Temple University Athletics
Terrance Knighton: Opportunity Knocks
9.12.08 | Football
Sept. 12, 2008
Complete Knighton Feature Story in PDF Format 
by Cathy Bongiovi
It was not a good day. Defensive tackle Terrance Knighton was at the end of his rope; his future was on the line. He had just completed the 2004 season at Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y., where he racked up 70 tackles and six sacks. A 2003 graduate of Windsor (Conn.) High School, Knighton wanted to play collegiate football. He had worked so hard on and off the field, and now he was faced with a desperate situation--go to college in January or don't go at all.
"Coming out of prep school, I committed to Central Florida. Then they pulled my scholarship, because I couldn't attend in January," Knighton shared. "My mother and I sat down to talk about what to do. She said `what happens happens for a reason.' We decided that the next school that wanted me, then that's where I would go."
Then the opportunity of a lifetime came for Knighton.
"Temple came knocking on my door the next day."
Since that day, Knighton has continued to learn and grow on the North Broad Street campus. Seeing action in 10 games as a true freshman, the 6-4, 291-pound tackle was in for another big change--a new coach and a new way of doing things. On December 6, 2005, Al Golden was named the Owls' head coach, and football was given new life at Temple.
"We've done a whole 180 turnaround," Knighton said. "We went from no discipline to discipline. We went to a team that does a lot of community service from a team that didn't do any community service at all. We've had a big turnaround with our grades. It's just made me a better person."
Junior nose tackle Andre Neblett agrees.
"It's changed a lot," Neblett said. "Now that we've gotten all the bad stuff out, it's football, football, football. Now that we want to win; we want to practice. We want to do the right things."
"And we're a lot happier now, especially the older guys who really appreciate what's going on in the program now to what it was before," Knighton said.
Knighton is one of just a handful of players who survived the transition. As a sophomore in 2006, he started 11 games on defense, totaling 57 tackles and earning the coaches' defensive player of the game honor after a sack and two tackles for loss at Vanderbilt.
The veteran senior shares his experiences with his younger teammates.
"A lot of guys think it's hard, so I just tell them what we went through before, compared to what we're going through now, this is the right way to do things," Knighton said. "You don't want to experience the old Temple. The new Temple is how the team should be. This is how things are going to be from now on, and this is the right way to do things."
While Knighton and Golden were born on the same day--July 4-- they share similar characteristics.
"I think we both like being the boss; we like things our way," Knighton said. "I think we're both really caring people, and we take a lot of time to help the younger players understand where they're going."
Last fall as a junior, Knighton anchored the defensive line, playing in all 12 games. He finished with 8.5 tackles for loss, a team-best three fumble recoveries, and a touchdown. A touchdown?
After playing wide receiver and tight end in high school, Knighton scored his first collegiate touchdown in the Homecoming win over Northern Illinois after returning a fumble recovery 66 yards for the score. That play is his proudest moment to date as a Temple Owl, and his mother was in the crowd to see it.
Knighton and his mother Rochelle have been through a lot together. The oldest of her three sons, Terrance was practically born with a football in his hands.
"I started playing football when I was seven or eight years old," Knighton recalled. "My mother said I always wanted to play football; that was all I talked about. As soon as I was old enough, she let me play."
Knighton helped his mother and maternal grandmother, Martha Kates, care for his brothers every day.
"My mom is my hero. Being a single parent, she worked really hard to support three children," he said. "She was working two jobs all the time, and she put a lot of pressure on me to be a mentor to my younger brothers. That's what really drove me to get good grades and play college football.
"And I love my grandma. She's been my inspiration."
Even today Knighton keeps daily tabs on his brothers.
"My brother Malquann, who's the youngest, is in tenth grade. He just started playing football this year," Knighton said. "My brother Joquann just graduated high school this past year. He's going to trade school. He wants to be a mechanic."
Taking it one game at a time, Knighton is excited for today's game with the UConn Huskies. The Windsor, Conn., native, he will have a large contingent of family at the game.
"Last year was different. It was really important to me, because I was playing in front of certain my family members for the first time. And obviously it's my home state," Knighton said.
Entering this fall, Knighton was blessed with many preseason All-MAC accolades, but his focus is on the team, not himself.
"I don't pay attention to it; I just go out and play. I just want the team to get exposure," Knighton said. "I want us to go to the MAC Championship. For me personally, I want to play in the NFL. There are a lot of guys on the team that have a chance to play at the next level. We need that exposure. I believe winning a MAC Championship will help."
A criminal justice major, Knighton's wants to follow in the family footsteps when his playing days are over.
"If I'm not playing in the NFL, I want to go into corrections," Knighton shared. "My high school coach was in corrections. My mom and my aunt work in the criminal justice field. That's what I've been around."
This season brings high expectations for Temple football. For Knighton and the seniors, it's the payoff for all their hard work.
"When the seniors look around the team at the guys who have been here with us for four and five years and gone through the struggle that we've gone through, it brings a smile to our faces every time we look at each other," senior center Alex Derenthal said. "You know what the other guy is thinking, `Wow, we've come a long way.'"
