Kinlaw: South Carolina 'was always there'

In the lucrative business that is college football, it’s often easy to forget that life is about more than sport. That is, until a player comes along with a story too inspiring to ignore, especially when that player is a future first round pick.

Javon Kinlaw’s play speaks for itself. An All-American defensive tackle, Kinlaw put up big numbers, racking up six sacks and 35 tackles as a senior, flying up draft boards in the process.

But as good as Kinlaw has been on the field, it’s his journey off the field that has captured the scouts’ attention at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

“We went without electricity, no water, things like that,” Kinlaw said of his upbringing, saying he grew up “basically homeless.”

To his credit, Kinlaw has used his past experiences as motivation. After gaining weight at Junior College, Kinlaw weighed in at 350 pounds when he first stepped foot on South Carolina’s campus in the spring of 2017. He had to drop weight to get into playing shape and set out with a plan to do so.

“When I got there, I was overweight,” Kinlaw admitted. “[The nutrition staff] put a plan in place. Cut out all the fast foods and greasy foods and things like that and just stuck with a strict diet; cardio before practice, practice, cardio after practice. I would come back later on at night, ride the bike some do the elliptical, things like that. I really worked hard to get that weight off me, and I did it pretty fast, honestly.”

And lose weight he did. Kinlaw went from 350 to 310 pounds in a span of about three months, earning the team’s nutrition award and making an immediate on-field impact his sophomore season.

He kept the weight off, improving his quickness while maintaining his gargantuan strength, making him an obvious first-round talent. When he tests at the NFL Combine in February, he has a chance to break records in drills designed to measure burst and quickness, even claiming he could beat 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel in a 10-yard sprint. (That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it’d be closer than you’d expect.)

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Much of Kinlaw’s on and off-field success can be attributed to the support he received at South Carolina, something that is not lost on him.

“[South Carolina] was always there,” Kinlaw said. “That’s the one thing I take away from that. They were always there. They never left me out in the cold, I can definitely vouch for that.”

People need to hear Kinlaw’s story, which is why he’s at the Senior Bowl. Definite first-round picks don’t need to attend postseason showcases. Kinlaw feels like he does.

“That’s why I’m here, to tell my story … I’ve got everything to prove,” Kinlaw said. “I treat myself like I’m the guy still at the bottom. I set my goals so high this season and I don’t feel like I accomplished any of them this season. I set my goals really, really high. That’s just who I am. I have everything to prove."

Kinlaw may feel like he has more to show, but to NFL scouts, he’s a can’t-miss prospect, a prototypical 3-technique that can immediately bolster any defensive line in the NFL. Despite participating in just two practices before pulling out of the Senior Bowl with minor tendinitis in his knee, Kinlaw was voted MVP by his peers.

He’s been predicted to go as high as seventh overall to the Carolina Panthers, but has been linked to teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. He’s all but guaranteed to be South Carolina’s first first-round pick since Hayden Hurst went 26th overall in 2018.

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Wherever he ends up, he’s just months away from changing his family’s fortunes. That pay day won’t change the goofy and honest Kinlaw, though.

“I’m still gonna be the same guy,” Kinlaw said. “Money’s not gonna change me, it’s not gonna define me. It’s gonna be there, but I plan to give more than I plan to do for my own self, that’s just how I am. I don’t really care about the money that much, because I know I’ve gone a long time without having, so it won’t really change who I am, I don’t think so. It shouldn’t.”

Players say things like that fairly often, but with Kinlaw it feels like it’s as true as if it had already happened. Fellow senior D.J. Wonnum basically said as much when he spoke of Kinlaw’s character and maturity.

Also See: D.J. Wonnum reflects on career

“Having [Kinlaw] as a brother on the field and off the field is a great feeling,” Wonnum said. “Seeing him mature from day one to what he is now is day and night. Playing beside him was great.”

Kinlaw turned heads both on and off the field as a senior, and while his past is an intriguing story, it’s his future that excites fans and scouts alike. When he walks across the stage in Las Vegas on April 23, more people will be aware of his journey. That moment will be one worth celebrating.

Watch the entire interview below.