Dranel Rhodes holds up his 12-year-old brother, Amare, in 2019 at Reseda High. Dranel died when he was 19 in an accidental shooting in 2022. (Eric Sondheimer/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES -- The photo was taken in the fall of 2019 on a hot afternoon at Reseda High. Dranel Rhodes, a 16-year-old senior receiver, held up his smiling 12-year-old brother, Amare, on his shoulders. They were inseparable, little brother following around big brother everywhere.

It was a story about brothers playing for Reseda's football team. Dranel's oldest brother, Lenard, had played for the Regents and Amare would one day make it three.

Except there was a family tragedy. On Jan. 7, 2022, Dranel was attending Ottawa University Arizona. Players were in a dorm room fooling around with a gun. It went off. The bullet killed Dranel. He was 19.

Back home, Amare was deeply affected. He was a freshman attending Reseda. He would transfer to Birmingham in the fall of 2022, play in one game and drop out of school.

"He disappeared," Birmingham coach Jim Rose recalled.

Amare left with his grieving mother. He stopped going to school. He gave up football.

"I was definitely done with football and school," Amare said sitting in a dark classroom this week. "I thought I'd never be back here ever."

His father, Lenard Sr., eventually found him, gained custody, got him grief counseling and enrolled him in an independent study program. The first priority was improving his grades and finding a way to move forward. He needed to make the decision to return.

"I do regret it," Amare said of dropping out of school. "But it's something that made me stronger and I can look back and be proud. Some take that fall and can't get back up. I trusted God he'd get me back up."

He had to learn how to study again. It left him far behind in the classroom. He fought his way to become academically eligible and enrolled at Granada Hills Kennedy this past summer. His first football practices in two years left his body hurting. He was 5 feet 9, 140 pounds and out of shape.

"Coming to practice the next day, my muscles felt they were going to bust," he said.

Twelve weeks later, Amare is thriving. Last week in the City Section Division I quarterfinals, he caught five passes for 205 yards and one touchdown in a win over Westchester. He also had an interception. He made it through 10 weeks of report cards academically eligible. He has a long road ahead, but he says, "I just get it done."

His father watched the playoff game in the stands. He said he was proud of Amare but insisted the real victory came months ago on that first day back to a regular high school.

"Amare won once he stepped back on the field and did everything he had to do emotionally and physically," he said. "He had to get his grades up. He fought hard. It's still a work in progress. Football has been the best thing. He's had a release."

Kennedy coach Troy Cassidy said, "The guys love him. He's very energetic."

Lenard Sr. coached all three of his sons in youth football and knew they had talent.

Amare just had to "get back on the bike and start riding," he said.

Every time Amare is on a field or traveling around areas he once walked with Dranel, he becomes emotional. He will never forget those Reseda days being with Dranel in the locker room and on the field.

"It was something I can remember for the rest of my life," he said. "The experiences were something that I will carry with me forever because it made me a strong human being mentally and physically. It prepared me for a lot of things outside of football."

Lenard Sr. honors Dranel every year with a toy giveaway during Christmas and also a combine for football players.

That photo I took in August of 2019 brought back pleasant memories. Dranel was so happy that Amare was with him. The next year, the pandemic came, disrupting sports and lives everywhere. Dranel would enroll at Mt. San Antonio College, then Ottawa, an NAIA school, before tragedy struck.

Amare was left behind to deal with the absence of his brother.

"It was a long journey," his father said. "He went through a lot."

What turned Amare's life around?

"My parents," he said. "I just felt I was letting them down and myself down and letting my brother down, which is the worst of all. Something clicked and woke me up. It was me that had to get up, wake up to reality. And do the things that would make me succeed later in life."

Amare is back smiling, making catches, having fun.

On senior night, Kennedy happened to be playing Reseda.

"That was crazy," Amare said.

Amare caught a 60-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game.

Somewhere, Dranel was proud and smiling.