THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506230180
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
IN A FEW WEEKS, Darren Perry, a free safety with the Pittsburgh Steelers, will have to pack his bags and head to Latrobe, Pa., in order to begin pre-season training with the team.
Although Perry has been through camp many times before, it will be especially difficult for him to leave home this year.
Last Tuesday, Perry's wife, Errika, gave birth to their second daughter, Dominique, at Chesapeake General Hospital.
The birth of this child was a treat for Perry who couldn't be there for the arrival of his older daughter, Danielle, now 2 1/2.
``I was at a game when Danielle was born,'' he said. ``But this time I was around, and that makes it really special to me. Now I have a better appreciation of what Errika has gone through for me and the baby.''
Perry was raised in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake, and he and his family now live in Greenbrier. The football player plans on spending as much time with his family as possible before camp begins.
``Once training starts, all of a sudden you can't see your family. I know it will be a shock since I've been with them every day since February,'' said Perry.
Once the season is in full swing, Errika hopes to follow her husband to Pittsburgh, but until then, the family will have to settle for sporadic visits when the Steelers take a break from training.
``Since we live in Chesapeake, it's hard for Errika and the kids to come up to see me or for me to come back down during the season,'' said Perry.
Dominique weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces, but because she was born 10 days early, she had to remain at the hospital for a few days while Mom and Dad shuttled back and forth between home and the hospital nursery.
``We come back every three hours at feeding time,'' said Errika.
Besides renting movies with Danielle and coddling Dominique, Perry is organizing a football camp for children to be held at Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach.
The Hampton Roads Football camp will run July 9-14 and is for children age 10 to rising seniors in high school.
Perry is managing the camp with his former college roommate, Keith Goganious, a former member of the Buffalo Bills and now a player with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
``We wanted to give back to the community and this is an opportunity for the children to learn good quality football on a professional level.''
Perry and Goganious are bringing in players from the NFL to help with the camp.
``It's really exciting because we've talked about this for years and now it's finally coming together,'' he said.
With the Steelers camp just weeks away, Perry is already thinking about the upcoming season and, of course, the Super Bowl.
``We came awfully close last year. I think if we can overcome losing some of our players we can transcend where we were last season and get there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Darren Perry cradles his newborn daughter, Dominique, at Chesapeake
General Hospital's nursery.
by CNB