- It was just, "Coach, listen.
I understand, I appreciate it. You know what I mean, all the hard work and dedication you're doing, but I wanna be honest with you.
I'm not coming. I'm gonna go to Miami.
- When you committed to Miami, you told him that.
- Yeah.
- What was his response?
- He was just like,
"If you don't come here, man,
I promise you, man, you'll never see a day of football in your life."
- Wow.
- Yeah.
♪♪♪
- Oh, we got another 'Cane great. Devin Hester,
what's good with you, man? - What's up, baby?
What's up, baby? - How you livin', man?
- I'm doin' pretty good. How about yourself?
- I'm good, man. You had to rep all Florida with that chain on, didn't you?
- You already know.
- [Laughing]
- Always keep a Cuban link on you, man.
- Got too, man.
- How's life treating you right now?
- Great, man. I can't complain, man.
- Are you nice on the sticks? I'mma go ahead and let you break real quick.
- I'm all right, man. You know, I do a little something.
- See, one thing I learned about y'all 'Canes, y'all be downplaying yourselves and then y'all jump on the stick.
And y'all be trying to give me some work.
- You know, we all humble, man. We consume a little bit, but we stay humble.
- [Laughing]
- Let’s see what you got.
- So we've had a lot of Hurricane greats on this show already.
You among the latest to join Untold Stories.
- Gotcha.
- Tell me about your recruitment process going to Miami.
- So, man, this is a story that probably 99 percent of the people in this world don't know about.
High school, you know, you have to qualify. GPA, the SAT, and all that.
My junior year,
took the SAT. Got my scores back.
Had a nice GPA around a 2.9 through, like, a 3.2.
Pretty much I ain't have to worry about school.
At the time, I had a college coach
that was really, really stressing me out. You know what I mean, trying to recruit me.
- What does stressing you out mean.
- He was just calling me every day.
Seeing how I was doing, what was my decision, what was my decision?
And it got to the point where it looked like his job was on the line
if he didn't get me.
I wanted to be honest with him, like, Coach, listen, man.
I respect you. I'm committing to Miami."
He was like, "Listen.
You don't come here,
I promise you, you ain't gonna to play a down of football."
So I'm like, "Huh?"
- Wait, what?
- So I put one on. I said, "Man, you trippin'." I hung up on him.
He started blowing my phone up.
My mom ended up answering the phone one time. And she kinda went off on him, like, "Listen.
Respect my son's decision. We're not coming."
We get checked in the dorms.
As I'm walking out the door,
one of the deans,
he was like, "We need you to come down to the facility. There's an incident that popped up."
They got a call in from another college.
- Mmm.
- And some other phone calls
saying that, "They overlooked your SAT scores.
They said that your answers matched another person's answers that was sitting beside you.”
What really made me so upset,
I said, "Well, what did that person score?"
He said "880."
I said, "What did I score?"
A 950.
So who's cheating on whose paper then?
They couldn't prove it.
All they said was
another college and some other unknown phone number calling, questioning.
And he said “Devin,
it don't look like you're gonna be playing this year."
So I'm like, "What?"
- Wow.
- So he was like, "There's nothing we can do.
We're going to continue to fight this, but as of right now, you ain't eligible."
- I get back home. My mom know the situation.
So I pull up in the driveway,
And they just boohoo crying.
You know what I mean? And it hurts me to this day. I hate talking about it.
When I walk in my house, man, it's like my life's over.
I go in my room.
I shut the door.
I probably was in the room for, like, two months straight.
- When you're back home, you say you didn't leave the crib.
- Yeah.
- And the level of embarrassment that you felt.
Did you feel a level of depression as well?
- It was just like I let everybody down.
Everybody that was rooting for me:
my teammates, my coaches, my mom, my family.
Everything they sacrificed for me to get to that stage and to get it taken away.
Just like a person that goes to prison that's innocent.
And then to sit out a whole year.
Miami didn't wanna take that risk allowing me to play
and then it come back up four, five weeks later
and them play four, five games and now that whole season erased.
- Did you watch Miami games at all?
- I ain't watch no football.
I was at the low point of my life where
I started going back to my high school, helping them out.
That's how bad it was.
The coach at that time was like, "Listen, man, I know
your situation. But listen. We do need a person like you to come in and give us some good work."
I was like, "Cool, man.
Let me know what what time y'all need me there."
I went back and I practiced with those guys,
and I was on the scout team. And I made those guys better.
- How did that season play out for Miami?
- They ended up going to the national championship.
- So if you would've played,
and then the NCAA would have declared you ineligible,
what would have happened to that season?
- I think it would erase their games. So now they would've been bowl-ineligible.
- Let me get this shot in real quick.
- What really kept me motivated, bro, was
Miami stayed by me the whole time.
Coach Coker, I tip my hat out to him. I'm like, "Listen,
I had No 4.
Jersey No 4." I was like, "Listen,
show me here honestly that you're going to stick with me no matter what and keep my jersey number.”
Coach Coker won't let nobody wear No 4, so he put this No 4 up.
"This No 4, like, it's retired till you get here."
To make a long story short, man, I sat out a whole year for nothing.
- What explanation they give you?
- It wasn't none.
They say, "You eligible now. You can come back and play."
So I had to sit out a whole year for no reason.
That following year, man,
they called me.
They said, "Everything been cleared.
You can come play now."
- If you could talk to that coach right now
about the experience that you went through,
what would you tell that coach?
- Face to face, "Was it really you?"
Was it you
or was it any of these other colleges that I've turned down?
It's nothing you can do now. My career is set in stone now. There's nothing you can take away from me.
But holding me out a year, if it really was you, let me know.
Like, I can swallow that pill.
You're a coward for that. I don't respect you as a man."
- Go ahead and let you shoot, man.
- So coming off that year, you're still in Miami.
- Yeah.
You're back on track.
- Mmhmm.
- Back in college football.
- Gotchu.
- What's going on in your mindset as you're trying to get back in the flow?
- I told my coach and I told all my close friends and my family members, I said, "Listen here, man.
I don't care who we play.
But the first time I get the ball in the Orange Bowl, I'm taking it to the house."
We on the sideline coming up the tunnel, and I told my strength coach, I said, "Listen here.
If they kick it to me, I'm coming up out my helmet”
And I want that person who did that to look me in my face
when I'm crossing that end zone.
I'm running through everybody.
Full speed straight down the sideline. I cut it up.
Sean Taylor led the block.
- Rest in peace, Sean Taylor.
- Led me through the hole, man,
About the 5-yard line.
I'm switching the ball. I'm coming out my chin straps.
Touchdown against Florida Gators.
As soon as I cross the end zone, I'm flicking it off. I'm right in front of the camera like, "Yeah,
I hope you see me."
- [Laughing]
- I hope he sees you now too.
- I hope he sees me, man. You know what I mean?
- I really thought I was about to win this shit, man.