Football award honors Canton grad Lanier, drives home message about suicide

When Chris Lanier played defensive end for the Canton Chiefs more than a decade ago, he never gave up on a play.

He never gave up on a single snap as he rocked the O-line to track down — and bring down — opponents' running backs.

Lanier was a member of Canton’s 2005 Division 1 state finalists and graduated in 2007, but then took his own life in 2013. Four years later, nobody can put their finger on why such a smart, athletic, fun-loving and personable young man would take that sad route.

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On Nov. 20 at Laurel Manor in Livonia, during the Canton football banquet, Lanier’s family members made an impassioned plea to the Chiefs players (freshman, JV and varsity) who were watching and listening from their tables.

“Don’t give up on life,” Anne Lanier, Chris’s mom, said from the podium. “Tattoo it on your arm if you need to.”

A large image of a smiling Lanier from his football days was projected on the screen in the corner of the banquet hall while she spoke.

Don’t quit the team

The Lanier family attended the banquet to deliver that heartfelt message about the need to squash any thoughts of suicide — and to apply to everyday life those same attributes it takes to be successful as part of a football team.

“Here’s the thing, you become strong by staying in the game,” Anne Lanier said. “First, second and third string, you are needed. If you’re on the field, on the sidelines or in the stands, you are needed.

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“What’s not OK is to give up on life. Have a team, have a plan, have a plan B, C, D, E, if you need to. Learn how to stay strong through the tough times and take a timeout when needed.”

They also presented the inaugural Chris Lanier Chiefs Spirit Award.

Receiving the award — given to the player who is great on and off the field — was senior linebacker and running back Nick Polydoras.

“It’s such an honor to be awarded the Chris Lanier Award,” Polydoras said following the banquet. “I didn’t expect it at all. But just hearing the story and everything, it’s such an honor to be receiving that award.”

Told that Lanier was described by his mom as “a person full of passion for the underdog,” Polydoras nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think it fits me pretty well.”

Sadness remains

The pointed and stark message delivered by the Laniers helped put things into perspective for the football team, whose championship dreams were literally stopped inches short when Novi Detroit Catholic Central stuffed a two-point conversion bid.

Had the Chiefs crossed the goal line in the final minute of that D1 regional final Nov. 10, who knows how far they would have made it?

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Somehow, all that didn’t matter as much when listening to the speeches and sensing the agony and heartbreak Lanier's death still has on his mother, sister Melissa (who also spoke) and other family members who were at the banquet.

Tattoos on arms might be good. But one gets the sense what the Laniers said that night remains imprinted on their brains.

“That sadness is not gone,” Melissa said. “It is just transferred to the rest of us.”

Thousands of families like the Laniers are feeling that same pain.

Heartbreaking statistics

In a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. suicide rate spiked 24 percent between 1999 and 2014. The numbers apply to both genders and all age groups. In 2014, the report continued, 13 people per 100,000 died by suicide.

In 2015, more than 44,000 people died by suicide and that was the second leading cause of death for Americans ages 15-34, according to the CDC.

And the question is what pushes youngsters over the edge? Depression, family issues, bullying on social media are some of the reasons.

The Laniers stressed to the Canton football players and their families that none of those things are worth cashing it all in for.

“So many life lessons are learned through football,” Anne Lanier said, listing resilience, teamwork, discipline and courage. “We are up here (to say), no matter what, don’t ever give up on life. Don’t blame life.”

tsmith@hometownlife.com

Twitter: @TimSmith_Sports