Note: After this article, I will be on an indefinite hiatus due to the recent events on both The Lion Wire and The Call The Roll Podcast. It will be a time of reflection, prayer, and seeking what God wants Me to do and how He wants Me to move forward. Just a personal note.

56 Days ago I got word that Russell McLean, my partner in crime, and one of the best friends I have ever had, had been rushed to the emergency room. I knew Russ had not been feeling well, but he was having a DR’s appointment soon and was hoping that anything he had would be fixed and we would be concentrating on spring football and all the spring sports. However it was apperant that something more serious was happening. As the days went by, things would look up for a while and then down for a short bit but always rebound. I was so sure that Russ, with his loving and devoted wife Tiana by his side, and all the prayers going up to God asking for Russ’s full recovery from his friends would deliver him back to health.

Things were looking really good and he was discharged from the Intensive Care Unit after 33 days there, and moved to a Long Term Acute Care center where the doctors could start rehab and get him back on the road to full recovery. I could just imagine what our first podcast together would be like when he got back, especially with all the people who had been keeping up with him. I covered the Spring Game by myself for the first time since 2017, and the silence in the press box was deafening, but I was still thinking how odd it was to not have someone to talk with and analyze the game.

After a long weekend in East Texas with my parents, I returned back to DFW and after watching the magic of the eclipse was in good spirits until I got a text message that Russ had taken a turn for the worst, and he would likely pass away shortly. I prayed and prayed that God would perform a miracle, but for reasons known only to God, he chose not to, but to take Russ home at 5 PM that evening. I tried to eat something, and when a trip to Charley’s Cheesesteaks didn’t up my mood and I felt so drained, I was about to leave the parking lot, and then I pulled over and my emotions came over me that my friend was gone, and I cried. I cried like I hadn’t cried in years. My friend, one of the best God ever gave to me was gone. The grief was real.

I wanted to write something, but I felt after everything was said and done and the arrangements for Russ’s memorial were finalized, I would write my own memorial to a man who brought so much good in my life. The Bible says in Proverbs 17:17 that “A friend gives love at all times, and a brother is born for a time of trouble.” Friendships are a wonderful and precious common grace that God gives all of us, and I wanted to let people know the good man that was Russell McLean.

A West Texas boy born and bred, Russ was a kind, loving, and loyal friend that gave his best at everything he did. For those of you who didn’t know the story, Russ was a Senior in high school when he visited East Texas State for a college day and after a pick up basketball game in the University Fieldhouse, Russ went to turn the ball in and met the legendary Ernest Hawkins. After speaking with him and talking about everything but football, Coach Hawk offered Russ a preferred walk on spot to the football team as a punter, Russ’s best position of the 3 he played in high school for Quanah. For two seasons, Russ played for the Lions and even on days when did not make the dress roster (NAIA budget constraints were big those days) he found a way to contribute, helping be a defacto assistant to the coaches. This in addition to being a brother in the Kappa Alpha Order.

Russ left Commerce in 1981 and returned home to Quanah for a brief time. He started his time in the real world and then not long thereafter, met his beloved wife and partner, Tiana. They had two children, Andrew (or AJ for short) and Shelby. Russ was a family Man who I saw first hand how to include his family in his hobbies, but he was passionate about the things he did. He became a firefighter in the wake of the September 11 attacks and ended up training cadets for their new role. In 2017, after having known Russ for 2 years, I asked Russ to join The Lion Wire, and even though I founded it, Russ worked harder than anyone. He was in the trenches with Me from start to finish, and I got to know a truly great guy and the best friend anybody could ask for. We did so much more than just podcast and write. We ate, we spoke, we spent time together and formed a bond of friendship that will never leave me.

This Saturday, I will say goodbye to my friend in Quanah, TX. I take that back, I won’t say goodbye, I will say, “until next time.” My faith has taught me one thing, and that is those of us who love God with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves will be Heaven one day, and Russ did both. It came from the wellspring of his upbringing that was Church-going, neighbor-loving with an emphasis on thankfulness for family and for all of God’s blessings. Russ was so full of love for his fellow man, and that is what I will miss most about him. The world is now a lesser place with him gone, and our lives will be not nearly as joyful without the joy he brought to any place he was at.

Now go rest, Russ. I’ll see you again when that Roll is Called Up Yonder.