This K-State Wildcat plans to follow dad’s footsteps after football... as a mortician
Trey Dishon was asked recently whether he’s a nice guy, and he quickly answered, “No.”
A second passed by as he reflected on his answer, and he then corrected himself.
“I am a nice guy,” Dishon said. “But I’ve learned how to flip that switch.”
There are two sides to Trey Dishon, a yin and yang that have helped him to what will be his 47th straight start at defensive tackle for Kansas State Saturday. Dishon has a cool demeanor and is one of the most eager-to-talk Wildcats in the locker room.
But before every game, he puts his headphones on and listens to an audio clip from Ben Newman, a motivational speaker who travels with the team. The clip is about a minute long, and Newman tells Dishon everything he needs to hear.
About 100 miles to the northeast, Dishon’s father, Gregg Dishon, goes through the same sort of mental jumping jacks.
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Gregg is a mortician and embalmer in Horton, Kansas, a city of fewer than 2,000 people. He knows everyone in town, so he knows everyone who dies. He works regular business hours, plus whenever his phone rings — and sometimes it rings at the worst times.
When Trey was about 5 years old, he woke up one Christmas morning and rushed downstairs with his sisters to see what Santa had left.
And then his dad’s phone rang.
Trey and the rest of the family waited until after dinner for Gregg to get back home before opening presents. Gregg said the unpredictable nature of his schedule is one of the hardest part of his job.
“I’ve sat down for a birthday supper, taken two bites and had the phone ring,” Gregg said. “You say, ‘Well, see you later.’“
Trey said he plans to pursue a professional football career after his K-State career ends several games from now. He doesn’t care if that’s in the NFL or elsewhere. But he also has a backup plan for whenever football ends for him.
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Trey graduated from K-State in May with a degree in social sciences. He plans to eventually become a mortician like his father.
“It’s a family business,” Trey said. “It’s not something I would do in my hometown, but something I would like to do close to home in a suburb and own my own funeral home.”
Trey said he grew up helping his dad at the funeral home. Whether that meant assisting with paperwork or other housekeeping chores, he loved it.
It takes a special kind of person to be a mortician, Trey said. The stereotype is that morticians love being around death, but that’s not what the job is about.
He said he learned how to treat people with empathy by watching his dad work.
“You’re talking to people who are going through hard times in their life,” Trey said. “You got to know how to care for that family.”
Trey said he’s applied that philosophy to his entire life.
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Gregg said he learned during embalming training that more than 50 percent of the job involves the mental side of the business. He believes his son would be “excellent” in this particular area.
“He can talk to bigger groups better than I ever could,” Gregg said. “If he ends up a funeral director, he’s going to have some tough ones that are young kids or babies, and you’ve just got to get through it.”
Trey acknowledge that his future profession has the worst kind of good job security.
People die every day.
“And somebody’s got to do it,” Trey said. “The right person needs to do it, and I feel like I might be the right person for it.”
Gregg said being a mortician is one of the more grueling jobs one can have. The unpredictability calls for long hours, no weekends, no holidays.
But in much the same way that his son has done since earning a starting role at K-State as a redshirt freshman, he rises to the occasion.
“You could be dead-beat tired, but once you get that call, you’ve got to go,” Gregg said. “You’ve just got to flip that switch.”
Dishon is making his final Big 12 road trip this weekend as K-State goes to Texas Tech. The Wildcats became bowl-eligible with a victory at Kansas on Nov. 2. They have not won wince.
Dishon said he will flip that switch again at 6 p.m. Saturday against Texas Tech in Lubbock. After that comes the Wildcats’ regular-season finale against Iowa State in Manhattan.
“Playing a bowl game at 6-6 is fun but also tough,” Trey said. “We’re going to do our best to make sure that’s not the case. We want to win out. That’s our mindset.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 5:00 AM.