DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This was going to be one of those throwaway writes about two childhood friends getting to see each other play on national television.
 
"Check out my boy Kermit [Whitfield] scoring for the 'Noles."
 
"Man, did [DeMarcus] Womack destroy that guy."
 
No, Mr. DeMarcus Womack deserves more than a throwaway piece. [So does Mr. Whitfield, but we'll leave that to our Fearless, Steadfast and Unconquerable colleagues in the 850.]
 
"Story. Just a story?" said Bethune-Cookman Head Coach Terry Sims. "That young man ought to have a book."
 
Womack lost his mother when he was 13. His senior season at Jones High School in nearby Orlando, Florida was cut short by some my-way-or-the-highway neophyte with a short fuse. He did manage to graduate, but mistakes led to trouble with law enforcement and two-and-a half years in and out of the judicial system.
 
Out of that hassle, but finding that many college programs weren't willing to take a chance on him because of it, Womack settled for a junior college in New York City. His first transfer choice didn't end well, but finally things have come to pass here at Bethune-Cookman, where he's starting on the defensive line and enjoying a relatively stress-free life as a college student. He's on track to graduate, too.
 
It's almost callous to reduce a decade of longsuffering down to two paragraphs, but, then again, Kirk Herbstreit was able to condense growing up in the troubled area of Parramore down to "The section of Orlando where the tourists don't go" three weeks ago when Florida State was playing Ole Miss, and he made it work.
 
There's more to it, and Womack will share his story in full, gladly, because it's one that needs to be told – and one that needs to be seen, rather than the immature memes of college rivalries and the unnecessary breakdown of why most FCS teams will be cannon fodder in Weeks 2 and 3.
 
It's the story that maybe gets a few minutes in the pregame show, but gets overlooked in all the gameday hype.
 
And as Womack details about what he went through to get here; this incredible desire to drop kick the Johnny Manziels and Ryan Lochtes of the world festers exponentially. They have management groups and silver spoons.
 
Womack revised his life plan while in a jail cell.
 
"When you're incarcerated, you have a lot of time," Womack says. "I did a lot of thinking; a lot of soul searching, and I came up with a master strategy.
 
"I grew up lion-hearted," Womack continued. "I carried some of those traits through the hard times, and it got me through. I had tunnel vision; I knew where I came from. I knew where I didn't want to be. And knew I wanted to be more than what I was."
 
How long did it take Womack to know he still could get the job done once he got out and took the field at some place called Globe Institute of Technology?
 
"The first play," Womack said. "I just needed someone to take a chance on me, but no one would. There were nights I actually cried about it."
 
Sims, who spent time as a correctional counselor prior to his coaching days, says he would have been able to tell right away that Womack would make the most of a second chance.
 
"He would have been a definite candidate right away," Sims said. "He saw through the mistake, and he saw the opportunity if he would do the right things and become a positive person and a productive citizen. I'm always willing to take a chance. You have a one-on-one conversation, and that'll tell you enough. DeMarcus is one of the most inspirational stories I've ever seen."
 
Womack kept grinding, and unknowingly kept inspiring his life-long friends.
 
"DeMarcus Womack is a living testament of what you call beating the odds," said Whitfield, the Florida State receiver who grew up with him in Parramore and contacts him practically every day. "His perseverance is second to none. In a situation where most would have accepted their fate, he challenged it to become what he thought he should be, and is still aspiring to be greater.
 
"You can't break his spirit, and you can't break mine – when I look up and know I had a brother that went through all that and still made it through."
 
Maybe Womack does deserve the light moments, after all. A replay on ESPN. The photo op. Answering questions about the Nike apparel deal at the weekly media luncheon, or spewing some non-descript 'player speak' that fills mid-week sports sections. Throwaway stuff, perhaps, but somewhere in Parramore, Womack knows some kid will see him, and "it'll give some hope. A reason to keep grinding."
 
We'll get to the book later.
 
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