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2016 3* S Marlon Character


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AU leads

https://auburn.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1785286

Auburn leads for Rivals250 safety Marlon Character and the four-star from Grady in Atlanta could be closing in on a commitment. Character, ranked the No. 12 safety in 2016, declared Auburn his leader following a half-day visit on Tuesday. Character was joined on the visit by his longtime girlfriend, Morgan Pass.

"Auburn is standing out," Character said. "They are pushing me for a commitment right now and I can see it happening sometime soon. I just want to talk to my dad and my family because my dad hasn't ever been able to come down here."

Neither had Pass until Tuesday.

Character and Pass plan to continue their relationship at the same college.

"We've been together for a while and plan on going to the same school," Character said. "She really liked Auburn, too. She wanted to come and see about the academics.

"She had researched the school and knew a lot about it, and actually told me a lot that I needed to know. She also liked the medical facilities because she wants to be a doctor."

Character met with several of Auburn's coaches during his visit, including secondary coach Travaris Robinson. The coaching staff is a big reason Character has the Tigers at the top.

"I have talked to the whole coaching staff and have a great relationship with them," Character said. "Me and Coach Gus Malzahn have a great relationship. I talk to him a lot. I have great relationships with the coaches.

"Coach T-Rob was with me today most of the time. He's a great coach. I can learn a lot from him. Coach (Will) Muschamp, I talk to him a lot, too. He's a great coach."

Character, who stands six feel tall and weighs 175 pounds, has plans to visit South Carolina this weekend, but those plans could get scrapped.

"I was going to wait and commit until I visited South Carolina, but it depends on how it goes when I talk to my family," Character said. "I can see myself coming to Auburn to play football."

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Seems like a good idea at the time, but he's going to regret having his HS gf attached at his hip while he's a big man on campus!

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marlon-character-by-michael-carvelldsc_0790.jpg?w=640&h=487

DB Marlon Character nearly committed to Auburn this week (AJC/Michael Carvell)

Before every football game at Grady High School, Marlon Character Jr., a 4-star defensive back who nearly committed to Auburn this week, finds himself revisiting the same game film over and over and over again. It’s footage of an all-too-familiar football player, one he grew up playing tee-ball with at Ben Hill Park on the west side of Atlanta as a three-year-old.

How could that kid be so smooth and so quick, Character wonders as he watches him.

His childhood buddy was De’Antre Turman, and together the two were inseparable. They played Pop Warner football side-by-side for eight years, ran track together and — at one point, even lived together.

deantre_turman.jpg?w=640

Turman (247sports)

Even as kids, Character selflessly admits, Turman was a superstar.

“He was my idol,” he said. Turman, who was a year older than Character, attended nearby Creekside High, where he starred at cornerback and by his junior season had received a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky.

“Everybody knew who he (De’Antre) was, and Marlon was just one of the kids that was fortunate enough to be close to him,” said his father, Marlon Character, Sr. On August 16, 2013, however, everything changed during a Creekside scrimmage at Banneker High School in College Park.“I was supposed to go with my friend after school,” Character recalls, “but I wasn’t going to be able to make it because I didn’t have a ride.”When he arrived home that afternoon, he took a nap only to be awakened by his sister, Chelsea, urging him that they had to head to the hospital.De’Antre had been injured. “I’m thinking, ‘Maybe it’s a small injury, maybe it’s not that serious,’” Character said. “You would never think it’s that serious.”

A crowd of people were huddled in front of the entrance way of Grady Memorial Hospital with dozens more praying inside as Character, along with his sister and father, Marlon Character, Sr., pulled in. It couldn’t have been a more sobering moment for the then-15-year-old.“I already knew what it was,” Character said. “I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew what it was.”

Turman died later that evening as a result of a broken vertebrae in his neck dueto blunt force trauma following what appeared to be a routine tackle. He was just 16.“It was hard at first,” Character recalls. “My family was telling me I shouldn’t play football, it’s too dangerous. My friends were hanging it up.” He never wavered. After several weeks, he began training again with Turman’s legacy in mind and the words ‘True Love” tattooed across his arm.

“I can’t even put into words how it’s motivated not only him, but an entire group of kids,” said Character, Sr.

“It took him a minute for him to wrap his mind around it.” Character reunited with his position coach Glenn Ford, Jr., a former defensive back for UGA in the mid-90s, and began to train with even more purpose. So much, Ford says, that he could backpedal effortlessly in his sleep.

Ford, who at one time trained both players together, was around long enough to know just how much Character idolized Turman. “A lot of us might put the television on and Joe Montana might be our guy, or Deion Sanders,” said Ford.

“But to Marlon, it’s Tre-Tre.”

marlon-character-by-michael-carvelldsc_0851.jpg?w=400&h=341

Marlon Character (AJC)

In the two years since, Character has trained three times a week every week, refining and improving everything and anything. Not surprisingly, the speedy defensive back has yielded offers from around 20 schools, including Auburn, Alabama, UGA, Ohio State, and South Carolina.

And it would appear Character could be reaching a decision soon on where he wants to play college ball. The 2016 prospect told the AJC that Auburn is now his frontrunner, following an unofficial visit he took Wednesday, with South Carolina trailing behind.

Why Auburn? Character says the coaching staff discussed moving him to free safety to fill the void that will be left behind at the conclusion of next season.

“Coach Malzahn was very interested and excited just to get me down there and commit,” Character said. “He said, ‘Whenever you’re ready to commit. We want you. We need you.’”

The 6-foot, 170-pound Character says “he felt like committing to Auburn” during his visit. However, he wanted to keep his word and take his visit to South Carolina this weekend before making a final decision.

He will also consider taking an official visit to his No. 3 school, Virginia Tech, at a later date.

However, there is no questioning the impact Auburn made.

“I feel like I’ve been there (Auburn) the most out of all the schools,” Character said. “They’ve really grown on me, and if I go back I’ll probably commit.”

Although another visit to Auburn has yet to be determined, Character concedes that there is a good chance he could make a decision between the two schools soon after he returns from South Carolina this weekend.

But wherever he chooses to go, Character says, he will always maintain that enduring motivation.

“Losing De’Antre to football made me even hungrier as far as stepping on the field and giving it my all, and not just for him, but everyone that’s not able to do it.”

— Chuck Kingsbury, Special for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Great story. This kid has some heart and his last name is not an irony. Sounds like he is ready to commit to Auburn after the USCe visit.

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Jeff, thanks for posting the article. Very nice. Hope he commits to the good guys soon.

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Commits to South Carolina today. Link in ajc or on Twitter

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The 6-foot, 170-pound Character says “he felt like committing to Auburn” during his visit.

to

Commits to South Carolina today.

WTF

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The 6-foot, 170-pound Character says “he felt like committing to Auburn” during his visit.

to

Commits to South Carolina today.

WTF

Sounds like not a take to me. That's still a wow.

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The 6-foot, 170-pound Character says “he felt like committing to Auburn” during his visit.

to

Commits to South Carolina today.

WTF

Sounds like not a take to me. That's still a wow.

My guess as well.
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From Keith Link

Did he have committable Auburn offer? I can't answer that.

As I reported a few days ago, the Tigers staff had gone back and forth on him. Not sure what the final verdict was.

meaning back and forth on whether to take him or not.
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Wonder why our staff would not consider this young man a "take"? That's crazy.......

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“Coach Malzahn was very interested and excited just to get me down there and commit,” Character said. “He said, ‘Whenever you’re ready to commit. We want you. We need you.’”

This is what the kid told AJC yesterday, E. It hasn't even been a week since that last big discussion of ours. Just want to remind you of that.

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“Coach Malzahn was very interested and excited just to get me down there and commit,” Character said. “He said, ‘Whenever you’re ready to commit. We want you. We need you.’”

This is what the kid told AJC yesterday, E. It hasn't even been a week since that last big discussion of ours. Just want to remind you of that.

recruiting is funny. You can't take everything said by recruits literally. Also. Boom may have changed his mind since that quote if the quote was reality.
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Judging by everything we've heard up until his announcement, we wanted him to commit to Auburn. Saying he wasn't a take without some strong verification sounds like nothing but sour grapes.

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Judging by everything we've heard up until his announcement, we wanted him to commit to Auburn. Saying he wasn't a take without some strong verification sounds like nothing but sour grapes.

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