(Photo: Josh Eaton/Sun Devil Football)
TEMPE – Throughout his football career, Arizona State sophomore wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright has faced multiple serious injuries. Each time, Vines-Bright turned to the simple eight-letter word tattooed down his right shin.
“Strength.”
The emboldened word doesn’t just signify Vines-Bright being physically strong.
The black ink serves as a reminder of everything he’s been through, what got him over life’s obstacles and, ultimately, what will carry him to the next stage of his life.
“Strength to me is just keeping the right mindset,” Vines-Bright said. “Being able to face these setbacks and always be able to conquer them and go forward.”
Before he transferred to ASU and returned home to Tempe this past offseason, Vines-Bright had relied on his mental message to overcome adversity numerous times in his football career.
Yet, few obstacles have been bigger than the one he faced in his freshman season with Washington.
In the second quarter of Washington’s week 12 matchup against Purdue, Vines-Bright caught a screen pass out of the backfield. He picked up a 10-yard gain, but at the end took a hit on the jaw from senior defensive back Myles Slusher.
Vines-Bright collapsed to the ground, where he remained for several minutes. He was then put on a stretcher and taken off the field by an ambulance.
“That was the scariest moment of my life,” Raiden’s mother, Heather Vines-Bright, said. “You don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know if he’s even alert or awake.
“I remember running through the stadium to get down where the coaches were. It was extremely scary, and I was trying to stay calm and not freak out, because I didn’t know what was going on.
One of the Washington coaches took Heather to the emergency room, where she was told that Raiden was awake and alert.
“That was a relief to us,” Heather said. “Happy that it wasn’t worse than it was. It puts things in perspective.”
When Heather and Raiden were reunited in the emergency room, Raiden’s first worries weren’t about his path to recovery, but whether he held on to the football.
“I was like ‘that’s what you’re worried about,’” Heather said. “I knew he was okay if he was asking those questions.”
But even then, Vines-Bright turned to his strength and his faith to get through the pain and back to the field.
“Took it as a blessing,” Vines-Bright said. “Just happy that I was alive and still healthy.
“I left it in God’s hand and let him take over and trusted that this was the process.”
Vines-Bright returned to action for the Huskies two weeks later and finished his freshman season with 24 receptions, 238 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Before starting his collegiate career at Husky Stadium, Vines-Bright had to turn to his strength – both physical and mental – to even get there
Ahead of his senior season of high school football, Vines-Bright moved over 2,000 miles across the country, transferring from Corona del Sol High School in Tempe to the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
“Being away from family, you don’t really have anyone to talk to up there,” Vines-Bright said. “It gave me a chance to be independent and learn what it’s like being by myself.”
A move meant to help him develop into a top collegiate prospect was soon derailed when Vines-Bright broke his collarbone.
“I had to fly to New Jersey to make sure he was good,” Heather said. “But he’s a tough kid, and handled it the best he could.”
He was only able to play in two games for IMG, where he racked up 14 receptions for 245 yards and two touchdowns.
“It was very hard,” Vines-Bright said. “It made me more strong-minded throughout college, and being able to conquer different injuries.”
Yet with the adversity of his injury, Vines-Bright used the moment to strengthen up, both on and off the field.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Vines-Bright said. “It gave me a chance to really crack down on my fundamentals.”
The foundation of Vines-Bright’s fundamentals comes from his time at Corona del Sol, just eight miles away from the Sun Devils’ home, Mountain America Stadium.
“Of course, I’m a Sun Devil, so I wanted him to go to ASU,” Heather said. “That’s why I’m so excited he’s back.”
Now with a clean bill of health, after two difficult injuries, Vines-Bright returned home.
“He’s so much happier being here to have the support of his family and friends,” Heather said. “It’s been so good to have him home, knowing that he’s right down the street and we can see him anytime. It’s been such a joy to have him back.
When Vines-Bright committed to Washington, ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham predicted that he would eventually return to play in front of his hometown crowd.
“I told him during the recruiting process, ‘you’re going to go experience what you want to experience,’” Dillingham said. “‘Just know, eventually you’re going to miss it here, and you’re going to want to come home. If you don’t let the outside noise affect you, you’re going to come back right here.’”
The excitement of Vines-Bright returning home hasn’t uplifted only his family — it’s radiated throughout the Sun Devils’ wide receiver room.
“He’s really been a joy and a blessing for our room,” wide receivers coach Hines Ward said. “The kid can play very versatile, play a lot of different positions. He can run, he can catch.”
Vines-Bright is just one piece of the puzzle seeking to replace now-New Orleans Saints wide receiver, Jordyn Tyson.
Having to compete with fellow transfers Reed Harris and Omarion Miller may scare some off, but Vines-Bright used it as fuel to return to donning his childhood maroon and gold.
“The situation I was going to be put in,” Vines-Bright said. “Being able to come here with two spectacular guys and better my game for my future.”
As Vines-Bright overcame adversity with his strength as a guide, he now looks to it for a bright future.
A future that includes his family in the stands and his former high school, just miles away from the football cathedral of Tempe.
“He’s smiling, he’s excited, he has a renewed energy for the game,” Dillingham said. “He’s doing an unbelievable job so far.”
