Later this week, Derwin James will cash in as a high NFL draft pick.
But before he does, Derwin took a trip down memory lane with us on the road from Haines City to the NFL.”
"Thousands of miles, man, I can’t say that enough," James said. "It’s been a long process. I can remember back as a little kid just working my butt off just to be here- sitting here in front of you guys. And I just feel like all of it was worth it.”
It didn't take long for the legend of Derwin James to grow.
Lakeland High School head football coach Bill Castle, a six-time state champion, calls James one of the two best high school players he's ever seen in more than 40 years on the job.
In fact, James may be the best of the bunch.
“I wished I would’ve had him," Castle said. "He’d have been a tailback for me. He’d have so many carries they’d have to carry him off the field at night. I was glad when he graduated from here, haha! What an athlete.”
Derwin's impact at Haines City can be summed up in one play: a tackle for the ages which happened against Castle's Dreadnaughts.
Close to half a decade later, everyone involved remembers it quite vividly.
“We faked it up (the middle) and gave it to (University of Florida signee) James (Robinson) coming around on a reverse," Castle said. "And I said, oh man, he’s going to score. And here came Derwin out of nowhere. It was like a blur!”
“Man- I saw- like a missile had shot out," former Haines City head coach Jake Chapman said. "As soon as I saw that missile shot out, I mean, he hit that kid hard!”
Chapman says he enjoyed every minute of his time coaching James at Haines City.
What impressed him the most?
“He’s just a humble guy who wants to play football," Chapman said. "And whoever gets him, they’re going to get someone really special. Real, real, real, real special.”
“I’m passionate about this game," James said. "I didn’t start playing the game for the money or anything. I remember at three or four years old- in the backyard playing with my friends and neighbors- I just wanted to win and score the touchdowns. I just play the game to be a competitor and love to compete.”
After leaving Haines City as a five-star recruit, it didn't take long for James to burst onto the scene at Florida State.
Starting at safety for the Seminoles as a true freshman in 2015, James made plays all over the field.
He was a freshman All-American, racking up 91 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, five pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and two forced fumbles.
James quickly gained the respect of his teammates.
“Derwin is a great leader on and off the field," Derwin's teammate Tarvarus McFadden said. "He keeps people out of trouble. He’s very accountable for other guys.”
James was hyped as one of the best defensive players in the nation going into his sophomore year.
But two games into the season, James tore the meniscus in his left knee in a game against Charleston Southern.
He'd miss the rest of the Seminoles' games in 2016, but he grew as a leader and traveled with the team to most of Florida State's road games.
"I learned a lot from that injury," James said. "I got closer with my teammates and coaches during the process. And I just feel like I left it all on the line, did everything I could do, and I don’t have any regrets.”
Following a full recovery from the injury, James was a preseason first-team All-American as he took the field for his junior year.
James showed off his freakish athletic ability throughout the 2017 season, finishing the year as a first-team All-ACC pick and a first-team All-American by the FWAA.
He had the stats to back up those honors with 84 tackles, two interceptions, 5.5 tackles for a loss, 11 pass breakups, a sack, and a blocked kick.
And while the Seminoles had a disappointing year, the superstar safety turned the heads of NFL scouts and top-level NFL players.
“I would say the sky’s the limit, but that might be putting a limit on him,” Jacksonville Jaguars All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey said.
Ramsey played with James in the Seminoles secondary in 2015 and took Derwin under his wing.
Now, Ramsey believes that James can be just as good as himself professionally.
“In my opinion, he’s the best player in the draft," Ramsey said. "(He's a) top five pick. If someone wants to jump up and get him at number one, it wouldn’t be bad. It’s going to pay off in the long run. All the teams that may pass up on him- it will come back to haunt them later because he’ll be a Hall of Fame player. He’ll be as good as he wants to be.”
“That’s a big compliment, because if you look at what he’s doing every Sunday, he’s playing at a high level," James said. "And Jalen’s not one of those guys- just because we have a good relationship just to tell me- just to beat around the bush and tell me how good I am when he says that."
So far, James has lived up to the hype on Fridays and Saturdays.
Now, we'll see if he can do it on Sundays.