The gunshots rang through the night, as 10-year-old Zerbin Singleton sat outside his home, praying the bullets from a bounty hunter?s gun missed their target ? his mother, who was running from an Alaskan bounty hunter.
The bullets shredded Brenda Singleton?s blouse, missing flesh by less than an inch. But for Zerbin, it was the beginning of the end to the life he knew so well. Brenda went to jail for a parole violation when police seized drugs from the home she shared with her then-boyfriend. For Zerbin, it meant leaving the cold streets of Anchorage for a sweltering Atlanta suburb to live with cousins Carey and Lorine Hall, who is Brenda?s niece.
But moving more then 4,300 miles was just the first part of Zerbin?s journey. In the past 13 years, he?s dealt with his father committing suicide and a car accident that almost killed him and two passengers and put his football career in jeopardy. But his latest stage might be the most impressive. He?ll graduate from the Naval Academy before pursuing a career as a pilot by attending flight school this spring.
“Zerbin was a blessed child,” said Lorine Hall, who still keeps in touch with Brenda Singleton. “Our goal was always to help him be the best he could be. Zerbin has all of the God-given talent in the world. All we did was provide him with a foundation; he?s always managed to walk down the right path.”
Zerbin?s path started in Decatur, Ga., a city 14 miles east of Atlanta known for producing an array of superstar singers such as Ciara, Lil Jon and Michael Stipe and performers such as comedians Chris Tucker and Jeff Foxworthy.
“I call [Lorine and Carey] my mother and father because they?ve always treated me like I was their son,” said Zerbin, 23, who does stay in contact with his biological mother. “At first it was a weird adjustment for me because I was in fifth grade and kids wereasking me questions like whether I lived in an igloo because the only thing they knew about Alaska was what they saw in cartoons. But overall, I made the adjustment well.”
Zerbin flourished in his new city. The kid who always had dreamed of flying planes and being an astronaut saw his life slowly coming together at Columbia High School, a school that is predominantly black and where many students come from low-income families. Zerbin?s mother is black; his father, white. However, Zerbin said his Alaskan roots were more difficult to explain to his peers than his biracial family.
Zerbin first considered applying to the Naval Academy in high school, when he inquired about the Air Force before a teacher told him about his options at Annapolis.
“I didn?t even know until then that you could learn to fly at the Naval Academy,” Zerbin said. “My ROTC teacher asked me if I just wanted to fly planes or land planes on a carrier in pitch black while it?s moving back and forth. That?s when I knew the Naval Academy was for me.”
Georgia on his mind
Zerbin stood out in a school known for its good sports teams. As a senior in 2003, he won the Georgia State wrestling title in the 135-pound class after a football season in which he was named one of Atlanta?s best running backs ? and was even better in the classroom. He was senior class president and president of the National Honors Society, but shortly after he was named valedictorian, he nearly lost his life.
A week before he was going to turn his tassel and a few weeks before he?d attend plebe summer at Navy, Zerbin was driving home his cousin and best friend from a high school talent show when he proceeded through an intersection. But the drunken driver never stopped ? running a red light and smashing head-on with Zerbin?s car. Zerbin?s passengers were hurt, but not fatally, and he suffered a broken collarbone, which prevented him from passing his physical to enroll at the academy.
So Zerbin, who didn?t apply to any school other than Navy, did the only thing he could do: He wrote to school and football officials at Georgia Tech, which is in the heart of downtown Atlanta, and asked for a scholarship. He got one, and by fall, he was a Yellow Jacket, playing with the big boys in one of the nation?s biggest conferences.
But Zerbin rarely saw the field at Georgia Tech, as the 5-foot-8, 164-pounder was deemed too small to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, so he transferred to the Naval Academy. Zerbin survived plebe summer and was adjusting to the highly regimented life as a Midshipman when, while on leave in Atlanta, he received a phone call from the Halls informing him that his biological father, Frederick Sternbach, committed suicide ? about a year after Zerbin met his father for the first time.
“I didn?t know too much about my dad,” Zerbin said. “I knew he left when I was born and that he was Caucasian. We had a good relationship during the time we knew each other.”
After traveling to Alaska to be with his family, Zerbin returned to the academy, using a close-knit football team that refers to each other as “brothers” for support to thrive at one of the country?s most demanding academic institutions.
“When I was at Georgia Tech, I had my own place, my own job, and I was independent,” Zerbin said. “Then coming here where I had all of these restrictions and had to listen to people I didn?t respect yet was not easy at first. But that?s all changed now.”
Indeed it has. Zerbin, an aerospace engineering major with a 3.2 grade point average, is looking forward to attending flight school, but not before he takes care of some unfinished business.
Two more games until takeoff
Zerbin hopes to conclude his career with victories over rival Army at noon Saturday at M&T BankStadium, and Dec. 20 in the Poinsettia Bowl, which would give his senior class 36 victories ? tying it with the class of 1909 for most by a class since Navy fielded its first team in 1879.
Zerbin will play a major part, too, as he?s rushed for 423 yards and eight touchdowns on 59 carries, caught 10 passes for 199 yards and averaged 21.5 yards per kickoff return this season. He is part of an offense that leads the nation in rushing yards per game (357.4) and averages 40.1 points per game, which is ninth nationally out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Last season, Zerbin had just 26 carries for 191 yards.
Zerbin?s best performance came in Navy?s previous game, when he put on a show for the Halls, who attended the game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, by rushing for a career-high 101 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries in a 35-24 victory over Northern Illinois.
“In all of my years as a coach, I?m not sure I?ve enjoyed having anyone on the team more than Zerb,” Navy coach Paul Johnson said. “He?s a pleasure to be around, has a positive attitude and works as hard as anyone on the team.”
Zerbin knows his story ? one he has told many of his teammates before this season ? could become well-known, after he recently was nominated for the FedEx Orange Bowl-Football Writers Association of America Courage Award. Each week during the football season, one player will be recognized for his perseverance, with the overall winner being selected later this month by a vote from a select group of writers.
“I learned a lot about [where Zerbin?s] strength came from,” said senior slotback Reggie Campbell, one of Zerbin?s close friends. “This guy works harder than the average guy. His work ethic is so extreme, and you realize why this guy perseveres so much. He could have easily gone in another direction, but he did the extra work to go the right way.”
