WACO, TX – We begin in a lecture hall on the campus of Baylor University, where the new quarterback found himself in a strange environment not long ago. In a class, with other students. And no one knew or cared who he was.
They only saw DJ Lagway, only noticed his 6-4, 235-pound frame, because he was the late guy pushing through creaky doors announcing his arrival.
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Not the former 5-star, can’t-miss prospect trying to find the magic again. Not the budding superstar turned public face of the failure at Florida, unfairly burdened by injury circumstances out of his control.
So he shuffled to the only row with an available seat, in the middle of all that humanity, and squeezed into his new reality. His new life. All arms and legs and shoe-horned in with every other student, knees pressing against the row in front of him. Elbows tight to his side, chin to his chest.
And about as far away from an insular and depressing time in Gainesville, Fla. — geographically and metaphorically — as he could possibly be. Two years where he admits he made mistakes as the Gators’ high-priced quarterback and program savior, where the Florida staff made mistakes, too, and where significant injuries lobbed on top of it all quickly derailed development at a position where day-to-day growth is vital to survival.
“It was crazy,” Lagway said of his first class at Baylor, his first in a real classroom since high school. “But it was also kind of like, OK, this is how it’s supposed to be.”
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How it’s supposed be.
A fortunate choice of words, a fitting explanation of his time at Florida that began with carrying the weight of the one player who would — in no certain order — save the program and embattled coach Bill Napier’s job, win a Heisman Trophy or two, and win a championship at the school for the first time…
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