‘Terez A. Paylor Day’ honors former KC Star reporter and illuminates enduring spirit
It’s Terez A. Paylor Day in Kansas City, and let’s rejoice in that.
Because as much as this poignant gesture by Mayor Quinton Lucas reminds us of the conspicuous absence of our dear friend gone too soon, it also speaks eloquently to an indelible presence and enduring influence to be celebrated.
The proclamation will be punctuated on Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs quite tenderly are scheduled to retire his press box seat and present a check for the Terez A. Paylor Scholarship at Howard University.
But the opportunity to pause and appreciate Terez is open to anyone.
So seize the day, like he did every … single … day. Take some extra steps nobody knows about but you. Try to be the great teammate he always was. Listen, really listen.
Put on some All-Juice Team gear (or perhaps get some if you don’t have any and help invest in that scholarship). Consider donating to a cause not in your own self-interest but, as he did so often, to help those in need. Stand up for well-considered convictions.
You could watch some game tape. Let out a big laugh. Work on an Al Pacino, Gordon Lightfoot or Andy Reid imitation. Remember to be an “energy-giver,” to borrow from one of his favorite Reid-isms, not an energy vampire.
Or perhaps just take a moment to consider the marvel of Terez, as Lucas did in making the welcome declaration.
“Talk about an American story ...” Lucas said in a phone interview Wednesday. “For me, it’s as exciting as any story about an athlete, a Chiefs player, a Royals player, who grew up before our eyes.”
The proclamation cites the stellar career Terez essentially willed himself to have before his startling death at age 37 in February.
It points to his being “a cherished member of The Kansas City Star’s news team from 2006 to 2018.” And he was no less cherished by the staff, we might add, when he left to become the senior NFL writer for Yahoo Sports to realize his dream of holding a national platform.
It also alludes to his award-winning work and treasured role as a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But much like Terez could always probe beyond the surface and past the statistics to get at what was real and substantial, this recognition also drills into the broader and greater truths about what defined him and why he is being honored.
As many know but bears reiterating, it cites that he was “a dedicated mentor to young journalists, as demonstrated by the sports journalism scholarship in his name at his alma mater, Howard University, and the ‘PowerMizzou Journalism Alumni Scholarship in Memory of Terez Paylor’ at the University of Missouri – Columbia.”
And it notes his commitment to charity work and dedicated role as a son, grandson, brother, loving fiancee and friend. And it ultimately aptly recognizes his unique signature of “service, mentorship and exceptional sports journalism.”
That was all entwined in the form of Terez, and that’s what set him apart in so many ways.
Those of us blessed to work with him and call him friend saw that in countless ways, ways we have written about before and other ways we find ourselves still speaking of on any given day.
But it’s telling that those elements of his persona struck even those who knew him more remotely, as many in his legion of fans can attest, and in those who saw or spoke with him only occasionally.
As Lucas considered his experiences with Terez, with whom he felt a certain brotherhood as Black men of about the same age (Lucas recently turned 37) who weren’t “on a clear path from birth” toward these lives, he fondly recalled talking football with him before the Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
But he also reflected on a call from Terez in March 2020, in the early days of COVID-19 measures, when even in a job on a national scale Terez “wanted to be sure leaders in a city he loved were able to share a message with the public that could save lives.”
Over the years, Lucas said, he also spoke with Terez about race relations, social justice and other “very, very real” issues of our times.
Naturally: Because it was coming from a very, very real person.
“I got to see his humanity,” Lucas said.
Like so many of the rest of us, in a notable sense Lucas is seeing it all the more these last few months. Filled as we might be with our own notions and memories of Terez, Lucas said, it’s almost as if there’s another person “we’re getting to meet now.”
“How many people, after this amount of time after their passing, are we still talking about?” he said. “We’re still learning new good vignettes every day.”
You can be sure the ongoing outpouring and further illumination of his spirit fills the heart of his fiancee, Ebony Reed.
And you can be certain that it moves his parents, Sharmyn Elliott and Ava Paylor-Elliott, who have traveled from Detroit for the commemorative day and events at Arrowhead.
It’s all testament to what made Terez a Kansas City treasure, fiercely proud Detroit origins notwithstanding.
While Ebony hesitated to call Terez a son of Kansas City, she also knows it’s where he grew into adulthood and established himself. She remembers Terez saying they’d never live in another city.
So as much of a national presence as he became, it’s perfect that his legacy is being so actively enshrined and sustained here — including with this day dedicated just to him.
So here’s hoping you’ll find a way to share in the day, too.
And perhaps carry some of its meaning forward with you.
“He is someone,” Lucas said, “who should always be remembered as a star here in Kansas City.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.