Javon Kinlaw and Raequan Williams know what it means to suffer.
So when teams come calling on Thursday in the NFL Draft with all the trappings of the world’s richest sports league, it will be met with measured joy not senseless celebration.
Kinlaw, a 6ft 5in, 23st behemoth who can run the 40-yard dash in five seconds, survived homelessness, sleeping on trains and stealing food to emerge as one of the top prospects for pro teams.
And while the 6ft 4in, 22st Williams may not be ranked as highly as projected first-round stud Kinlaw, the youngster struggled through the personal devastation of his cousin and brother both being murdered inside two years to get where he is today - a step away from being an NFL player.
The annual extravaganza that sees around 250 college players selected as the future stars of American football will have a different look this year.
Instead of a glitzy bash in Las Vegas, it will mirror the rest of the world during these Covid-19 times and take place by video link from cities across America.
For Kinlaw and Williams, the destination makes no difference. Their respective journeys are the badges of honour they wear with pride - an NFL contract simply validation of the tough roads they have travelled.
Kinlaw came from a poor broken home, shuttled between parents in Washington DC and South Carolina. Life with his financially-struggling mother was tough, as it was with a violent father fuelled by alcohol.
Kinlaw revealed: “Not having electricity, not having heat, it all developed me into what I’ve become: a hard-nosed kid. I’d stop at CVS [pharmacy], steal me a couple snacks, put them in my duffle bag, and just keep riding.
“The train was warm, and if there was no electricity in the house and my toes were frozen, I’d just stay on the train. Seven or eight in the morning until 3:15.”
As a 15-year-old, Kinlaw often found himself on the streets, missing a lot of school or causing too much trouble on the days he did attend.
Having finally found friends who could help, Kinlaw straightened out his life and starred as a defensive tackle at the University of South Carolina.
When the NFL crosses his palm with a lot of silver, he intends to help the homeless, with whom he still feels such affinity, by building shelters as a starting point of what he calls “big plans”.
Kinlaw said: “Homeless people come up to me all the time, and I don’t know why they pick me. There can be 1,000 other people walking by who they could ask for help, and they always walk up on me. It’s like, somehow, they know where I’ve been.”
Williams, whose mother LaTasha gave birth to him at 14, was raised in a tough west side Chicago neighbourhood but also found people who helped him find a way to get through life, where he starred, also as a defensive end, at Michigan State University. He has the same urge as Kinlaw to give back.
Williams noted: “A lot of people have put in the time to help me be the guy I am. Those people helped me so I feel I should help others.”
And the granite-like resilience of the two young men on the cusp of fame and fortune is best summed up by Williams when he reflects on what he has had to do reach this point in life.
He said: “When you go through the things I have, you feel unbeatable. Nothing can defeat me.
“There are people that I thought I’d never lose that are gone now. But when you get through something like that, you feel like you can’t lose in life.”
