April 20. By Dave Yochum. Peninsula residents Carolyn and Bruce Rose have a ton of guests. Well, maybe 1,900-2,000 lbs of guests. The Roses are hosting six young men, mostly from Virginia Tech, during the COVID-19 crisis. They just so happen to be football players.

One is a friend of daughter Alexa’s at Virginia Tech, so the Roses knew him, but not the others. “Funny thing,” Carolyn said. “Our girls both decided to stay at school so we just have the boys.” Some of them are 300 lbs. All of them are warm and friendly.

“Feeding them has been a challenge but we are keeping all the area restaurants and grocery stores going,” Carolyn said.

Football stars

TJ Jackson is a 350 lb. offensive lineman for the Hokies, and the friend of the Rose family. He brought his cousin and brother with him. They both go to different colleges, but when their colleges went to online, they did not have internet at home. The Roses pitched in.

TJ Jackson, Silas Dzansi, Christian Darrisaw

“I always told TJ to let me know if he ever needed anything to let me know. So here they are,” Carolyn says.

Christian Darrisaw, a six-foot, five-inch offensive lineman, is an All American at Virginia Tech.

Derrell Bailey, who graduated from high school in December, has 12 siblings. “He was happy to get invited to come here,” Carolyn explains.

He had 33 full ride offers from Division 1 schools.

Three weeks into it, Silas Dzansi, another VT offensive lineman, arrived. Christian Jackson and Jonathan Langhorne round out the crew.

Food intake

On deck in Cornelius

In a single night they ate four racks of ribs, 4 lbs. of steaks, six burgers and nine hotdogs, not to mention potatoes, broccoli and rolls. “Along with anything they could find,” Carolyn said.

The guys are awesome, nice individuals. When a friend of the Rose’s had a birthday, they FaceTimed him.

“All of their lives are very interesting for sure. We are learning a lot! They are great kids and are so appreciative because they have nothing,” she says.