It’s pretty easy to spot senior safety Alden Darby at ASU football practice.
He’s like a boundless ball of energy, whooping and hollering and energizing his teammates everyday.
But what isn’t as easy to see is where he gets all of that energy. Despite his seemingly limitless enthusiasm, Darby has come up from virtually nothing.
“I’ve been through the worst of the worst,” Darby said. “Just to persevere and get through that stuff, it just motivates me every single day, and that’s why I walk around with a smile on my face 24/7. I’m energetic. I’m happy nonstop, because I know that no matter how hard a workout is, how long a day is or anything, I know it’s not hard at all.”
Darby grew up in a rough area of Long Beach, Calif., where nothing came easy, not even something as simple as a place to sleep.
Between living in hotels and with different teammates in high school, the one constant that developed for Darby was the game of football.
“Football was always my escape,” Darby said. “I knew if I didn’t play football, I wasn’t going to go to college. I didn’t have money for college. I knew if I didn’t get a scholarship, it’s nothing.”
But getting a scholarship would not be easy. Darby went to Long Beach Millikan High School, not a football powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination. Getting noticed would not be easy and Darby was only a two-star recruit coming out of high school.
After being recruited by Boise State, UA, Washington and ASU, what would ultimately shape Darby’s decision to become a Sun Devil had nothing to do with the gridiron, but rather the classroom.
Darby didn’t have bad grades but was missing SAT scores and core classes to make him eligible for college.
“(ASU) went to my counselors and got me in the right classes and told me what I needed to do. They didn’t talk about anything in football,” Darby said. “Every other school told me about actual playing, but ASU didn’t say anything about playing. They just talked about all school and I felt academically secure here, and it paid off.”
So Darby became a Sun Devil and became a full-time defensive starter in 2012, tallying 80 total tackles and three interceptions that season, earning second team all Pac-12 honors as a junior.
While Darby became an impact player on the field he also became a vocal and outspoken leader.
“He’s like another coach out there,” said safeties coach and defensive passing game coordinator Chris Ball. “He’s passionate about the game. … (Darby is) the type of guy you need in our system, our defensive system, back there running the defense."
Darby's leadership is obvious to Ball.
"You gotta be a vocal guy. You’ve gotta be positive. You’ve gotta be passionate," Ball said. "He’s the quarterback of our defense, so it’s important that he’s that way.”
As Darby’s final season in Tempe comes to a close, his football career may be flourishing. Darby is ranked as the No. 9 strong safety prospect in the 2014 NFL Draft, according to CBS Sports.
Darby’s future looks bright, especially considering his humble beginnings.
“Where I’m at right now, and looking back on my life, if I didn’t know that it gets better than where I’m at right now, I would’ve told you this is the best it’s ever going to be in life,” Darby said. “Obviously, being in the position I am now and knowing about the NFL. … I know it gets better than this, but if you would have asked me this years ago, I would have told you it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EricSmith_SP
