Derek Stingley Jr. had a hell of a collegiate career. He’s been a top prospect going back as far as the 9th grade. He began playing Varsity at Dunham High in Baton Rouge as a 13-year-old 8th grader. He fit in immediately and was embraced by his teammates. He eventually got his first offer at 14, and wouldn’t you know it? It was the school right around the corner from his house that came calling and it didn’t take Derek long to figure out that he could accomplish all of his dreams while staying close to home. Derek didn’t even know his own worth as a recruit when he decided to stay home.
‘When I got the offer from LSU, it made me feel like I can do this for real at the next level,” Derek said. “When the other offers started rolling in, then I realized it was a big deal.”
But it wasn’t just the opportunity to have his family and friends at every home game that appealed to him, it was also the opportunity to serve the very community in which he grew up and was so pivotal to his own success. This is best exemplified in a story that goes back to his early recruiting days. It’s a story told by his Athletic Director and Head Coach at Dunham, Neil Weiner.
“He spoke to a group of youth football players that we had at a camp here and they asked him ‘why aren’t you going to Alabama? Alabama was #1 at the time.’ He immediately said, ‘I want to be able to play in front of y’all.’ For him to have that on his heart immediately, I thought that was a special thing,” said Weiner.
Of course, Stingly did just that and more. He ended up being a very critical component of LSU’s 2019 National Championship Team with fellow top picks Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. But Stingley did something nobody had ever done before and that’s become an AP All-American in the SEC which had never been done by a freshman cornerback. Stingley did it and did it so well that he barely ever saw the ball thrown his way. His freshman campaign, teams did what they’d normally do and went after him game-in and game-out, 97 times in all his freshman season. The next year? Quarterbacks only tested him 30 times on the season.
But he wasn’t just making waves on the field, Stingley also got involved with the tattoo industry. One of his sponsors, Mad Rabbit, did a documentary on the player (Link: You can watch that for free here) prior to the Draft. Derek collects tattoos, something I know a little about, and his dad has even been involved in the designing of his tattoos. They put a couple tattoos together to signify their journey together and what this process means.
Derek has a tattoo of two clown faces on his right bicep, done as a personal rallying cry in overcoming adversity. According to his father Derek Stingley Sr., who had the idea, they stand for “Laugh now. Cry later. Laugh at me now, but you’re going to cry later.” Another tattoo that Stingley sports is “10/90.” Meaning that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent of how you react to it.
Getting drafted No. 3 is a huge deal for Stingley who says he has yet to touch base with his new team the Houston Texans, but he plans to get in there immediately and get to work. He knows the landscape around Houston is much different than in years past but he can only control what he can control and that’s the work he has to do to be ready for NFL Week One. As Derek Stingley Sr. would likely say “getting drafted is only 10% of this next process, the next 90% depend on how Derek reacts to his new home and role”
Kane Webb covers sports and entertainment for BSO. He covers USC Trojan Football for Athlon Sports and Marvel Comics for The Marvel Report. His work has been featured in the Bakersfield Californian, Wisconsin State-Journal, Rivals, Scout, NBC College Football Talk, and the Dan Patrick Show. You can follow him on Twitter: @FightOnTwist