ORLANDO, FL (WTKR)- Yolonda Dubose has been watching her son, Old Dominion offensive lineman Stephon Dubose-Bourne, compete on the gridiron since he was in elementary school.
"Just cheer him on," she said. "We have our own little code on if he's good, if he's not. It's just good for me. I just love it."
Yolonda has spent plenty of hours in the stands. She rooted on Stephon during his days at Indian River High School in Chesapeake and has done the same at Old Dominion, watching him grow as a player and a person.
"From the time when I would tell him to go practice and he just wanted to play the game until now, that's what he's doing," Yolonda pointed out. "He's practicing, 'Mom, I'm watching film,' so he has really grown into this young man that we can all be proud of."
Now another chapter of the offensive lineman's story is about to close. He'll play in his final college football game when the Monarchs hit the field for the Cure Bowl, a cause that means quite a bit to Dubose-Bourne's family.
"I wasn't going to miss it for the world," Yolonda proclaimed. "First of all, it's the Cure Bowl and we're dealing with cancer. My mom had cancer."
"Her mom died from breast cancer," added Dubose-Bourne. "It's kind of like a full-circle moment for her as well, so it means a lot to both of us and I'm going to do my best to do it for her."
Wednesday will see the Monarch veteran honor his grandmother as he puts on the ODU uniform for the final time.
"I think it set in when we had our last practice at ODU," he said. "Now it's just enjoying all the laughs, all the fun times with the guys, ticking down to Wednesday so it's really good right now."
"You're kind of like 'oh God, I don't want it to end,'"noted Yolonda. "I get a lot of enjoyment from coming out and watching him and cheering him on. Just waiting to see what's next and I just told him just to go out there and leave it all on the field."
He'll look to do just that in his swansong in silver and blue, a place he's called home for the last five years. Long after his final down, his decision to stick around and see things through at Old Dominion is what his mother says she'll remember the most.
"He could've left," she pointed out. "He didn't because he loves this group of guys, he loves his coaches, so that's what I'm going to remember, his loyalty."
Dubose-Bourne and Old Dominion take on South Florida in the Cure Bowl on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
