The national champion is clad in Big
Orange.
We were about winning, point-blank - period.
And we just found ways to win, and
I think, you know, the relationships that
you build, whether it's in the locker room
or on the field, they go with you the rest of your life.
(MUSIC)
I grew up in a construction family.
My dad was a general contractor, and my mom as well,
and, so, that kind of motivated me to want
to become an engineer.
(ANNCR) Back to throw is Carter. 
(Sound of pads hitting, crowd cheering)
The way he played football was also manifest in the way that he went after his studies,
sticking with it, and keep on going until
the goal was achieved, which was a degree
in civil engineering.
I knew how
important his education was to him.
He'd
be up all night long, you know, and then,
you know, and then come to practice.
They were both important goals to me, becoming
an engineer, and also going to the NFL,
so yes, I was definitely driven for sure.
(MUSIC)
Ed Burdette was very instrumental.
He was a very inspirational teacher.
Every student, he would make an effort to
get
to know them on a personal level, where
they were from, how many brothers and
sisters they had, and that type of thing,
so Darwin's experience with
Dr. Burdette was extremely common.
I think that's really the mark of a special
experience, you know, that you can give a
young person, is that personal
guidance.
Also, Dr. Reed, he really wanted
to see me achieve my goal, and after I
graduated he wrote a letter to my
parents and talked about me.
It meant so much to me that I actually
framed it.
We have our degrees up on the
wall, and I had that letter right there,
because it was such a nice thing to do.
And then, of course, Dr. Cox, I had as well.
I gotta tell you they, they didn't cut me
much slack.
They were tough on me, you know.
They were tough.
They looked at me and as,
you know, you're going to work just
as hard if not harder than every other
student in here, so I had to really meet that challenge.
I think that's one of the goals that a
faculty member has when they go into
this, this profession of being a faculty
member, is that we want to have an impact
on people's lives, and open up
opportunities for them through their
education to have a really productive
career and a happy life.
You look good with that orange on, man, you
know, yeah?
It's good to see you.
Paul was a very talented student, and
a brilliant mind, and he was very helpful
for me as far as to study with, because I
learned a lot from him.
He was there
to play football and get an education,
and I was there to finish up my
education, so we naturally kind of
coalesced together, because we wanted the
same thing.
You know, maybe a time or two
I might have known something he didn't,
but it might have been, like, once in all
three or four years, but, you know, but for
the most part, yeah, we worked, did a lot
of
work together, and studied together, and we
talked about, you know, doing something
together when we were done.
We started a
business after college, and we grew
that business, later sold it to a larger
company, and I'm still a shareholder, and
I'm still very involved there, so none of
that would have been possible without
the engineering degree.
They wouldn't have
been interested in Paul and I if we
didn't have the credentials we had and
successes that we had had.
Building relationships, networking,
building bridges with people, making
connections, seeing what you can do for
somebody, that's what Darwin is.
He's one
of those special people that did all the
right things.
(MUSIC)
