Tyson Lee set his alarm for 2 a.m.



This was spring 2009. Coaches and trainers had warned the Mississippi State quarterback and everyone else on the team during practice of a safety issue in the searing Mississippi sun. If a player lost a certain amount of weight that day, he wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the next day’s scrimmage. Lee had shed pounds, too many not to take action.



That’s why, later that evening, Lee made two heavily smeared peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches and placed them in the refrigerator. When he awoke at 2 a.m., he gobbled both and chased them with a tall glass of milk. He went back to sleep. Hours later, Lee woke up again, this time for good, and ate breakfast.



“I wasn’t hungry,” Lee said, “but I had to do it.”



Lee made weight. He was able to play in the next morning’s scrimmage. The former walk-on’s standing in a fierce competition for the starting quarterback...