet, but this time he knew what was good for him—he opted to move to Ann Arbor, MI, to stay out of trouble and focus on preparing for the NFL draft.

In the spring of 1989, he was selected in the 10th round by the Seattle Seahawks, based on the strength of his performance at UNC, even though he had not played football for two years. Derrick made an immediate impression by leading the Seahawks in exhibition games with 129 yards and 2 touchdowns. He spent the first half of the season on the inactive list, then joined the team as a reserve fullback in early November. In his third official NFL game, 26 Nov. 1989 against the Denver Broncos, he rushed for 28 yards and scored his first touchdown. The following season was his biggest, when he led the AFC with 15 total touchdowns and 14 rushing touchdowns (tying a team record), while amassing 859 rushing yards and 1002 total yards.

On 22 August 1990, Derrick had a child, Naomi Blonnie Zuleika, with Blonnie Zuleika, daughter of David M. Thomas.

Following the 1991 season, Derrick became a free agent and was subsequently acquired by the Cincinnati Bengals. In his first season with the Bengals, he scored 8 touchdowns with 541 total yards. As a team, the Bengals struggled mightily, winning only 11 games in 3 seasons. When his contract ended after the 1994 season, he was picked up by the Oakland Raiders and played three more seasons. His best season with the Raiders was in 1996, when he had 497 total yards and 8 touchdowns. He retired after the 1997 season.

After his retirement, Derrick entered the world of philanthropy. In 1999, while living in the Seattle area, he established the Giving in Kindness (GIK) Foundation, a non-profit devoted to providing down payment assistance to first-time homeowners and people in low-to-middle income brackets. In 2002, he became VP of Business Development at Financial Capital in Seattle. He returned to Prince Georges County in 2009 to work as Director of Federal Sales for ProTelecom, then VP of Business Development for ChristTube.com. In 2014, he launched his own venture, EverFourward, an organization devoted to helping amateur and pro athletes through mentorship, in addition to corporate consulting.

Derrick m Christy and had four more children: Chris, Erika, DJ, and Rico.

Lineage:
John | John | John | Spear | Spear | Derrick

Sources:
1. Kevin Quirk & Stan Olson, “Who is Derrick Fenner?” The Charlotte Observer (7 June 1987), 1D.
2. Charles Chandler, “Nothing Can Stop Me: Derrick Fenner Tells His Story,” The Charlotte Observer (21 Aug. 1988), H1.
3. Pro Football Reference: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FennDe00.htm
4. The Story of Derrick Fenner, Havoline Football Saturdays (2016): YouTube
5. Derrick Fenner Overcomes Injustice, Gives Back To Community; Havoline Football Saturdays / ACC Network (2016): YouTube
6. Derrick Fenner, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-fenner-14a48256/
7. Daily Tar Heel, North Carolina Newspapers: https://www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/daily-tar-heel-chapel-hill-n-c/
8. Digital NC, North Carolina Digital Heritage Center: https://www.digitalnc.org/