Utah's Mack running with a purpose

November 1, 2007

Salt Lake City, UT (CSTV U-WIRE) -- If anybody has a reason to escape his past, it's Darrell Mack.

The junior running back has been through more than most people can imagine.

Mack doesn't shy away from his past or hide what he's been through though. Instead, he embraces it and uses it as fuel every time he goes out onto the football field.

It wasn't always that way.

Growing up in a rough part of San Diego, the self-described problem child didn't have too many places to turn to vent his emotions.

For a boy who was without a parental figure at the young age of 7, that can be pretty tough to deal with. Mack's father was sent to prison and, in an unrelated incident, his mother was shot.

The foster care service wouldn't even let Mack see or talk to his mom while she was lying in the hospital in a coma.

The gunshot wound proved to be fatal, and the tragedy sent Mack into a state of near shock.

"I just shut myself down," he said. "I didn't talk to anybody for about a month."

When Mack got back around to communicating, he was living with his grandparents. There, Mack learned the true definition of work.

His grandmother, Fairleigh Moore, gave Mack and his three siblings plenty of house and yardwork to teach them discipline. Like any other child or teenager, Mack wasn't entirely thrilled about the work and would sometimes distract himself with PVC-pipe sword fights with his brothers. In the end though, Mack was almost always the first one done with his chores.

"I hated it at the time, but (my grandparents) kept talking about how it builds character and I never really knew what it meant," Mack said. "It's easy to see now that they were just trying to teach me some self-discipline."

Moore insists, however, that her grandson had always been a well-behaved kid and that he just needed a little guidance in his life.

Still, Mack carried with him the heavy weight of a burdened past and nothing seemed to help him forget about it.

Mack finally found a release for all of his childhood tragedies and frustrations in seventh grade when he picked up football. The youngster immediately took a liking to the violent sport, looking at it as an escape.

"When I was younger, I felt like I could just run away from all of my problems," Mack said. "As long as I kept running, it felt like I was leaving all that behind me."

Mack wasn't exactly in a position to run away from anything in his first few years of competitive ball. His Pop Warner and freshman coaches thought Mack's formidable size would be better suited on the offensive line, so they stuck him at center. Mack disagreed with his coaches, but kept his mouth shut and played through it.

Early in Mack's sophomore year at Monte Vista High School, the Mighty Monarchs' junior varsity starting running back went down with an injury. The void left the door open for Mack, who never looked back.

The Spring Valley, Calif., native became somewhat of a Monarch legend in the next two seasons, piling up yards and touchdowns as if they were being handed out for free.

It wasn't long before Mack piqued the interest of a number of big-time programs around the Western region, including teams from the Pac-10, WAC and MWC.

But an injury during his senior year scared many of the big-name programs away and Mack was left to choose from a few schools who still wanted him.

"It came down to a few WAC schools and Utah, but I told them all 'No' because I was too stubborn," Mack said. "That was just stupid of me, but Utah kept showing interest, so I decided to come here."

Still, the hardships didn't stop after Mack decided on coming to the U. He struggled through his freshman and sophomore seasons, getting little chance to prove himself while watching others in front of him fail.

At one point, Mack got so frustrated that he considered quitting the team. In that fleeting moment, he turned to the figure who had taught him more about life than anybody else -- his grandmother.

"We've always taught him that once he starts something, he better finish it, so that's exactly what I told him," Moore said. "After (last season), I talked with him about it and he was absolutely sure he still wanted to play."

Mack came into this season behind senior Darryl Poston and juniors Ray Stowers and Matt Asiata for the starting running back position. Despite playing well in fall camp, the Utah coaching staff decided it would be best for the team if Mack used his redshirt this year.

Mack complied, but when Asiata went down with a broken leg in the opening game of the season, he found his way back onto the roster.

It didn't take the junior long to stake his claim to the starting running back slot, nor did it take him long to prove himself as the best running back in the Mountain West Conference.

Mack's style of running has been coined as being both "vicious" and "mean" by his teammates. Utah offensive tackle Dustin Hensel said that when Mack hits people, they "tend to get out of the way."

Opponents would likely agree with the claims. They are also probably wondering why Mack looks so angry when he's running at them with a full head of steam.

"What happened to me while I was younger still lingers around me," Mack said. "It still hurts. I always feel like I'm playing for my mom and my dad because they're not here. I try to think about that when I'm running and I just go hard."

Armed with that kind of motivation, Mack isn't likely to be stopped anytime soon.

(C) 2007 Daily Utah Chronicle via CSTV U-WIRE