Home Grown: Tristan Shapiro

One Dropped Pass Doesn’t Define You | Tristan Shapiro | Home Grown

A dropped pass can haunt you for years — or rebuild you from the inside out.

In this episode of Home Grown: Real Athletes. Real Stories. Big Dreams., Jacksonville native Tristan Shapiro shares the moment a potential game-winning touchdown slipped through his hands — and how his teammates responded with the kind of brotherhood that changes a player’s mindset forever.

That story opens the door to a deeper conversation about Jacksonville Cardinals football, resilience, and the community that shapes athletes long after the lights go out.

Tristan takes us through his journey from childhood football to Jacksonville High School, and now to Barton College, where he continues his football career while studying exercise science.

We talk about:
🏈 Growing up around football and family influence
🏈 The culture and discipline of Jacksonville Cardinals football
🏈 Playing wide receiver alongside his brother Shane
🏈 The dropped touchdown that became a turning point
🏈 Brotherhood and support from teammates
🏈 Transitioning to Barton College football
🏈 Using faith to stay grounded and control emotions
🏈 Studying exercise science and pursuing strength & conditioning
🏈 Mentoring younger athletes in Jacksonville

For Tristan, success isn’t just about touchdowns. It’s about resilience, faith, and giving back to the community that helped raise you.
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#homegrown  #TristanShapiro #JacksonvilleNC #CollegeFootball #BartonCollegeFootball

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Support for Homegrown is provided by Humphrey Heating and Air Condition, proudly serving Eastern North Carolina since 1967.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

They grew up on our fields, on our courts, in our towns. And now they've taken that hometown pride to the college stage. This is Homegrown. Real athletes, real stories, big dreams.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Welcome to Homegrown. Real athletes, real stories, big dreams. I'm your host, Steve Goodson. This is a show where we spotlight hometown athletes who carry the spirit of their community wherever they go. Today's guest is a Jacksonville original, a player who didn't just represent Cardinal Red on Friday night, but did it alongside family, faith, and lifelong teammates. Tristian Shapiro is a Jacksville High School graduate and a current student athlete at Martin College in Wilson, where he continues his football career while studying exercise science, focusing on personal training and strength and conditioning. Along the way, he's become a mentor to younger athletes, a leader in the weight room, and someone who views sports as a platform for service, growth, and character. From sharing a field with his younger brother in high school to signing with lifelong teammates to go to Barton to building a purpose-driven path beyond football. Tristan's story is the definition of homegrown. So let's get into it. Tristan, thank you for joining me today, man. Very nice. All right. First question. Just take us back to the beginning. Growing up in Jacksonville, what did football mean to you early on in life?

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Well, that's funny. Actually, football started for me in Finland, New Jersey, where I grew up. Okay. Yeah, so life started in Vinyland, New Jersey. Moved to North Carolina was six years old. And so I grew up watching football, Ohio State, Eagles. Daddy used to work for the Eagles, so like we would always have it on on Sundays. Yeah. Ohio State would lose you play on Saturdays. Then when he came, we came here. I played my first football game at six years old. It was fun. Was it?

unknown 2:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

You love the feeling, man. Yeah, freedom just to be able to do stuff without repercussions. It was actually fun. Hit people, talking people, run. It was strange. And then the older I got, just the more I fell in love with the sport.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

That's that's great. So I did not know. So your your dad, being an Ohio State guy, so is your dad originally from from Ohio or did or No, so he's originally from Jersey.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Okay. New Jersey. It's he always told us his high school when you used to mimic Ohio State. Oh, okay. And then he just over time he became Ohio State fan. And that's what I grew up watching college-wise. So I started becoming a Ohio State fan. So you guys are Ohio State guys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

I'm gonna keep interviewing you. No, I'm just messing.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

I think from Jersey we'd be ruckus fans or something like that. Yeah. Now we're Ohio State fans.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Okay. So Jacksville football. You grew up playing football six years old, or you moved here, started playing at six. I'm assuming just continue on playing uh until through middle school and then uh to high school. Jacksonville. Jacksville football has a strong identity, great tradition, great history. How do playing for the Cardinals help shape who you are today?

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Well, it started off with Coach Bo and then Coach Bird before he left and then came back. So it started with Coach Bo, the tough uh what's it called?

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Mentality, the tough yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

Tough love.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Tough love. Yeah. Tough love.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Plus, you push through the adversity, push through the pain, throw up at the end of a run you're working hard. And then Coach Bird was actually the first one that believed in me to move me up to varsity my sophomore year. Right. So that kind of sparked something in me that I can actually do this, make it something out of this. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

So I I tell tell everybody, not in various shows that we do, um you talk about throwing up after a run or whatever. Prignancy isn't supposed to be fun. Uh it's supposed to be hard. The the the carrot at the end of the week or or the the the reward for going through hard practices is Friday night. And that that's the fun part. Is that how it was for you guys, rightness? I not saying practice wasn't fun, but but the carrot at the end of the week was the game, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:39

Was Friday night. The worst thing I probably did at Jacksonville High School was run a pyramid with a weight vest. So that's you, these are all times. Yeah, your specific skill group has a set time. We had to run a 500, 30-second break, then a 400, 300, 200, then a 100 in one one day. Go practice after that. I think it'll practice.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Yeah, that's not fun.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

No, not at all. So you have the rare experience of playing wide receiver alongside your brother Shane. What did that mean to you to share the field with him?

SPEAKER_03 5:11

Well, since we was kids, we always used to do everything together. So share room, go places, especially we didn't start playing football together till I was eight. Okay. Because me and my older brother started playing together. He started flag football because he was not old enough yet. And then we started playing together. It was like a dynamic duo, couldn't be stopped. Like, but it was on the same side of the field, the ball is going to get in the end zone or it's a first down, something like that.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

That's awesome. I know your dad was proud. I'm not, I just I know your dad, man. I know he just I I know he was proud, proud of you guys. Um, so how did competing with your brother help push you? I asked him the same question when I told him, but how did it push you to be better, both as a player, but I'm gonna ask you this question, as a leader, because you were the older brother. How did how did it push you?

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Well, I always told people my little brother was better than me, as he is. So as a player, I would always try to be better than him, even though he was trying to be better than me. I would always try to be better than him because I knew he was gonna be better than me in the long run. So I try to keep that one foot, that one step ahead of him. And as a leader, help me work with stubbornness. I don't teach the little things, right, that someone would be able to understand. So working with him honestly kind of sparked my passion.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Has sparked your passion for what you're gonna be doing. Training athletes later on, that's what you want to do. Right. Yeah, that that's great. Yeah. So your dad has talked about how special it is to fight battles together as brothers. What moment from those games still stick with you? Was there a specific game that you remember where you and you and Shane were were out there and uh maybe a close game or something? Maybe a kid starts talking junk to you or him or something, some kind of memory, maybe anything that that strikes your mind a lot?

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Yeah, so I think it was against Western Alamance for first round of finals we played home. I caught a mighty same slant, somebody called a glass, it's like a five-step slant almost. I caught that across the middle of the field, took off, earned, here left towards the sideline, ran up the sideline, broke two tackles, went into the end zone. And then out of everybody, I sought him out, and then he found me. So like those moments. Those moments. And then it's not really playing. Uh J. H. Rose, my senior year, lost to Eastern Regionals. He came up to me and started comforting me. Yeah. Yeah. Because that was that was it. Your your last high school game.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

And uh, I did the same for him his last game. Yeah. That's a that that's a tough one, man. When you know that last high school game, that's yeah, that's that's a tough one. So your senior, I think it was your senior year. You emerged as one of the area's top wide wide receivers. And I guess that's when you talked about Coach Byrd having having good faith in you uh and seeing in you. What clicked for you during that stretch during that year?

SPEAKER_03 8:29

So it was really my junior year.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Okay, your junior year.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

I it was my senior year I had that. My junior year made everything click. Click, okay. So what happened was start of the season, had receiver, but never really got the ball thrown to me. I was there mainly to block and with a running back. And then I started playing both sides, DB and receiver. And then Les Carteret, my junior year, I got my first pass, but it was for the game-winning touchdown, and I dropped it. So, like, I kind of got down on myself. And then next week came, I didn't care what anybody said. I just kept my head down. I was in me, just worked hard. In the following game, following two games, I had 100 plus. And then I think in the game after that, I had 80 something.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:16

And then so I just carried that on to my senior year. I think I had 28 catches, 500 something total yards, five touchdowns.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

That's awesome. Yeah. So let's talk about the drop pass. You know, in the article. So that I've in the article, there was a drop pass late one season that became a turning point, and you just talked about it. It became a turning point. How did that moment change the way that you approached the game?

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Well, actually made me realize how good of the teammates I had of the camaraderie was so good because I dropped that pass. Yeah, we had two other plays, could have scored off those two other plays, but I dropped the game with a touchdown. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

Well, you think, yeah, you think, man, that when something like that happens, hey, it's on me. You know, yeah. One play, you know, it's hard. The coaches and the fans and your parents to tell you one play didn't make the game happen here that happened. The game happened. But in your mind, you're gonna think that.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

And so after that, everybody, my boys from back then, Noah Gibson, Shane talked about them, Josh Benton, they came up to me after the game, started comforting me, say everybody it happens. Just your fault, it's the team loss. And then the next day, Monday, we had a meeting. Everybody was in the meeting before the meeting, comforting me and all that. It kind of made me realize football is more than just the game. Yeah. It's palm rodery and a brothership.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

It's lifelong friends, man. Lifelong friends. So let's let's let's talk about that. So you signed to go to Martin alongside Gavin Tate and Jared Thornton. Why why was continuing that journey together important? Was it important to you that uh for you to be going to school, continuing, you know, playing football with lifelong brothers?

SPEAKER_03 11:01

So actually it was Jared Gavin, and then there were three other people. Okay. So it was Adam Varner who signed to Barton the year before I graduated. Okay. And then Milton Chandler and Trent Jones were already there. They were all there.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

So there was a group of Jacksonville High School kids there. What did that make um that transition a lot easier?

SPEAKER_03 11:19

A lot easier for you. Being there, so Gavin Tate and Adam Varner are still two of my closest friends right now. Okay. Trent Jones, I helped coach with him when he's at Jacksonville when I'm back. And Milton Chandler, no friend. Uh Jared Thorne, he's still a great friend. Like that really made everything easier. I didn't have to stress as much. I had people there to push me, help me, and guide me as of Adam Varner being there while I was Trent Jones my channel.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

That's awesome. So I asked Shane this question earlier. You guys are a tight family. From your brothers to obviously your dad. Uh group family text every day when you're up there too much?

SPEAKER_03 12:03

Not even group families, personal. Personal. He texts me during practice. I didn't get a chance to respond. It was during practice, like the last 30 minutes. And then my mom doesn't even really reach out that much because she knows we need no time.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

My father will call me as soon as I text him back. But I don't mind. It's just, let me get a chance to take a shower and all that, relax before you throw me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

Look, I'm going to tell you as a dad, man, and you'll be the same way when you have kids that they play sports. You're, you are, you just want your kids to succeed in life. You want them to have fun. And you're starting to get a little bit older. And your dad's living life through you. He's living the football. He's living that football deal through you. He cares so much about you and your brothers. He was he was just wanting to, he was excited. He wanted to know how things were going. So he loves football too, anyway. So um, so on the field, how would you describe your playing style as a wide receiver?

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Physical aspect, I was having a possession, possession physical receiver. I'm not really catch the ball in downfield, go score. I'm more of a catch the ball in space in traffic, and then get the first down if needed. Yeah. And then also mentally.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

So that's probably like trying to compare in the NFL wise, maybe like a Mike Evans type type guy, possession receiver. Larry Fitzgerald. Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Evans type guy. Well, that's that's a good that that's a good uh way to be. So off the field, your faith plays a big role in your life. How does that guide the way you approach athletics?

SPEAKER_03 13:50

So people preach patience, but not in like waiting type of way. Like patience through anger, pride, don't get too prideful and stuff like that. When I was a kid, I had anger problems. So like getting more into my faith as I got older helped with that. So when things were happening in practice, things would happen in the weight room, I tried my best to stay calm. It kind of worked out in my favor to stay calm and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

That's great. Yeah, that's great. You're studying exercise science now with a focus on strength and conditioning. What sparked that passion?

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Well, we talked about earlier, my little brother helped coaching him. And then when I got to senior high school, uh my neighbor, Miss Sandra, used to have had me help out train their son, Trey. And it was fun. Yeah. I actually really liked doing it, so I just kept on doing it. Then when I got to college, I was actually training, as of this year and last year, I was actually training college athletes, like three football players, a baseball player, and then came back. Um training a couple of the football players at Jacksonville. Okay. It's just really fun to do.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

Yeah, so let's talk about. So you're so you're you're going to school, you're graduating this spring, is that correct? Or maybe I'm graduating next year with my little brother. Okay. Okay. So you're graduating, but you've already started training local kids here, like you talked about in high school and others. What do you enjoy most about helping others grow?

SPEAKER_03 15:21

So obviously, as a coach perspective, you would like, you love to see the growth and stuff like that. But for me, it's mainly the little things while you're doing the workouts. It's how I put it, it's being able to teach somebody how to do certain things the right way with a purpose, as well as the camaraderie and making connections with the people, families, friends, all that.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah. So that's a great lead into the next question. So when you're training these young athletes, and you know you're you're mentoring them as well. So how does this mentoring and these young athletes, especially back here, how does how does that connect you back to your Jacksonville roots and maybe growing up in Jacksonville after, you know, six years old?

SPEAKER_03 16:10

Most of my life, it was my father training me. So, and not a lot of people this day and age have a father or somebody to help train them train. Yeah. So I want to be that person for them, help them achieve their sports goals, but not only through that, give them someone they can talk to and all that stuff like that. That's awesome. It also kind of sparked from uh film the field, started with Brad Roach, played for the Ravens, played at Cotabbo. And I didn't really train with them going into my because we met up going into my senior year. I didn't really train with them. But him, Brad Roach, uh, Coach Rouse, then Coach Brett, it kind of mentored me to where I am now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah. I've heard uh so in a in a separate interview, don't know if you know uh a young man named Amari King. Yeah, that's my boy. Is it? Yeah. I talked with Amari as part of the homegrowing series. I talked with him last week, uh, and he mentioned film the faith is it filmed the field. Okay, he mentioned yeah, he mentioned that and he mentioned uh Mr. Roach. So so very impactful uh aspect. Okay. What lessons from high school football still show up in your daily routine today at Barton?

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Well, Shane, but you gotta get down and dirty sometimes. Sometimes you gotta do what you don't want to do, just to pros prosper in what you want to do. Yeah, it's not it's not always fun, man. Nah, sometimes I don't even want to get up to do things, but I make it a mission. I set my goals where I want to be, so I make it my mission to get up and do what I need to do.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

That's great. So when you look back on your time at Jackson High School, what are you most proud of?

SPEAKER_03 17:57

Brothers I had. Playing with my little brother, obviously. And being able to play the sport I love. I didn't really mention this earlier. Uh my senior year. Pretty sure it was my senior year, my close cousin passed away. So we used to share a birthday and all that. So I played my senior year till now for him. So being able to do get the opportunity was actually that's that's great.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

So today, how do you find define success today beyond stats and wins?

SPEAKER_03 18:33

It's not really much to it. It's being able to, for me, it's being able to wake up, being able to take that next step. That's that's great. Simple answer, right? Yeah, being able to wake up, say hi to people, smile, make people smile. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Simple answer. Not all about money and all that. No, that's exactly right. So I've got one more closing question, but I've got the rapid fire for you. So I shared the previous questions. Don't show the rapid fire. There are some some some uh some some some similarities um in in questions that uh I asked Shane. Very first one Favorite Jacksonville football memory?

SPEAKER_03 19:19

Um being able to be on the field one last time with my friends, my brothers, really just a moment and I let people you know that's right.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

Opportunity I have. What's your go-to route to run?

SPEAKER_03 19:38

It's there's three. So it's either a post, okay, a comeback, or a curl.

SPEAKER_02 19:45

One teammate, and it could be in Ja at Jacksonville High School or Martin, one teammate you trusted the most on the field.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

It'd be cliche to see my little brother, so I ain't gonna do that. But my good friend I like to think of almost like a mentor as well, Cameron Johnson. He plays he got drafted two years ago to the Buccaneers number 19. Nice. He used to mentor me when I got there, and he saw some in me when I got there, he'd used to mentor me, coach me up, just be that voice of reason.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Awesome. Pre-game music or silence? Music. Weight room or film room. That's a tough one. Big weight room guy. Yeah. One word your brother Shane would use to describe you. Alright. One word you would use to describe Shane.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

Crazy knucklehead. Crazy knucklehead. Um, well, real talk probably driven.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

He knows what he wants and he goes for it. Dream job after football. If you could do anything anywhere with anybody, so what will be your dream job?

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Hopefully, I get a job strength conditioning out of college. Uh as of recently, I've been working on a personal training business to where my brothers are a part of. Stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

So potentially a family business. That's awesome. One thing growing up in Jagsville was taught you.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Military town. What people need people. Community is everything to me.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

That's that's great. Closing question this is a rapid fire. Tristan, from Jacksville Fields to Barton College, from playing beside your brother to building a future rooted in faith and service. What does being homegrown mean to you?

SPEAKER_03 21:58

Isn't that about to mean Way possible I can, if that's through training, through outreach, just through being a voice of reason to certain people that don't have one.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

That's awesome. Hey, buddy, thank you, man. That was that was amazing. Patricia Shapiro story is about more than football. It's about brotherhood, it's about belief and building something bigger than yourself. From Friday nights in Jacksville to Saturdays at Barton, he carried his roots with him. Not just in how he plays, but how he leads, mentors, and serves others. And that's what Homegrown is all about. I'm Steve Goodson. Thanks for listening to Homegrown Real Athletes, Real Stories, and Big Dreams. And remember, no matter how far you go, you're always homegrown.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Support for Homegrown is provided by Humphrey Heating and Air Condition, proudly serving Eastern North Carolina since nineteen sixty-seven.