Father and son share bond on and off the track

RICHMOND, Texas (KTRK) -- Danny McCray is more than a dad to Bryce McCray. He's also Bryce's coach and mentor.

"There is always room for me to learn something, and who better to go to than my dad to learn about certain things I need to learn about in life," Bryce said.

Danny is an Olympic gold medalist, a state track champion, and was a an All-American athlete at Texas A&M.

The younger McCray is a recent George Ranch High School graduate and a state champion in the 300m hurdles.

"His path was so different than mine," Danny said.

As Bryce competed in the state track meet back in May, his father remembered that it had been a dream of his son's since the seventh grade.

"Watching the race, I'm isolated on Bryce, and I'm looking not only through the eyes of a dad but coach," Danny remembered. "In my coaches eye, I'm like, 'Oh, he won the race!' Then, there is that delay, and you're just sitting there, and that's when the dad part kicks in - the dad part says, 'I hope he won. I hope this is his moment.'"

While Bryce did indeed win the race, what happened next was both unexpected and emotional.

"When he was hugging me, he kept saying, 'You did it! I'm so proud of you,' and I saw tears running down his face because he was that proud of me," Bryce remembered. "Wow, this is a really good feeling to know someone loves you that much."

You can see and hear their story in the video player above.

Joe Gleason is a sports producer and photographer for ABC13 Houston, where he's worked for more than 25 years. Follow Joe on Twitter, and see more of his work at ABC13 Sports