The glitz and glamour of the NFL draft behind her, Christine Barnett began settling back into her routine this week, returning to the same UPS warehouse that she has toiled in for the past 23 years.

She had taken some time off to join her son, Derek, in Philadelphia for the draft. Walked the red carpet with him down the historic museum steps. Sat with him as he was selected 14th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. Watched from a couple rows back as he met with the local media for the first time, using the opportunity to heap praise on her as he often does.

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"My mom, she raised me, so she taught me. And she always told me to stay humble, put your head down and just work ... so I think I get that attitude from her," Derek said.

It was a fulfilling, and dizzying, few days. And her co-workers, who move and sort and lift boxes beside her, and who have promised to become Eagles fans despite their Tennessee roots, have been eager to find out every last detail. Given how busy draft week was, Christine joked that she's now ready for a real vacation -- and said she actually has one coming up in a couple weeks.

Downtime was not always a luxury afforded.

There was a point in Derek's young life, when things were really tough, that his mom worked three jobs to keep the family afloat. Without the benefit of child support, she was charged with providing for Derek and his two older siblings but also needed to raise them and be a constant presence in their lives. That would require some creativity. Working the third shift at UPS, she'd start about 10:30 p.m. -- shortly after the kids were asleep -- and would clock out about 3:30 a.m. That way, she would be able to see the kids off in the morning and be there for dinner and sporting events at night. On the weekends, she'd waitress. At one point, she was working two shifts at two different restaurants back-to-back, starting in the late evening and not finishing until midafternoon the next day.

"That was rough for me," she acknowledged, "I'm not going to lie. Having three jobs is hard, but I only did that for a short period of time because your body is only going to allow you to do it for so long."

Christine is down to one job now, as she accepted a full-time position at UPS almost two years ago once all of the kids were out of the house. Derek has requested that she stop working altogether, but Christine resisted and got right back at it, exchanging the elegant gown from draft night for the familiar warehouse attire, still driven to support her now-millionaire son.

Derek Barnett, a 6-foot-3, 259-pound defensive end, proved to be a confounding prospect for a number of NFL evaluators. His production in three seasons at the University of Tennessee was undeniable -- he amassed 53 tackles for loss, and his 33 sacks broke the great Reggie White's Volunteers record -- but some scouts had difficulty figuring out exactly how he was so productive. He's quick out of the gate and has good hands and a better motor, no doubt, but a familiar refrain was that the athleticism doesn't jump out the same way it often does with other elite pass-rushers.

Listening to Barnett, one reason why the tape might have been hard to make sense of is because it wasn't telling the whole story.

"I think my get-off is pretty good and I can bend well, but mentally, I think that's where I separate a little bit, preparing for a game," he said. "A lot of people don't see that, but you've got to prepare for a game so you can go in and dominate."

That hasn't been an issue since Barnett started playing organized football in the fifth grade. Christine's father played at Ohio State and cautioned against starting Derek too early because of how demanding the sport is on the body, but Derek's persistence ultimately won out. He quickly rose to the top of the heap. A short time later Christine decided to send him to Brentwood Academy, a private school in the Nashville area, even though the cost of tuition added to her financial burden.

Christine Barnett worked up to three jobs at one point in order to support Derek and his two siblings. Courtesy of Christine Barnett

"My main goal for Derek was to get his high school diploma, go to college, obtain your college degree, and then get out here in your community and be a productive citizen of your community," Christine said.

Little did she know that Barnett would develop into a four-star recruit, shine at the University of Tennessee, and secure a first-round selection in the NFL draft that will soon net him some serious money. (Last year's 14th overall pick, Oakland Raiders safety Karl Joseph, inked a four-year, $11.9 million deal that is fully guaranteed.)

Christine, though, continues to make education a point of emphasis. The agreement is that Derek, who left school early to enter the NFL draft, will pursue his degrees in communications and business via online classes after his first year in the pros.

"I even asked him, when he was going to train for the combine, 'Would you be willing to take at least one class now?' And he was like, 'No.' After going to visit him while he was in Florida, it would probably be very difficult to maintain one class," she said with a laugh.

As for her future, Christine plans to stay at UPS for at least another few years despite Derek's request that she retire. She's close to getting a full-time pension, for one, and isn't about to throw that away. And she needs to see how Derek will fare over the course of his first contract before she'll feel comfortable easing out of the grind.

"I want to make sure my son is set for his life," she said. "I told him he needs to treat this contract like this is the only contract he's ever going to receive. I've been working my whole life. I don't mind going to work. I just want him to be set for his life and his future."