Mike Singletary - Early Life

Early Life

Singletary was born in Houston, Texas. He attended high school at Evan E. Worthing High School in Houston, and he was a star football player there.

Mike Singletary's father, Charles, was a street preacher who spread the word of God on street corners in Dallas. The family soon settled in Houston. Mike, along with his father, Charles, mother, Rudell, and several brothers and sisters, shared a small wood frame home. Next to their home was a place called the Church of God, a church that Charles Singletary built himself and where he played guitar each Sunday. During the week, Mike's father worked as a contractor. Between his father's day job and his devotion to the church, Mike and his father never developed a strong relationship with each other.

Tragedy would soon strike the family. Dale Singletary, the third oldest child, died unexpectedly. Dale had been sleeping in a room with James, another brother. Charles Jr. noticed a funny smell coming from the room. By the time Mike and Charles Jr. were able to break a window, and force entry into the room, fumes from the coal stove had claimed the life of Dale.

As his relationship with his father drifted, Mike's brother Grady stepped in. Grady filled the void, telling young Mike to stay away from things like drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. During this time, Mike's father left the house, and moved in with another woman across town. Mike's interest in playing football peaked each Sunday, as he would watch the Dallas Cowboys every Sunday, and idolized players like Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, and Lee Roy Jordan. When Mike began to play football as a seventh grader, it was his brother Grady, not father Charles, that would show up to every game, and cheer him on.

Tragedy would soon strike again. Grady, the man who Mike Singletary had looked up at as a father figure, was killed in a six car accident caused by a drunk driver. The drunk driver was the only one who survived the accident.

In ninth grade, Mike was an all-state guard and linebacker. Michael Thomas, a man to whom Mike's sister Mary Lousie was married, began to attend all of Mike's games. As Mike became a star for Worthing High School, an all black high school, Mike's mother also became a regular at the football games as well. Despite early concerns about poor grades affecting Mike's eligibility to play football, he did well after a few early struggles. After a star career at Worthington, Mike found himself with a scholarship to Baylor University, and would meet the next mentor in his life, Baylor coach Grant Teaff.