Former Gamecock Chaz Sutton Publishes His First Children's Book

July 24, 2018

Chaz Sutton (2009-2013) has channeled some of his life’s frustrations into something positive as the former South Carolina defensive end has published his first children’s book. The book is titled “My Dad and Me, Boys’ Day Out!” and is an homage to his three-year-old son, C.J., as well as his own father, who is now deceased.

“I dedicated the book to my dad and to my son,” Sutton said. “I have my mother and family, but my son is the biggest thing that I have in my life right now. I just love that little boy and will do anything for him. I wrote the book to inspire others.

“My father was around, but he had me late. He was 46 when I was born. He got hurt on the job and almost lost his life, and was in a coma when I was a toddler. God gave me 20 extra years with my father, but at the same time, he had trouble just getting to my games with five back surgeries and was in a wheelchair. I couldn’t play catch with my dad when I was little. He didn’t teach me how to ride a bike. His health played more of an issue with all of that. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to do all those things. He gave me a lot of wisdom from the tough times he grew up in.”

Sutton added that he uses those experiences in his own journey through fatherhood to try to give as many important memories for his son as possible. Although Sutton and C.J.’s mother are separated, he was not going to let that be an excuse to be absent in his son’s life.

“I became a father in 2015, and in addition to emotional and financial support, I always want to have that physical appearance for my son in his life,” Sutton said. “One day I was travelling out to Texas to go pick up my son, and I had been a little upset that day. Right there on that flight, I came up with the idea that I was going to write a children’s book to inspire fathers in general, but more specifically, African-American fathers, just to be there for their kids and to never give up when there are challenges.”

Being there really molded me into the guy I am today.

Chaz Sutton

After coming home, he immediately typed up a draft and then began searching for an artist to illustrate the book. He found Scott Harrell Art on Facebook, and it all came together.

Sutton hasn’t backed down from challenges or disappointments in his life. He endured early frustrations in his college football career at South Carolina after admittedly working through his own maturation process.

“It was a maturity thing when I was 18 and 19. There was one point where I thought I wanted to leave South Carolina,” Sutton said. “I had great support from my family, and they were there to help me overcome some adversity and obstacles that I ran into. I was discouraged when I first got there because I was one of the top athletes from my area in high school. Then you’re at South Carolina, and there are all these great athletes around you. I just had to be patient, and after a while things started happening for me. I had a competitive mentality, but I had to put my time in and pay my dues. I understood that once I matured.

“Being there really molded me into the guy I am today. I’m very thankful that I didn’t leave.”

Sutton is proud to be the first of five children in his family to earn his degree (Hospitality Management), but he isn’t the first former Gamecock football student-athlete to write a children’s book as Langston Moore (1999-2002) and Preston Thorne (2000-2004) collaborated on the popular “Just a Chicken” book, which was released in 2015.

“I spoke to Langston last year, and I told him about it,” Sutton said. “He gave me a lot of advice about how much of a process it is to get a book published. There was so much to do to make this vision come alive, but after I spoke to him I said, ‘alright, I’m definitely doing this!'”

The book is available at all major retailers and online at Amazon.com.

The 28-year-old Sutton currently lives in Louisiana where he recently took a job in the maritime industry as a superintendent for Ports America, Inc., and is already mulling over ideas for a sequel to “My Dad and Me, Boys’ Day Out!”