Wilson High alum Kyle Lanterman is the latest Long Beach athlete to have a memorable video clip go viral.
The Utah senior offensive lineman got a surprise last month when his mom, Roberta, called Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham during a post-practice team huddle.
The video shows Whittingham stop his instructions to answer the phone, “Mrs. Lanterman? Coach Whittingham,” he said. “Nothing bad? Everything good? Where’s Kyle?”
He then called Kyle up to the front, and put his mom on speaker phone.
“Hey, Kyle,” Roberta said. “We wanted you to be the first to know — you’re on scholarship.”
Lanterman grabbed his head in disbelief, while the entire Utes football team erupted in celebration and doused him with water bottles.
Lanterman was an All-Moore League lineman at Wilson, and walked on to the Utah football team as a freshman. After a year of getting beat up on the scout team, the 6’2” 300-pound lineman made the travel squad three games into his sophomore year. He played in six game last season, and will have a full scholarship for his senior season in the fall.
“You talk about a guy that does nothing but everything right, busts his butt year ’round, gets good grades,” Whittingham said on the video after the surprise. “He’s been grinding in this program for three or four years. Congratulations, you deserve this.”
Coach Jaiya Figueras on Twitter
@Utah_Football offensive lineman and former @LBWilsonFootbal player Kyle Lanterman’s 6 year journey from walk on to scholarship. I am thankful and blessed to be a part of his journey. He is the true definition of “patient persistence”. https://t.co/ZpE4ytS5YV
