Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- When West Virginia’s Rodney Gallagher III runs onto Milan Puskar Stadium field, his mind is never far from Uniontown, Pennsylvania — and from the memory of his mother, Crystal.
Gallagher was just seven years old when she passed away. It was the hardest moment of his young life, one that shaped him in ways far beyond the football field. That loss never left him. Instead of letting grief define him, Gallagher has used it to shape his purpose. Today, he channels that pain into action.
“When I lost my mother at the age of seven, I wish I had someone like me as a role model to help me get through the tough times of losing a parent,” Gallagher said in the video. “That’s why I’m starting a program to help kids that lost a parent.”
Since arriving in Morgantown, the junior wide receiver has made it a mission to give back. In July, he announced a new initiative dedicated to children who have lost parents — a way to offer comfort, mentorship, and the sense of support he longed for during his own grief.
When the Mountaineers take on Pitt in the Backyard Brawl on Saturday, he plans on wearing a special decal on his helmet as a tribute to his late mother and other grieving children.
He collaborated with Children’s Grief Awareness Day to create it this summer
“They reached out to me within Instagram, and we kind of just went back and forth to see what we could do to make this happen,” Gallagher said. “And we just recently did something nice for the kids and my mother also. So, yeah, we just put the patch on my helmet. So whenever we go out there, you know, you guys are going to be able to see on the back of my helmet to, you know, support that.”
The junior highly prioritizes his family so honoring his mother against the Panthers seemed fitting.
“I’m very excited for the game and just the patch,” he said It means a lot. I play for her every game, but just being a backyard brawl just means something a little more.”
For Gallagher, the game itself already carries a special weight. Growing up just across the border in Pennsylvania, he watched the Backyard Brawl on TV before he was old enough to understand what the rivalry truly meant. Now, he knows it’s one of the most emotional weeks on the schedule.
“This is the biggest game of the year,” he said. “The fans care about it. We care about it. Coach cares about it. And with Coach Rod coming back, he cares about it a lot because this is his last game before he came back. So, I’m very excited. We just got to put our head down and go to work.”
That excitement only grows when the Laurel Highlands High School alum thinks about where he came from.
“It means a lot. Just me being a PA guy, but me playing for WV, it means a ton,” he said. “And like I said, I came here, so, it’s a big rivalry and when we go against those guys, they don’t like us, we don’t like them. So we need to go out there and just play with that mindset to come out here and do what we need to do to come out with a win.”
When the 5-foot-10, 181-pound wide out played in his first Backyard Brawl, he never imagined the intensity of actually stepping on the field.
“I really didn’t understand how much the fans really hated Pitt,” he said. “So it was, it’s really crazy, but I’m very excited. And I just feel like with me being year three, it’s just different, you know, I’m ready to just go out there, you know, put on a show with my guys and we need to make a statement.”
Gallagher really understands what it means to wear the gold and blue and what WVU means to the entire state
“This fan base, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to the team. It means a lot to coach. It’s great, honestly. And this fan base cares about this team because we’re like the pro team in the state. So, they care about everything that we do consistently. So, that’s something that we always praise. And whenever we go out there, we’re playing for the state and we’re playing for that logo.”
But Saturday isn’t just about football. It’s about family, memory, and carrying forward a legacy. Gallagher knows what it’s like to hurt, and he knows how badly young people need someone to show them it’s possible to push through the pain.
“Everybody talks about how big this game is right away,” Gallagher said. “But when you talk a little bit about family grief day, a child, child grief day coming on with this game. – Yeah, it means a lot just to continue to help children that went through something that I went through. It means a lot to me. So it puts, you know, a little bit of extra enthusiasm within me and, and go out there and just not play for myself and my team, but play for those kids also.”
Losing a parent is never easy, but Gallagher has found a way to transform his pain into purpose — honoring his mother while giving children the hope and support he once needed.ReplyForward
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Photo Credit: Kelsie LeRose, WVSN
