The power of will
The story of James, a perpetual football underdog, reads like a passion play
The God that Arian Foster doesn’t believe in has saved Charles James.
The fight the Texans showed Saturday in Richmond, Va.? James has been punching back his whole football life. Who is James? Watch his forearm ricochet off his shoulder pads, trying to break through to his pumping heart, and let a 25-yearold man who always has been overlooked tell you with one fiery word. “Passion,” James said. “Passion.” It’s thick in the blood of the 5-9, 179-pound Texans cornerback. All those “Hard Knocks” cameras following every move the team makes are worthless if they don’t discover No. 31 before cut day.
No Texan can touch James’ training camp limbo story. Nobody can tell him he isn’t where he’s supposed to be.
“I done been through it all. I have no problem starting from the bottom,” said the third-year pro, whose name isn’t found on the team’s depth chart.
James didn’t grow up with his biological father. That’s where the similarities between him and his childhood hardluck pro brethren end.
“I always had my mom,” James said. “Love her to death.”
He also loved J.D. Hall. But when the Mandarin High School (Jacksonville,
Fla.) football coach was just believing in James as an athlete and young man, life took his mentor away. Hall died from a heart attack at 35.
“He showed me the ropes of how to become a better football player, become a better man,” James said. “I did not have my father figure.”
College football had no interest in James. There are lifetime millionaires who hold on to rejection letters and missed NFL draft spots, fueled by the cold memories of all those who overlooked them. Then there’s James, who exited Mandarin without a scholarship offer from any of the football-obsessed programs in the country.
“None. Not one,” said James, his eyes burning almost a decade later. A new lease on life
His answer? Try to walk on at little-known Charleston Southern, a small Christian liberal arts university along the South Carolina coastline. Taking out a personal loan for about $40,000, James “stalked” practices while wading through NCAA academic issues. He paid his own way to the Buccaneers’ lower-tier FCS games. Just as he was finding his way in Charleston, a rainy night in Jacksonville nearly ended his life.
James was riding around with friends and heading home when the car in which he was a passenger spun, jumped a curve and ran into a tree. His body flew toward the windshield, his head slammed into the dashboard and he blacked out. When James’ friends came to, his lifeless frame was found slumped outside the car.
“Normally what happens is, you die. You go through that window because you don’t have your seat belt on and you die,” James said. “They both thought I was dead from the get-go. But God was with me that day. … I’m blessed to still be here, man.”
Given new life at Charleston Southern, James never let go. He began as the seventh cornerback, running with the never-seen fours on the depth chart. His first start soon followed: Tim Tebow’s No. 1 Florida Gators on Sept. 5, 2009, in Gainesville. James’ fouryear college career ended with three All-Big South honors and the school record for interceptions.
“His faith has allowed him to believe he can overcome almost anything in his life,” said Hank Small, Charleston Southern’s athletic director. Living on the edge
Of course, James didn’t receive an NFL scouting combine invite and wasn’t drafted. He picked up with the New York Giants, then was cut during camp, signed to the practice squad and promoted to the roster for Week 5 of the 2013 season. James played in 12 games that year, mostly on special teams, and entered the 2014 campaign in the best physical and mental shape of his life. He made it to Aug. 26 before being cut.
For the first time in James’ life, he questioned whether he was meant to play football for a living.
“Alot of prayer and a lot of mental toughness,” said James, who’s paying off his student loan. “Because at that point, my mind was going every other way.”
Five weeks later, the Texans called. Bill O’Brien saw James’ heart. If he came to Houston for a practice-squad workout, he’d be given a fair shot.
“Charles is a very competitive kid,” O’Brien said. “He really wants it.”
Nearly a year later, James is fighting for his NFL life. The Texans are loaded at cornerback. Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph are locked-in starters. First-round pick Kevin Johnson has impressed. For everything James has lived through, he’s just another name in August, trying to go from one of 90 to the final 53.
“I don’t want to go through the process of getting cut again,” James said. “I want to make this team.” Must-see TV So much passion. James is what “Hard Knocks” should be shooting. He’s living proof of those who believe. He has made it this far. He’s not going away until the Texans stop calling his name.
“Until then, Charles James is going to keep fighting,” he said.