EL PASO, Texas — Playing in every game of the Chip Kelly era means that Stephan Blaylock can tell you some things about perseverance.
The veteran safety has pushed through three losing seasons. Several rosters' worth of turnover among teammates. Trash-talking from fans that cut deeper than anything said by an opponent. A bowl game canceled only hours before kickoff, leading to a flood of tears.
Unlike scores of others who bolted amid the frustration and disappointment, Blaylock remained, a UCLA fixture as steady as the bear statue in Bruin Plaza, as reliable as an eight-clap in boosting spirits.
"One thing I wanted to do while coming into this program was just change the culture," Blaylock said, "and with change you've got to go through some difficult times."
On Friday, he'll put on his jersey one last time as part of what could be a celebratory sendoff.
It will be a school-record 56th game for Blaylock and offensive lineman Atonio Mafi when the No. 18 Bruins (9-3) face Pittsburgh (8-4) in the Sun Bowl, a farewell for two players uniquely qualified to give an oral history of the last five seasons.
It also might be the start of something special.
Even though UCLA didn't reach its goal this season, extending its Rose Bowl drought to nearly a quarter-century, Blaylock said he believes the Bruins have put themselves on the cusp of glory. A victory over the Panthers would give UCLA a school-record-tying 10th victory while also providing a possible prelude to greater success in 2023.
"That would just motivate them to believe that, OK, we can't get below this, the only thing we can do is get above 10 wins, 10-plus," Blaylock said of his successors, "and if you can get 10-plus, I want to say you're in a great spot for Pac-12 championships and many bigger games than that."
Win or lose, Blaylock will savor every moment of his final college game, even his pregame routine. There will be a FaceTime chat with the single mother who raised him and the two younger brothers who call him "Bro Bro," everyone telling him to have fun, play hard and give it his all.
Shortly before kickoff, as many of his teammates sprint to one end zone to kneel in prayer, Blaylock will veer toward the bench to pray in solitude. He'll thank his creator, his ancestors and his descendants to be for looking over him.
It's a ritual that — coincidentally or not — has accompanied the fifth-year senior remaining healthy since his arrival on campus, pushing through every minor injury to keep his games-played streak intact. He's also on the verge of starting a 44th consecutive game, finishing his career just short of the school record of 46 held by offensive lineman Craig Novitsky from 1990-93.
Being there doesn't begin to describe Blaylock's impact. An All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection this season after finishing third on the team with 54 tackles, he has combined with fellow safety Mo Osling III to make the back end of the defense the place where hopes of a big play go to die.
"You talk about guys that have played week in, week out, just show up every single day, the way they train, the way they practice, the way they take to meetings," Kelly said of his safeties. "Blay displayed those leadership qualities even when he was a freshman, that's just kind of his mindset and how he's done everything."
Blaylock's college debut was something of a surprise, even to him. A backup safety, just a true freshman, he wasn't apprised of UCLA's defensive back rotation before the Bruins faced Cincinnati at the Rose Bowl in the 2018 season opener.
Then came the three words that would set him on a record course.
"Blaylock," barked Paul Rhoads, then the team's defensive backs coach, "get ready."
The newcomer ran onto the field and it seems as if he's never left. Along the way, he's learned to never give up (witness the team's comeback from 32 points down in a 67-63 victory over Washington State in 2019) and to keep working hard in hopes of better things (see the team's combined 17-7 record the last two seasons after going 10-21 over the previous three seasons).
Some fans managed to keep piling on even as the wins piled up.
"When we got our win over South Alabama," Blaylock said, referencing a 32-31 victory that players punctuated by spraying themselves with water in the locker room, "people were on us for how we were celebrating against a team that wasn't a Power Five" conference school.
Shrugging off the criticism, the Bruins went on to post unimpeachable victories over Washington and Utah while building a 6-0 record that represented their best start since 2005. Even losses in two of the last three games couldn't erase the feeling that Blaylock had helped put his team on solid footing after so much losing earlier in his career made it difficult to envision this kind of success.
"It's hard to see something when you go 3-9, 4-8 and then 3-4 during the COVID year," Blaylock said, "so yeah, that was real big, just flipping all that and staying true to this and then just believing in ourselves."
Merely playing in a bowl will represent a victory given what happened a year ago. Hours before kickoff in the Holiday Bowl, players were summoned to an emergency meeting. A rash of coronavirus tests had come back positive. The game was canceled.
Blaylock withheld his emotions until returning to his San Diego hotel room.
"I don't really try to let my tears show," he said, "so once the meeting was over, headed back to my room and I just let them out. I love playing the game, so when you see something that's taken away from you literally moments before you guys are going to go step out there on the field, yeah, it hurts."
His pained expression lingered on a FaceTime chat with his mother, DejaVu Perry, who encouraged her son to let out his frustrations because she knew his tendency to internalize discomfort. Blaylock said his father was in prison until he was about 12, leaving his mother to raise him.
Working long hours as a school bus driver and a truck dispatcher, Perry attended as many of her son's games as she could and cobbled together his tuition for St. John Bosco High in Bellflower through assistance from friends and family. Perry said she noticed the absence of Blaylock's father weighed on him even as he remained silent.
"I would have to get it out of him," Perry remembered. " 'Are you OK, Stephan? Are you bothered?' Stephan would always tell me, 'No, mom, I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm all right,' and there would be times when I knew he wasn't OK because he'd see all these other kids at practice with their dads and his dad wasn't showing up, it was just us."
Finally, overcome by disappointment, Blaylock asked why he was in that situation.
"I told him, 'Stuff happens and it's unfortunate that your dad is missing out on you,' " Perry said. " 'It's not you missing out, it's him missing out because you're a good kid, who wouldn't want to be around a child like you?' "
A happier postscript followed when Blaylock's dad, also named Stephan, attended several of his UCLA games early in his career as part of their efforts to re-establish a father-son bond.
"We always talked and that was one thing we did just to make sure we stay in touch with one another," the younger Blaylock said, "because seeing him was something that was just a little bit difficult on both of our ends."
Their next chance to catch up at a game might come in the NFL, where Blaylock hopes to land next season. But first comes some more immediate payoff for all that toil, all those tears, a Bruin having a ball in a bowl that puts a bow on his career.
"I'm going to look around, take a moment, take a deep breath, soak it all in," Blaylock said. "It's my last game in a Bruin jersey playing for UCLA, repping UCLA, so yeah, that's big."
