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Interviewed on: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 Steve Martin: Hi David. Is this a good time? David Darby: Sure. SM: OK. I just finished reading up about you on the school website and they have you down as 6'0" and 200 pounds. Are those still accurate? DD: Yes. The NFL people measured me at our junior day at 6 foot and one-sixteenth, and I am about 204 right now. SM: OK. I remember your father's name and I see he played for the Eagles and Colts, but what position was he...I forget... DD: He was an OLB at USC but he played defensive end in the NFL. SM: What is your mom's name? DD: Lorna Darby. SM: What does your dad and mom do now? DD: My dad is managing a local bar right now and my mom is the CFO of the local church. SM: I see you also have two brothers. What are their names? DD: My older brother is Byron and my younger brother is Tyler. I also have a sister named Brittany. SM: How old is Byron? DD: He's 23. SM: Is he in school, or...? DD: He just finished and associate's degree and he is planning to go to either Rowan or Rutgers this Fall and get a Bachelor's in computer science. SM: How old is Tyler? DD: He's 10. SM: ...and Brittany? DD: 16. She is a sophomore at Washington Township (HS). SM: Does either of your brothers play any sports? DD: Tyler does. He's into a lot..especially basketball and football. SM: How old were you when you first started playing? What kind of a league was it? DD: My dad didn't want me to start too early so I really didn't start playing until I was about 10 or 12, or so. SM: Was it a Pop Warner league? DD: Yes. SM: What positions did you play that very first year, David? DD: I was a runningback, and on defense I played sort of a monsterback position. SM: How long did you play in that league? DD: I played four or five years. We didn't have junior high ball down here so I played all the way up until my sophomore year of high school. SM: How big a school is Washington Township? DD: It's real big. There will be about 1000 in my sister's graduating class, and there were about 800 in mine. That is Group Four football--the largest classification in New Jersey. SM: So, when you were a sophomore did you play JV or varsity? DD: I started on the JV team as a runningback and safety. I would have played varsity that next year but I suffered a high ankle sprain in the camp before my junior year and I missed a few games. When I came back, my position on varsity had been taken, so I played JV again. SM: Wow. That means when you broke out your senior year and got yourself named all-New Jersey, add Group IV, all-county, all-conference, you did that all basically in one year of varsity football? DD: That's right. I came back before my senior year with a pretty big chip on my shoulder... SM: I can imagine. Sure sounds like you made the most of it too...19 tackles per game, that's unreal! DD: That was what I wanted to do...make my senior year special. At our school safeties could pretty much do anything. I was allowed to come up to the line and make tackles, so I did that a lot. SM: I see you were recruited by Rutgers, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and JMU besides Hofstra. Was Rutgers pursuing you hard? DD: They did for quite awhile. I was getting a call from them almost every week. But, in the end they told me they could only offer me a partial scholarship, and I really needed the full scholarship. SM: What schools did you visit? DD: Just Rhode Island and Hofstra. I signed with Hofstra during my campus visit, and I signed quite a bit earlier, because they offered me, it was closer to home and I really like what I had been hearing about their finance program. SM: I am impressed by the fact that you have gotten more playing time and been more and more productive every year while you have been at Hofstra. Were you second or third on the team in tackles, or....and....What kind of secondary scheme do you guys use? DD: I was second. We use two schemes our "big package" where we bring in an extra linebacker, allowing the safety to play free and a "regular package" with our base 4-3 defense and 4 DBs. SM: Have you played more strong safety or more free safety while at Hofstra? DD: I played a lot of both free and strong my sophomore year, and I played mostly strong this past year. I think I will play free and strong this year. SM: Do you guys have some pretty solid DBs coming bacK? DD: Yes. We have quite a few guys who got into our rotation last year, so a lot of guys have experience. Kyle Arrington will be starting at one corner and DeWayne Whittaker is coming back off an injury and should start at the other corner. Emmanuel Anderson is back at the other safety and Stephen Tate will come in and fill out the rotation so we should be really solid. SM: Do you have returning starters at linebacker and d-line too? DD: Oh yea. We are going to be very tough. SM: And your offense should be tough too...you guys may have the best QB in the Atlantic 10. DD: Yea, Anton (Clarkson)...he's special. SM: What are some of the unique strengths of your game, David? DD: I would say just knowing the game. I do a lot of film study to prepare for each game. SM: Would you describe yourself as a form tackler or a knockout kind of tackler. DD: I am a form tackler when it needs to be asure thing. For example, when I am the only one back deep I will not go for the knockout tackle because if I miss there's no one else. But I can make the big hit too in the right situations when I know I've got help around me. I will go for the knockout only if it's there. SM: Do you make any of the defensive calls? DD: Yes. I make the calls. SM: For the secondary or the whole defense? DD: The safeties make the calls for the whole defense in our system. SM: Do you make them all yourself or do they come in from the bench? DD: It depends. There are a lot of variables... SM: What about something in your game that you are working to improve on, David? DD: Well, I guess everyone should always be improving...(pause)....My cover skills maybe... SM: Do the coaches ever tell you to do more of this, or less of that? DD: Not really. They just stress being a leader out there. They really stress leadership with me. SM: How important is football to you overall, David? DD: Wow. I mean...I always have wanted to make it to the next level and all, especially since my dad did and all. ...It's real important to me. SM: Are you the kind of guy who likes to set personal goals before the season, or... DD: No. I just want to always work as hard as I can. I know if I do that, there is no limit to what I might achieve. SM: Has the team set any goals for next year? DD: Win the conference...just win all the games we are supposed to win...Last year that didn't happen, and we got beat a couple times when we shouldn't have. SM: I see that you won academic awards both in high school and in college. What is your GPA right now, and are you still a finance major? DD: My GPA is right at 3.2...Yes, still finance, with a math minor. SM: Man, that is so impressive that you can obtain those kinds of grades doing everything you have to do with football and all. Congratulations, David. That is just truly outstanding. DD: Thank you. SM: So what is your backup plan if football doesn't work out for you? DD: Investment banking. I have some friends that work for Goldman Sachs, so I am pretty hopeful that I could get in there. SM: Wow...can't start much higher than Goldman Sachs. Would you be working in Manhattan then? DD: Yes. I'd love to work in New York. SM: Well, it's been great getting to know you man. Thanks a lot for your time. DD: Thank you. I appreciate it. |