WHEAT RIDGE — The Orms boys, Dylan and Parker, learned at a young age that, while competing in sports, there was no sense trying to find where their mother was seated in the bleachers. She wouldn’t be there. Katherine Orms Korosec would always be somewhere in the vicinity at practices and games. Just not in the stands. An acknowledged “Nervous Nellie,” she can’t sit still.
“She likes to pace back and forth, back and forth,” Dylan said. “You look out of the corner of your eye for motion. There’s Mom.”
Katherine might wear out a pair of shoes Saturday afternoon. Her oldest, Dylan, is a fourth-year junior quarterback at Northern Colorado and will be making his first collegiate start when the Bears open the season in Greeley against Adams State. Meanwhile, at Invesco Field at Mile High, Parker will be playing for Colorado in his first collegiate game. The redshirt freshman will be CU’s starting nickel back on defense against Colorado State.
Having sat out the 2009 season, Parker will be returning to the site of his last football game. He forever etched his name into the folklore of Wheat Ridge High by bolting for a 56-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-2 draw play with 19 seconds remaining to give the Farmers a 35-31 victory over Greeley West in the 2008 Class 4A state championship game.
“For Parker to go back to that stadium, how special is that?” said Katherine, her eyes becoming moist.
Coincidentally, Dylan Orms, a backup at UNC the last two seasons, also made his last start at Invesco. He quarterbacked Wheat Ridge to the 2006 state title on that field as a senior. Parker was as a sophomore safety that day.
Together, the boys later presented their mother with replica of the Wheat Ridge championship ring. On the back of the pendant an inscription reads: “MVP Mom. Love You. Dylan and Parker.”
She wears it for good luck to every sporting event involving her boys.
Dylan and Parker have always been known for their football instincts, spontaneity and an ability to adjust on the fly. Saturday, Katherine will have to do some improvising of her own. The Colorado vs. CSU game in Denver begins at noon; Northern Colorado’s opener in Greeley has a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
What’s a mother to do?
Using her son’s family pass, Katherine plans to get into Invesco early and watch Parker and his teammates warm up. She figures she can only stay until 12:15 or before she needs to leave in order to catch the start of UNC’s game.
“I know this is going to sound crazy, but I hope CU has to kick off to start the game,” Katherine said. “That way, the Buffs will be on defense, and maybe I’ll see Parker in a play or two.”
In any case, Katherine will start sprinting out of the stadium shortly after the game begins.
“I know Mom will be going as fast as she can to get here without getting a speeding ticket,” Dylan said.
Katherine found it difficult to explain to Parker that she might not get to see him get in on a play. But Parker fully supported her decision.
“I want my family to go watch Dylan play,” Parker said. “I have four years to play college football, including this year. He has two left. He deserves it. He has battled through a lot.”
Katherine usually is accompanied to games by her mother, Diana Korosec, who, along with other family members riding with Katherine will go directly to a sports bar in Greeley and watch as much of the CU vs. CSU game on television as they feel they can before heading to UNC’s Nottingham Field to catch the rest of the UNC game.
The boys’ father, Glenn Orms, plans to do the same. Katherine and Glenn were divorced while their sons were in high school. Dylan and Parker are their only children.
“I’m the oldest, so I get a few perks, I guess,” Dylan said of having family members at his game Saturday. “I just wish they could be at both games. It’s sad that some of (CU’s and UNC’s) home games are scheduled at the same time.”
“It’s going to be a challenge at times seeing both Dylan and Parker play,” said Katherine, who is looking into an air card for her laptop so she can follow CU games online while attending UNC games. “But I’m sure there are a lot of parents that would love to have that kind of worry.”
Athletics flow in the blood
Dylan and Parker have been called “naturals,” and that should come as no surprise. Athletics are in their blood. Their late grandfather, Hubert “Killer” Korosec, starred in football as a two-way lineman at Golden High School. Getting drafted into the Korean War precluded Korosec from accepting a scholarship offer to play football at CU. He returned after the war to earn an economics degree from the university.
Two of Katherine’s brothers played college football: Bill Korosec at Eastern Illinois (running back) and Joe Korosec at Fort Lewis (linebacker for Gary Barnett, later to become the CU coach). Glenn Orms grew up in the rodeo circuit in Texas.
As for Katherine, she is the oldest of eight children, and all seven siblings are boys. Opportunities in women’s athletics were limited in the 1970s, but Katherine played softball for Northern Colorado and Cal State-Hayward. She later completed her degree requirements at Colorado, which did not have softball.
“Mom says if times then were like they are now, she would have been an All-American in softball,” Parker said. “I believe her.”
Dylan and Parker always wanted to follow in the football footsteps of their grandpa and uncles. During halftime of Broncos games, Dylan and Parker would go to the backyard with uncle Rob Korosec and square off, head-to-head. Rob would throw the passes and either Dylan or Parker would be the receiver or the cornerback.
“When Uncle Rob would throw to us, Dylan, being 2 years older, won most of the battles,” Parker recalled. “But I learned. I got better. My brother is my biggest mentor. He’s the reason I’m a competitor, because we always competed. He’s the reason I’m tough, also.”
One time they were roughhousing in the family room and Parker had enough. Breaking from a makeshift wrestling hold, Parker grabbed one of his mother’s high-heeled shoes and threw it at Dyan’s head. You guessed it — Dylan ducked and the shoe sailed into the big-screen TV.
Glenn Orms returned from a business trip to find the screen ruined.
“They both looked at me sheepishly,” Glenn said. “I was mad, but they didn’t get into too much trouble over that. I thought, ‘Boys will be boys, and some things you just have to laugh at.’
“But they had to know there are consequences for their actions. We didn’t have another big screen for a while.”
Parents give full support
Katherine remembers trying to get young Dylan and younger Parker “interested in everything with a ball, and no batteries.” That was an easy sell. They progressed through T-ball, coach pitch, soccer, baseball, basketball and football.
Though the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Dylan and the 5-11, 190-pound Parker are not big for their positions, they have exceptional quickness and throughout their young careers rose to the top of their class.
“As parents, you always see your kids that way,” said Glenn Orms, who videotaped more than 2,000 hours of his sons’ football games. He has parlayed that into a video company, , that live streams area high school events.
“We always thought Dylan and Parker would be something special,” Glenn Orms added. “But I’d be in the stands and hear other parents say the same things about their kids. So we always encouraged Dylan and Parker. But we also told them that there could be somebody better and not to ever rest on their laurels. I think they both became pretty humble kids because of that.”
The Orms’ home in Wheat Ridge has become a shrine to the accomplishments of Dylan and Parker. Photos and reprints of newspaper articles cover the walls. High school letter jackets, footballs and helmets are everywhere.
“We see Parker’s mom and grandmother at practices, and that’s big for him,” CU quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “Playing football is rough, rough physically and rough mentally. Sometimes you need somebody to talk to that you really care about. I think it makes you stronger as a person, knowing you have the support of your family.”
Watching her sons compete in sports has controlled much of Katherine’s life. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Once, Katherine was asked if she would like to go to a Mother’s Day brunch instead of a ballgame.
“I told them I’m not a ‘brunch-type’ mom,” she said. “I’d rather watch my kids play. That’s my thing. I’ve been blessed.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Road trip
A look at the weekends the Orms family will have to work out a travel plan for the 55-mile trip between Colorado’s Folsom Field and UNC’s Nottingham Field in Greeley. (It’s about the same distance for Saturday’s trip from Invesco Field to UNC):
Date CU game UNC game
Saturday noon vs. CSU 1:30 vs. Adams St.
Sept. 18 1:30 vs. Hawaii 1:30 vs. Idaho St.
Oct. 2 5 p.m. vs. Georgia 1:30 vs. Montana
Oct. 16 TBA vs. Baylor 1:30 vs. Eastern Washington
Letter to mom
Before the Sept. 21, 2006, game between No. 9 Wheat Ridge and sixth-ranked ThunderRidge, Farmers quarterback Dylan Orms wrote this letter to his mother (and a similar letter to his grandmother). Here’s an excerpt of his letter to his mom:
Dear Mom,
I’m dedicating this game on Thursday to you. Thank you for always being at practice and being the loudest fan in the stands. . . . Thank you for teaching me how to love my school and honor the many traditions that we hold close to our heart. . . . Beating ThunderRidge will be the win of a lifetime. It will be a defining moment in my life, and I am glad that you will be there to cherish it with me. And I also know you will still be there if we lose. You have always been there for me and I love you.
Love,
Your 1st born son,
No. 5 Dylan Orms
Score: Wheat Ridge 28, ThunderRidge 7, ending ThunderRidge’s 26-game winning streak.
