Tyler Boyd's Mother Reflects On Her Son's Journey From Clairton To The Super Bowl
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Most people in western Pennsylvania will watch the Super Bowl, but few will be watching as intently as Tyler Boyd's mother.
Tonya Payne-Scott and her family will be at the game on Sunday in Los Angeles. But before leaving, she spent some time with KDKA-TV's Rich Walsh reminiscing about how her son made the journey from the humble streets of Clairton to football's biggest stage.
Payne-Scott has many fond memories of her son's days as a youth football player. She watched him progress from Clairton High School to the Pitt Panthers and now the Super Bowl with the Cincinnati Bengals.
"It makes me really proud," said Payne-Scott. "They always say, 'Pat yourself on the back.' But I just did what I thought I was supposed to do as a mother."
But it wasn't always easy. Payne-Scott raised three boys as a single parent. Their father was not a part of the family while his son was making a name for himself on the football field. As Boyd was winning championships at Clairton, his dad was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Payne-Scott fought hard to keep her boys on the right track.
"I can't teach them to be what I'm not," Payne-Scott said. "I'm not a man. All I can really do is teach them what kind of man they should be, trying to make sure they understood this is the path they need to be on and not in the street because that was a reality. Not just in the neighborhood that we lived in but because of their dad. He ended up in the street, so it's a reality."
Unfortunately, that reality hasn't changed for kids growing up in Clairton, and that's why Payne-Scott is still in charge of the Western Pennsylvania Youth Athletic Association. The organization's goal is to help kids stay focused on sports and schoolwork while keeping them off the streets.
"It's great to see the kids coming through our program excelling at the high school level," she said. "A lot of kids are signing letters of intent to go on to college. It's nice knowing that when you come to our program, whether you make it to the NFL or not, you at least have a college education that you'll be able to fall back on, and education is the most important thing."
As a former teacher, Payne-Scott knows a thing to two about the importance of education, and KDKA-TV's Rich Walsh says "former" teacher because her son's success has allowed her to retire and relax, except when she's putting in the work to help other young athletes become as successful as her son.
