Whenever possible, Bruce Irvin watches film of 3-4 defenses. Orlando is his training site. Notebook in hand, the West Virginia defensive end molds himself into an outside linebacker.
This day, Irvin is stalking Clay Matthews in the Green Bay Packers game against the Denver Broncos. He notes Matthews' every move. His jolt off the edge. His relentlessness. His fly-swatter sudden impact.
Beyond all this, Irvin appreciates where Matthews came from.
"As a person, he had to walk on to USC and work his way up," Irvin said. "We had, almost, similar situations."
Emphasis on "almost." The 6-2, 245-pounder is sure to catch himself. He knows better. He knows he can't skim over one minor detail here. Irvin, who grew up in Atlanta, was a high-school dropout. He ditched school for an abyss of drug dealing and robbery, a world that could've devoured him forever.
On the field, Irvin is the first to say he's a work in progress. Sure, he tore through the Big East. In two seasons, Irvin finished with 29 tackles for loss and 22.5 sacks.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. But that was with his hand in the dirt. To catch the Packers' eye - and prove himself as a 3-4 OLB - next week's NFL Combine is crucial.
At Lucas Oil Stadium, Irvin's 4.4 speed will take center stage. After three years of street pickups and low draft picks, the pass rush-needy Packers may pick a new running mate for Matthews early in the draft and Irvin is a possibility. He doesn't hide from his past. It made him. And Irvin doesn't think he should slip past Green Bay.
"To be honest with you," Irvin said, "I don't think there are 32 players in the country who are better than me."
Irvin's decision to drop out of high school - at 18 years old - was easy. He didn't like the classes, for one. But he also was tired of seeing his mother, Bessie Lee, crying every night after working two jobs.
He'd quit school and sell drugs.
"You get tired of seeing that," Irvin said. "You want to make quick money and just try to help her. You don't care where it is. Being that I was young and dumb, I made mistakes."
So he dropped out and ran the streets. Every day, Irvin was on guard. Every day was "a question mark."
"You never know what tomorrow's going to hold," Irvin said. "You don't know if you're going to be locked up, if someone's going to rob you or if someone's going to get you back for stuff you did to them. There's a lot of confusion."
In short, there was no school, no football and barely flickering hope in Irvin's life.
Even after Irvin's mother moved in with his stepfather, he didn't change. "Ignorance," he said. In May 2007, Irvin spent three weeks in jail as a juvenile. When he came out, there was no welcome-home party. His mother and stepfather kicked him out of the house. For at least two months, Irvin bummed off friends.
A couch here for two weeks. A floor there for three weeks. A basement for a while.
"It made me a better person," Irvin said. "It made me realize to take life a little more serious. Life was way more important than getting quick cash and having fun."
And there is one distinct turning point. For some reason, Irvin had the sudden urge to take his General Education Development (GED) test and reboot a once-promising football career in November 2007. He moved out of one friend's house for good, the same house that harbored drugs.
Literally one day later, that house was raided by police. Irvin's friend was caught. He was free. On Nov. 14, 2007 - a day Irvin recites instantly - that friend called Irvin from jail.
"He said, 'Go to school. God got you out of that house for a reason. Go to school and don't look back,' " Irvin said. "I've never looked back since then."
In December, the GED results came in and he was off to junior college. Irvin first tried Butler Community College, transferred to Mt. San Antonio College and became one of the top out-of-nowhere recruits in the nation.
At West Virginia, he flourished.
The Mountaineers ran a 3-3-5 stack defense, he said, an alignment that doesn't necessarily highlight undersized defensive ends. Usually facing offensive linemen who were 20, 30, 40 pounds heavier, Irvin played the three-technique. Still, he found ways to wreak havoc. Irvin ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at his junior college combine, a full second faster than some linemen. His 14 sacks as a junior led the Big East.
Such speed and athleticism have eased Irvin's DE-to-LB transition. He's comfortable covering tight ends in the open field. But Irvin also says he has never been taught the nuances of pass rushing. His sacks were a product of natural ability, of hustle. The Mountaineers focused on stopping the run.
So that's the question. Can Irvin mold himself into a pro threat off the edge?
In Orlando, at ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Disney, he's speeding up the learning process. Several players - such as former DT Brentson Buckner and free agent DE Travis Johnson - are teaching Irvin proper technique. In the pros, they tell him, pure speed isn't enough.
The old lifestyle never seduced Irvin back. Upon going to college, Irvin completely changed his phone number three times and made all new friends. He swears he's a "homebody" now. One brother lived with him at West Virginia and still lives with him. Whenever the two get bored, they review more film.
"I never have an urge to go back to that old lifestyle,We offer custom plasticinjectionmoulding with full in-house tool making and tool maintenance." he said.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. "Never."
Still, many nights,Soma cubepuzzle Muscle Tissue Relaxants Before proselytizing any of the plans, Irvin lies in bed at night and visualizes his life at 18. The people he ran with. The drug dealing. The thin line between life and death. He's not trying to stir up bad memories. He's maintaining context, perspective.Soma cubepuzzle Muscle Tissue Relaxants Before proselytizing any of the plans,
This day, Irvin is stalking Clay Matthews in the Green Bay Packers game against the Denver Broncos. He notes Matthews' every move. His jolt off the edge. His relentlessness. His fly-swatter sudden impact.
Beyond all this, Irvin appreciates where Matthews came from.
"As a person, he had to walk on to USC and work his way up," Irvin said. "We had, almost, similar situations."
Emphasis on "almost." The 6-2, 245-pounder is sure to catch himself. He knows better. He knows he can't skim over one minor detail here. Irvin, who grew up in Atlanta, was a high-school dropout. He ditched school for an abyss of drug dealing and robbery, a world that could've devoured him forever.
On the field, Irvin is the first to say he's a work in progress. Sure, he tore through the Big East. In two seasons, Irvin finished with 29 tackles for loss and 22.5 sacks.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. But that was with his hand in the dirt. To catch the Packers' eye - and prove himself as a 3-4 OLB - next week's NFL Combine is crucial.
At Lucas Oil Stadium, Irvin's 4.4 speed will take center stage. After three years of street pickups and low draft picks, the pass rush-needy Packers may pick a new running mate for Matthews early in the draft and Irvin is a possibility. He doesn't hide from his past. It made him. And Irvin doesn't think he should slip past Green Bay.
"To be honest with you," Irvin said, "I don't think there are 32 players in the country who are better than me."
Irvin's decision to drop out of high school - at 18 years old - was easy. He didn't like the classes, for one. But he also was tired of seeing his mother, Bessie Lee, crying every night after working two jobs.
He'd quit school and sell drugs.
"You get tired of seeing that," Irvin said. "You want to make quick money and just try to help her. You don't care where it is. Being that I was young and dumb, I made mistakes."
So he dropped out and ran the streets. Every day, Irvin was on guard. Every day was "a question mark."
"You never know what tomorrow's going to hold," Irvin said. "You don't know if you're going to be locked up, if someone's going to rob you or if someone's going to get you back for stuff you did to them. There's a lot of confusion."
In short, there was no school, no football and barely flickering hope in Irvin's life.
Even after Irvin's mother moved in with his stepfather, he didn't change. "Ignorance," he said. In May 2007, Irvin spent three weeks in jail as a juvenile. When he came out, there was no welcome-home party. His mother and stepfather kicked him out of the house. For at least two months, Irvin bummed off friends.
A couch here for two weeks. A floor there for three weeks. A basement for a while.
"It made me a better person," Irvin said. "It made me realize to take life a little more serious. Life was way more important than getting quick cash and having fun."
And there is one distinct turning point. For some reason, Irvin had the sudden urge to take his General Education Development (GED) test and reboot a once-promising football career in November 2007. He moved out of one friend's house for good, the same house that harbored drugs.
Literally one day later, that house was raided by police. Irvin's friend was caught. He was free. On Nov. 14, 2007 - a day Irvin recites instantly - that friend called Irvin from jail.
"He said, 'Go to school. God got you out of that house for a reason. Go to school and don't look back,' " Irvin said. "I've never looked back since then."
In December, the GED results came in and he was off to junior college. Irvin first tried Butler Community College, transferred to Mt. San Antonio College and became one of the top out-of-nowhere recruits in the nation.
At West Virginia, he flourished.
The Mountaineers ran a 3-3-5 stack defense, he said, an alignment that doesn't necessarily highlight undersized defensive ends. Usually facing offensive linemen who were 20, 30, 40 pounds heavier, Irvin played the three-technique. Still, he found ways to wreak havoc. Irvin ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at his junior college combine, a full second faster than some linemen. His 14 sacks as a junior led the Big East.
Such speed and athleticism have eased Irvin's DE-to-LB transition. He's comfortable covering tight ends in the open field. But Irvin also says he has never been taught the nuances of pass rushing. His sacks were a product of natural ability, of hustle. The Mountaineers focused on stopping the run.
So that's the question. Can Irvin mold himself into a pro threat off the edge?
In Orlando, at ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Disney, he's speeding up the learning process. Several players - such as former DT Brentson Buckner and free agent DE Travis Johnson - are teaching Irvin proper technique. In the pros, they tell him, pure speed isn't enough.
The old lifestyle never seduced Irvin back. Upon going to college, Irvin completely changed his phone number three times and made all new friends. He swears he's a "homebody" now. One brother lived with him at West Virginia and still lives with him. Whenever the two get bored, they review more film.
"I never have an urge to go back to that old lifestyle,We offer custom plasticinjectionmoulding with full in-house tool making and tool maintenance." he said.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. "Never."
Still, many nights,Soma cubepuzzle Muscle Tissue Relaxants Before proselytizing any of the plans, Irvin lies in bed at night and visualizes his life at 18. The people he ran with. The drug dealing. The thin line between life and death. He's not trying to stir up bad memories. He's maintaining context, perspective.Soma cubepuzzle Muscle Tissue Relaxants Before proselytizing any of the plans,
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