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http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012 ... and_f.html
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Think of the places where NFL players go for the off-season. Maui. The Bahamas. Grand Cayman. Anywhere that the beaches and golf courses are in a real-estate tug-o-war.
Darian Stewart, the former Lee High standout now with the St. Louis Rams, went to Columbia, S.C.
Where, it turns out, his biggest day at the University of South Carolina wasn't at Williams-Brice Stadium, where he played defensive back for the Gamecocks.
It happened came at the arena where South Carolina's basketball team plays.
There, on May 5, Stewart was the only St. Louis defensive back in the Colonial Life Arena to accept a college diploma.
"My best day ever," he said Monday evening.
"Just for my Mama to see me walk across the stage..." he continued, voice trailing off.
Proud day, too, for Janice Stewart, a mother of four (there's also Darian's twin brother Jared, who played for Jacksonville State, and daughters Marisha and Chondra).
"It was like I was incomplete and I needed to get it done," Stewart said of his classwork. "I felt like I should go back. I'm glad I did."
Let that resonate through some locker rooms where players think they've been made complete with the first fat bonus contract.
"This was to help me further, after my career," Stewart said.
Barely had the NFL season ended, he was in class, finishing his degree in retail management. Then, he had an excused tardiness to off-season workouts because of graduation.
"Not too much of a break this off-season," he said.
Stewart, 23, was pretty much all-everything at Lee, basketball and football.
The recruiting gurus rated him only something of a bronze-level recruit in their world where they drool only over platinum. Rivals.com rated him just the 35th-best safety prospect in the country that year. A quick cross-checking of that list, I can count on one hand the players ahead of him who are now in the NFL.
Stewart became a steal for South Carolina. He began to earn playing time almost immediately. He started most of his last three years, but the "experts" low-rated him again. He went undrafted.
The St. Louis Rams took a chance and offered him a free agent contract. He made the team. Then he made headlines.
Stewart was a starter most of 2011 and made 84 tackles. He intercepted a Drew Brees pass and returned it for a touchdown. On a struggling team where many of the Rams looked to avoid contact instead of create it, he refused to fold. He made more than half of his tackles in the final six games -- all losses. It only seemed he also made more than half the team's tackles in that stretch.
A two-win season does not bode well for a coach's shelf-life. Exit Steve Spagnuolo. Enter Jeff Fisher, the long-time Tennessee Titans' coach.
"I've been a fan of (Fisher) since he was at Tennessee," Stewart said. "And his style of coaching is something our players will love to play for. He's laid-back. He's a cool guy."
He's also a former NFL safety but "he doesn't speak too much about it," Stewart said. Still "his love for defense" is pretty obvious.
Stewart's first encounter with Fisher "was pretty brief." Darian had just arrived from school in time to join a brief walk-through practice.
"I introduced myself and told him who I was," Stewart said. "I was pretty sure he knew."
If nothing else, the cap and gown gave him away.
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Think of the places where NFL players go for the off-season. Maui. The Bahamas. Grand Cayman. Anywhere that the beaches and golf courses are in a real-estate tug-o-war.
Darian Stewart, the former Lee High standout now with the St. Louis Rams, went to Columbia, S.C.
Where, it turns out, his biggest day at the University of South Carolina wasn't at Williams-Brice Stadium, where he played defensive back for the Gamecocks.
It happened came at the arena where South Carolina's basketball team plays.
There, on May 5, Stewart was the only St. Louis defensive back in the Colonial Life Arena to accept a college diploma.
"My best day ever," he said Monday evening.
"Just for my Mama to see me walk across the stage..." he continued, voice trailing off.
Proud day, too, for Janice Stewart, a mother of four (there's also Darian's twin brother Jared, who played for Jacksonville State, and daughters Marisha and Chondra).
"It was like I was incomplete and I needed to get it done," Stewart said of his classwork. "I felt like I should go back. I'm glad I did."
Let that resonate through some locker rooms where players think they've been made complete with the first fat bonus contract.
"This was to help me further, after my career," Stewart said.
Barely had the NFL season ended, he was in class, finishing his degree in retail management. Then, he had an excused tardiness to off-season workouts because of graduation.
"Not too much of a break this off-season," he said.
Stewart, 23, was pretty much all-everything at Lee, basketball and football.
The recruiting gurus rated him only something of a bronze-level recruit in their world where they drool only over platinum. Rivals.com rated him just the 35th-best safety prospect in the country that year. A quick cross-checking of that list, I can count on one hand the players ahead of him who are now in the NFL.
Stewart became a steal for South Carolina. He began to earn playing time almost immediately. He started most of his last three years, but the "experts" low-rated him again. He went undrafted.
The St. Louis Rams took a chance and offered him a free agent contract. He made the team. Then he made headlines.
Stewart was a starter most of 2011 and made 84 tackles. He intercepted a Drew Brees pass and returned it for a touchdown. On a struggling team where many of the Rams looked to avoid contact instead of create it, he refused to fold. He made more than half of his tackles in the final six games -- all losses. It only seemed he also made more than half the team's tackles in that stretch.
A two-win season does not bode well for a coach's shelf-life. Exit Steve Spagnuolo. Enter Jeff Fisher, the long-time Tennessee Titans' coach.
"I've been a fan of (Fisher) since he was at Tennessee," Stewart said. "And his style of coaching is something our players will love to play for. He's laid-back. He's a cool guy."
He's also a former NFL safety but "he doesn't speak too much about it," Stewart said. Still "his love for defense" is pretty obvious.
Stewart's first encounter with Fisher "was pretty brief." Darian had just arrived from school in time to join a brief walk-through practice.
"I introduced myself and told him who I was," Stewart said. "I was pretty sure he knew."
If nothing else, the cap and gown gave him away.
