Papale visits Del State to check on his hero

Markeyse Carter is a freshman wide receiver for the Delaware State University Hornets. He is from the Overbrook section of Philadelphia. In the fall of 2006, he was sophomore and starting quarterback at Overbrook High, a school that has produced Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Hazzard, Wayne Hightower, Will Smith and other notables.

Walking home through the mean streets after football practice, Carter and teammates Calem Bridgette and Yusuf Bangura came upon a burning row house. There was the sound of a woman screaming from upstairs. People stood on the sidewalk and just watched.

The three young boys decided to go, racing into the house, and through the smoke and blackness went up the stairs and found an 87-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease curled on the floor in the back bedroom.

The woman was rescued and saved from a horrible death. Gov. Ed Rendell awarded each kid with a Hero scholarship worth $5,000. They got to meet Philadelphia sports stars like Donovan McNabb and Alan Iverson.

Markeyse later transferred to Chichester where he was an All-Delaware County first team selection at wide receiver and special teams. Carter was a late qualifier academically and was recruited to Delaware State by Mike Gallagher, a former coach at Cape and Sussex Central.

“I didn’t realize it, but Vince Papale, the former Eagles walk-on from Glenolden, Pa., was Markeyse’s mentor,” Gallagher said. “He came down to school just to see how the kid was going. I just happened to look out into the hallway and there he was. Papale was always one of my heroes.”

Papale was the inspiration for the 2006 movie “Invincible” starring Mark Wahlberg. He made the Eagles at the age of 30 with no college football experience. He was on the team from 1976 through 1978.

“He gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I ever needed anything and just to let him know how Markeyse was doing. Sometimes you just run into good people in the sports business.”