Hampton senior Ray Kirsopp dedicates football season to late father

By: John Grupp
Saturday, September 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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When Hampton hosts Upper St. Clair on Sept. 13, the highlights will include much more than a typical WPIAL nonconference football game.

“It’s going to be a special night for me, for sure,” Hampton senior wide receiver/linebacker Ray Kirsopp said. “It’s a lot for me to process.”

Hampton will hold an appreciation night, honoring military, law enforcement and first responders, along with a special tribute to Kirsopp’s late father, Rob, a longtime Hampton police officer who died May 1 at age 52 after a battle with cancer.

“His dad was a big part of our community,” Hampton senior quarterback Porter Kelly said. “It’s just going to be an amazing night. I’m getting chills just talking about it because of how much it’s going to mean to (Ray) and all of us.”

The Talbots will wear commemorative military-style uniforms with Rob Kirsopp’s badge number, 31, on the shoulder of their royal gold and blue jerseys. There will also be various fundraisers as well as jerseys for sale to benefit a scholarship fund established by Wexford-based It’s About the Warrior (IATW) foundation.

“We’re excited with what we have going on there,” Hampton coach Steve Sciullo said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to donate some money in Rob’s name.”

Ray Kirsopp has dedicated the season to his late father, who was a Hampton police officer for 26 years as well as an Army veteran and military police officer.

Before each game, Ray writes his dad’s full badge number on his wrist tape, 28 on the left wrist, 31 on the right. He and all of his teammates have a “Sgt. Kirsopp 2831” sticker on the back of their helmets.

The biggest moment so far in a heavy-hearted season came in the Aug. 23 opener against University Prep, when Kirsopp returned an interception 53 yards for a pivotal touchdown in the third quarter of an eventual 22-18 victory.

“The ball was thrown right to him, and I’ve never seen him run so fast,” Sciullo said. “It was a special moment.”

Kirsopp, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound two-way starter, said the play’s gravity hit him later in the night.

“I didn’t realize until after the game how much it meant to me,” he said. “After the game, it really struck me how much I wished he was there. … I broke down on the field crying. It meant the world to me for us to get that win.”

Kelly, the senior QB, said Kirsopp’s game-changing pick-six was “one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever been a part of.”

The following day, during film study, the Talbots (1-1 as of Sept. 5) watched replays of the interception over and over again. It never got old.

“It was so unbelievable,” Kelly said. “We all had goosebumps.”

Ray, who has an older brother, Robbie, and a younger sister, Rachel, said his dad was “the loudest guy in the crowd.”

“I always heard it whenever I had a good play or a bad play,” Ray said. “Him being there was the special part.”

Throughout this spring and summer, Ray could depend on his fellow Talbots. They made sure to support their grieving teammate, whether they were stopping over to play cards or board games or eat dinner.

“We are blessed to have this football team,” said Ray’s mom, Rosalyn Kirsopp. “We are all like a family. When he goes there, he has that brotherhood and they really, really have his back.”

Ray Kirsopp, who led the Talbots with five receptions for 97 yards and a TD in a 42-30 loss to Armstrong on Aug. 30, said he will continue to honor his late father at the upcoming appreciation night.

“My dad was a selfless guy,” Ray Kirsopp said. “He would be a little upset about all this remembrance of him. He would want me to just go play, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

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