#NFLVideos: Multiple tragedies fuel personal mission for Tulane QB Michael Pratt | NFL360 | BELIEVE IN SEVEN

Multiple tragedies fuel personal mission for Tulane QB Michael Pratt | NFL360 | BELIEVE IN SEVEN

the tattoo you know it reminds me a lot
that you never really know what others
are going through medical examiner now
ruling Bryce gouty’s death a suicide
just because you play a warrior sport
doesn’t mean you have to be quiet when
things are wrong you can reach out and
ask for help it’s not really just about
the tattoo or just about football it’s
more about how I can impact people
around me he’s gone through a lot of
hard things but he’s come out of it on
the other side a better person
first off Michael take me way back MH
you grew up in boa a pretty tight-knit
family yep when did football come into
the picture and why going into high
school I always wanted to play football
that’s you know just I felt like I had a
passion I really wanted to do that but
my parents didn’t want to play really
till I was in high school once I got to
nth grade I was finally allowed to
play I think a lot of the physical
traits were kind of there you know
having the arm but it was definitely a
lot to pick up just in terms of the game
itself Deerfield Beach High School is on
the football map touchdown Michael Pratt
you can see from you know watching him
he’s got a a inner drive and the way he
uplifted the players around him was was
very
impressive they would compete they would
fight tooth and nail it was because of
his leadership Michael brat drops back
look throws and it’s Bry scouty for the
touchdown Deerfield Beach Bryce scouty
what was it like knowing you were going
to battle with that guy on Friday nights
it was awesome after practice I’ll go
grab one of my receivers and say hey
let’s get a little bit of extra reps and
then it’d be most pitch black and Bryce
is like I need two more Slants I need
two more go balls you know he was
consistently the same guy every day
always had a smile on his face the kind
of people that you know I want to
gravitate
towards off the field how often were
they together uh every if you seen one
you seen the other now entering the
field are the captains for tonight’s
game number seven Bryce gy number 13
Michael the foundation Within each one
of them individually were good you know
they they were good kids but they were
both ra completely different Bryce he he
was growing up you know kind of raised
to be the man of the house cuz his mom
was a single mother know they they went
through a path of homelessness
struggling for food clothes you know one
of those kids that may come over to
spend the night but he may end up being
there a
week even though we had very different
Lifestyles growing up ultimately we both
had the same passion and football which
brought us closer together and looking
into the future and seeing what we had
ahead of us was something we talked
about a lot being said I’ll be signing
at tane
University so you commit to tlane he’s
committed to George attack you’re about
to leave for tane it’s exciting point I
imagine in your life you get a phone
call he just walk me through that
moment actually one of my teammates
Jared Moore you know he kind of called
me and said did you hear what happened
and I said no what are you talking
about I remember exactly where I was I
was at the gym working out and um we
heard that Bryce was
missing and uh I called him somebody
actually ended up answering but it was
his little brother um he told me that
Bryce was no longer with us Bryce gouty
seemingly had everything going for him
all set to Le for Georgia Tech on Monday
medical examiner now ruling Bryce
gouty’s death a
suicide there could have been a lot of
things going through his head cuz he was
dealing with a with a lot of issues now
I’m not a therapist but I think he was
having survivors remorse he started to
feel guilty that he was going to be
going off to Atlanta it’s going to be
taken care of living good and his his
mother and his two brothers were going
to live in
uncertainty it was kind of really hard
to comprehend because of those talks
that we had about the future and getting
to go to school and playing college
football and you know all the perks of
that it was really difficult to to think
about what ultimately led to the
decisions that he made um so something I
can’t really
explain he he cried in my arms that
night and I’d like never experienced
that sort of emotion from him just
showed me like how much he truly cares
about the people that he
loves you know it was M Mike’s uh I mean
he’s a leader he’s a natural born leader
so his you know first reaction was to
make sure the teachers the the teammates
the the coaches were
good
go yes sir one day I was leaving my
office and Mike was coming in and he
kind of stopped me you know with his
hand and said coach you good and I I
gave him a quick
response yeah I’m good I’m I’m you know
I’m be all right I’ll just do it and
know he kind of held me up like n cuz
like seriously are you good I just broke
down crying and we just kind of sat and
shared together how we were hurting and
we had to find a way to get through
with staying in communication with all
those guys back at Deerfield definitely
built our relationships I was able to
rely more on how close we were to kind
of get through the trials and
tribulations that that I was going
through you wore number 13 throughout
High School you get the to Lane you
select number seven why that was for
Bryce I was Bryce’s you know motto was
believe in
seven you know there’s a couple of us
that have that tattoo on us you know
it’s not something you know I can take
off something that has a bigger meaning
to me on my throwing arm
it’s a reminder for everyone mental
health has become so much more of a
conversation around Athletics as they
look to use that platform to try and
make sure that players understand just
because you play a warrior sport doesn’t
mean you have to be quiet when things
are wrong and that you can reach out and
ask for help the whole team kind of
picked up around it when we needed seven
seven points whatever they always step
up to the
plate ECU brings pressure Pratt throws
touchdown to l
oh man some of those big games that they
had this is for ke touchdown two lane
the win of the conference championships
the Oklahoma game he did some things
where I was just like you know that’s
the pr I know 45-31 your final score to
lay in a winner over South Florida
sounds like his brother David was one of
his biggest fans David was Sports kid
always he played baseball he played
basketball he played football so when
Michael went to to late David didn’t
miss the game
ever he would call me after games and
tell me stats that I didn’t even know
about the game so he was definitely very
locked in and dialed on all my sporting
events was it like finding out your
brother David and his girlfriend were
expecting a baby yeah it was it was
awesome I remember my brother called me
and I just kind of was shook for a
little second and didn’t really know
what to say here we
go
oh him being my older brother and the
guy that I always looked up to and kind
of made me the person that I am it
definitely made it more of an
experience baby
girl this was in the summertime the week
or two after she was born and I got a
phone call from my
mom I was at dinner I was like hey do
you mind if like do you need me to step
out or you know can I call you when I’m
done with dinner and kind of the way she
said it I need you to step out I have to
talk to
you kind of immediately my heart kind of
sank
um My Brother David just
he got to see his baby girl
born and was a little sick afterwards
and
just peacefully went in his
sleep we found out a long time later
that it was the
flu I don’t really know how to describe
it
um but is tough in a situation like that
so it was weird of something that you
know I’d felt once before with
Bryce you know but didn’t didn’t feel
like I was going to have to feel that
again you would not met Arya who was 2
weeks old when David passed away what
was it like the first time you held her
in your arms coming home and being with
all my family and getting to see Arya
and get to meet her and get to hold her
is something that really helped in the
midst of all the pain and suffering that
we were all going through sweet
girl she is like the happiest little
girl ever she’s got the cutest little
smile I get to spend as much time with
her as I can she reminds me a lot of
David oh
Michael this my little niece right
here when things arise no matter how
tragic they may seem you got to dial
into who you are as a person your
foundation you live in a way that
Michael Pratt lives quite sure every day
you know he was the best brother he
could be to his brother every day he was
the best friend he could be to Bryce gy
so his experiences have definitely
shaped him he’s gone through a lot of
hard things but he’s come out of on the
other side a better person this giv my
grandma you know it was always something
that you know I thought about with Bryce
and my brother is you know how can I use
this to make me a better
person so first if you’re suffering
sometimes other people don’t know be
courageous in that moment and reach out
to the people around
you there’s some really really good
people on this Earth that are always
going to love you and they’re going to
be there for
you hopefully my story really inspires
other people to help them in whatever
they’re going through

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