It was 1997, a hot August morning, and this reporter was sitting in the stands with Danny Ford, watching the Arkansas Razorbacks walk by on their way to run the mile, the sometimes grueling event that kicked off fall ball.
Suddenly Ford, who was a much better coach than he got to prove at Arkansas, stopped, pointed and said: "See that one, No. 77? He's going to be a great one on the field because he wants it more than anyone. I don't think I've never seen one exactly like him."
No. 77 was Brandon Burlsworth, who walked on for the Arkansas Razorbacks in Ford's second season, and turned himself into not just a scholarship player but a first-team All-American who was drafted in the third round by the Indianapolis Colts.