EAGLE LANDING - For nearly 10 years, former Ridgeview High quarterback Derek Hatcher, one of the top passers of his era up to 2016, has kept his legacy intact with a simple message.
"Absolutely, Derek's message has made an impact," said Debbie Rizer, Hatcher's mother, as she orchestrated the third annual Derek Hatcher QB5 golf tournament that was staged at Eagle Landing Golf Course on Sat., July 20 with nearly 25 golf carts filled with friends, family and a virtual Who's Who of Clay County/Ridgeview football players. "We started with a flag football tournament, then COVID hit and we stopped, then the golf tournament restarted the Derek Hatcher Foundation mission. We have gotten a ton of Thank You cards from all over the country from parents and coaches thanking us for Derek's message."
Hatcher's quick story starts with a record-setting quarterback career at Ridgeview under then-coach Tom Macpherson, then college football at Charleston Southern University, then a short stint at Webber International University with a damaging addiction and final overdose death from pain-killing drugs that ended with Hatcher alone in his dorm room at Webber.
"Derek's story is a story of his battle with his drug addiction and the dangers from that and the struggle to overcome it," said Rizer. "His message to kids before his overdose and after a brief respite from the cruel addiction before he was given a second chance at Webber was "One More Line" which signifies an addict thought that just 'one more line' and I'll quit. We used that phrase and Derek's admonition 'Don't make the same mistake I made'. His last line of drugs ended his life alone in his football dorm room. That's how strong the addiction was."
Rizer cited the Ridgeview and Clay County football alumni family as a big part of keeping Hatcher's message going.
"There is a whole bunch of his former teammates, opponents and people who knew how special a player was, but not of his demons," said Rizer. "There is even a guy here who played little league soccer with Derek and his youth basketball coach is here playing golf."
One Ridgeview teammate who has carried the Hatcher legacy with him still, wide receiver Tyler Bass, an all-everything offensive powerhouse that Hatcher teamed with for a ton of big plays, said Hatcher's death has yet to leave him.
"I think of him every day because I have his picture on my desk at work," said Bass, who was handling golf duties Saturday with wife, Ginny Crede, a Mandarin High grad, and daughter Eve Rae. "I talk with his mom about every week.'
Rizer, noting that her son was a pristine high school athlete who just made bad choices when in college, acknowledged that a video that was made of Hatcher talking to the Ridgeview football team, on YouTube called That One Line has been a continuation of the message.
"We send our representatives to schools if they ask us to tell Derek's story, but the video of his talk with the Ridgeview team (under coach Charlie Libretto) is very powerful," said Rizer. "Every athlete should have to watch that video."
After leaving Charleston Southern, Hatcher embarked on a turbulent life of theft, drugs and denial before attempting one more shot of returning to football and cleaning his life up.
"His coach from Charleston Southern went to Webber, Derek got himself clean and the coach was going to give him one more chance to play college football, I think, because he was that good," said Rizer. "One more year, but the grip was too strong."
Rizer noted that the Derek Hatcher Foundation has given plenty of families a way out.
"Derek passed away in 2016 and last year we raised $20,000 that we work with the Fourth Judicial Circuit in northeast Florida identify families who need a hand with things like Christmas or Thanksgiving when family members are either in jail or rehab," said Rizer. "We give them gas cards if they need to get places and whatever they need to move forward. It's the family that suffers when drug addiction happens."
Note: Derek Hatcher Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit organization and our mission is to raise awareness of substance abuse and addiction; www.derekhatcherfoundation.org, email: HatcherFoundation@gmail.com.