Replenish and retool. Another season of college football is in the books, and a new class of freshmen is ready to fill the void left behind by departing seniors. This carousel of players hopping on and off is perpetual. But there’s been a dynamic shift over time. The days of frail, cagey high schoolers stepping up to college are in the past. No more cautious, only courageous. The tide sure has turned. Speaking of the tide, one Alabama player has made a decision that shows a mental fortitude way beyond his years.

Players are synonymous with their jersey numbers. It becomes an identity, and certain numbers carry special weight. They’re never hollow, either. The digits are woven in not only with threads and needles but with emotions. The stories behind why athletes pick specific numbers are almost always remarkable. Maybe homage to a favorite player, superstition, or historic lineage. Not all emotions are positive, though, and not all stories are fairy tales. Reasons for picking a number can also stem from adversity. But using that adversity as a reminder to propel your career forward is profound. That’s what one of Kalen DeBoer’s freshman wide receivers is doing.

It’s a morbid yet true symmetry, but people who’ve lost family members at a very young age are likely to be more successful. It’s the fuel that no one wants, but it does possess the power to drive you to the next level. Especially athletes who are wired a little differently anyway. 4-star Derek Meadows, Bama’s new #30, is a testament to this. 

Las Vegas-hailing Meadows lost his brother in an excruciating accident and will wear the number in honor of him. Alabama insider Mick Gillipsie narrated the details behind why a recruit of Meadows’ ilk picked an unusual number, such as 30, over his “Bama Tailgate” YouTube channel. One you’d usually expect to see on a walk-on of some sort.

Derek Meadows lost his elder brother, Devin Meadows, to a car accident in 2012. Devin was merely 15 and a high school sophomore. Derek, at the time, was 6. Devin Meadows was a passenger in a car being driven by a fellow teenager when this unfortunate tryst with fate occurred in Aurora, Illinois. He wore #30 himself for his high school, so Derek continued on as a show of love. He opened up about the value of his deceased brother and the number 30 to him. Fair warning: it gets really emotional. 

Derek Meadows opens up about brother’s impact on his life

Derek Meadows spoke about Devin and the jersey number with fellow Bama WR Germie Bernard. “30 means a lot to me… I just wear No. 30 to carry on his legacy and just keep it going. I’m doing it for him. That’s why I play football because I know he loved the game and he’d been someone special. I know that for sure. I just do it to carry on his legacy,” said Derek Meadows. Powerful. This is the poise and mindset of someone headed for big things in his career. Meadows even elaborated on how he quite literally plays football because of his brother.

Meadows explicitly told Germie Bernard, “What led me to start playing football was my brother.” Derek stated how he was “a big track guy growing up” and only began playing football at 8, a couple of years after Devin’s passing. “Football wasn’t really in my vocab…Just watching [Devin] play — I wanted to be just like him,” said Derek Meadows. He’s come a long way from picking a pigskin up to now being at a blueblood program.

Bama has a fabled history of developing receivers that can be successful on the collegiate level as well as ascend to the NFL. Julio Jones himself turned heads when he chose to wear #8 back when receivers hardly ever wore single-digits. The reasons may not have been as strong as the one for Derek Meadows, though. He’ll just hope to follow in the footsteps of Julio Jones or DeVonta Smith and make his brother proud. Something about the trajectory of his life so far tells you he will.