By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

To get the complete picture of Kevin Wilkins' story -- the one his two moms compare to an Academy Awards-nominated film called 'The Blind Side' -- start with the tattoos.

Wilkins has ink decorated all over his upper body, each telling a story of his unusual path to Rutgers. There's one celebrating his Cherokee Indian roots ... one honoring St. Joseph High in Montvale ... one depicting New Jersey ... and one signaling his No. 99 jersey.

There are deeply personal ones, too. His four brothers and two sisters are honored on his arms. He has one for his mom who only recently returned to his life, one for a biological dad he never knew, and one he got as a 16-year-old to honor the woman who raised him.

"He must've thought, "If I get my mom's name, she can't be that mad,' '' Kathleen Wilkins said.

His grandparents' address -- 161 Berdan Place, Hackensack -- is even stenciled into his arm.

But absent are any of the other homes he lived in growing up.

There's not enough room on his 6-foot-2, 306-pound body to depict them all.

"A lot of people,'' Wilkins says, 'don't know I was adopted.''

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

Sitting on a bench off the Rutgers football field, Wilkins, 23, starts to share his personal story, one that begins with state officials removing him from the Hackensack home he lived in with his mother, Della, and three siblings.

He was 6 years old at the time.

"When they came in, they just marched through the door,'' he says. "I was sitting next to her and they just put our clothes in black bags and we just all walked out of the house. That was something that probably scarred me to this day.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Wilkins removes his wristbands, unties his cleats and details his path through 14 different foster homes over a three-year period.

"The first home I went to was in Paterson, New Jersey,'' he says. "I woke up the next day and thought it was a dream. I packed my suitcase and started walking out of the house. The lady stopped me and said, 'Where are you going?' I said, 'I'm going back home to my mom. And she said I couldn't. I didn't really understand what was going on. I just thought they took me from my mom for no reason.''

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Video by Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

There was a valid reason, though.

"My mom had a really bad drug habit,'' Wilkins says. "Now that I'm older I understand that being an addict is hard. So I don't fault anyone who has had a hard time going through it. Having seen my mom overcome it, I don't blame her. She's a completely different person now. She's been clean for a long time.''

Wilkins reflects on his unique story, one that only a handful of his Rutgers coaches and teammates know.

"Everybody thinks, 'Oh my God, he went through 14 different foster homes.' But it almost seemed normal at the time,'' he says. "Everyone who knows I'm adopted says, 'I'm like The Blind Side guy.' I take it for what it is. I just tell people, I'm not in the NFL ... yet.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

***

Della Parker remembers the hug. A shaking of the senses may be a more apt description.

"I was real numb. I had no understanding of what was happening,'' Wilkins' biological mom recalls of the day child-protection officials took away Rasheen, Jonathan, Jasmine and Kevin.

"I barricaded myself in the house. My mother told me to just pray on them. That's what she always told me. I had this sickness. I had to come to grips with the fact I'm not the only one in this world that's going through addiction.''

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She was granted visitation with her children, but Kevin -- who was in 1st grade at the time -- had a harder time processing it.

"The day the visitation stopped,'' Kevin Wilkins says, "we were actually on 46th (Street) in Newark and there was traffic. I actually jumped out of the car in moving traffic to try to run back to my mom. That was the last time I'd see her for a while because every time we would talk I would have a nervous breakdown because all I wanted to do was see my mom again.''

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In addition to being separated from his mother, Wilkins' two brothers and sister were split into different foster homes in northern New Jersey.

"I spent the majority of time in Paterson, in Jersey City, in Newark, and then I lived in Bridgewater with a Jamaican family,'' he says. "But, to be honest, after all that time it kind of feels like a blur. It is what it is. A lot of people (adopt) kids just to collect government checks. I wouldn't necessarily say all those people cared about me. That's why I think I had trust issues. I don't really trust what people do or say. I take it day by day, and then once I start to feel I can trust you I'll open up a little bit more.''

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Chris Faytok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

***

John Wilkins doesn't remember the name of the drill, but he recalls a ball being thrown around and the kid running off because he couldn't intercept it in the game of keep-away.

"The first time I met Kevin, he went and stormed off in the corner,'' John Wilkins says. "I yelled at him because that's not the way you should behave. It didn't matter that he couldn't get the little ball that was being thrown around; I got mad because he wasn't trying hard.''

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He'd get more chances at instilling that mindset into Kevin, who was living in a foster home next to the Sparta-based fitness gym he co-owned with his then-wife Kathleen.

"I was a fat little kid and I was more into soccer but I had to play goalie because I couldn't run,'' Wilkins said. "So when I was in that foster home in Sparta, I'd go next store to basically get into better shape.''

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Consider it Wilkins' introduction to family ... and football.

"He was a pudgy kid, but he was kind of athletic, too,'' John Wilkins says. "You could see he just didn't have any confidence. I didn't have it easy growing up, either, so I could see a little of myself in Kevin. He actually lived next to one of my really good friends, who also was a football coach, and they were looking for players down in East Orange. Kevin embraced football but it was hard -- he'd cry a little bit when he hit his fingers on the helmet and I'd spin him around and get him back out there.''

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Munching on an Ahi tuna salad at a Sparta diner, John Wilkins recalled an official from the group home asking if he'd like to be Kevin's mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

"I said, 'Of course,' and we'd spend days over at Station Park, this little pond by the side of our building, doing some cat fishing,'' he says. "Here's this big kid, he catches a little cat fish and he's deathly afraid to touch it. If a bee was near him, he'd run. If he nicked his finger, he'd want to go to the hospital. He was a sensitive kid, but you could see he had a big heart, too.''

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Chris Faytok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The Wilkins family would routinely invite Kevin into their home for dinner and for sleepovers when he wanted to get away from the foster home.

"I just thought,'' Kathleen Wilkins says, " 'God put Kevin in our lives for a reason.' ''

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Kevin, who had formed an instant bond with their kids, Johnny and Alexandra, was about to be out of their lives when an official from Wilkins' foster home requested a meeting.

"They came to us and they said they were going to put him in another foster home or a shelter,'' Kathleen Wilkins recalls. "They told us, 'I know you haven't known for that long but would you take him permanently?' That's huge step. It was overwhelming.

"But when you have a strong faith in God it's not even a question. It's what we're here for. Are we here to do what's comfortable in our lives or do we do God's work? If I can help another mother who's struggling, if I can help a child, it kind of gives your life meaning.''

John Wilkins echoed that thought, adding: "God put Kevin in our lives, not the other way around. We're not saving him -- he's saving us. People say we gave him a gift, but I feel like adopting Kevin was my gift.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In the time it takes to read this sentence, 8-year old Kevin had his answer when asked if he preferred to move to another foster home or go through the adoption process with the Wilkins family.

"I remember crying and not knowing where I was going to go,'' he said. "I walk into the house and I was like, 'What's Mrs. Wilkins doing here?' She walked in with Alex and said, 'Would you like to be part of our family?' I said yes immediately.

"It was a really great day for me because obviously they didn't want to see me go to the next home. I don't know what I would've done if I did. It was a blessing. I thank my mom (Kathleen) every day for it. I'm part of my mom. I act just like her. Someone actually said I look like my mom. I look nothing like my mom. I am a huge black kid. My mom is white and little. But we have a great bond.''

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He understands his life could've gone in a different direction had he not found guidance from the Wilkins family.

"That changed everything,'' he said. "I started eating healthier. I started getting abs a little bit, starting getting competitive. My (step) brother (Johnny) was one of the best running backs in Sparta in a long time. So I kind of looked up to him. I wanted to be a running back but couldn't because I was too big. My sister, Alex, did gymnastics. I'm in a house full of athletes so I got thrown into (football).''

Despite not playing organized football until he became a teenager, Kevin showed talent as he was playing on John Wilkins' East Orange team.

"He was big so they first put him at defensive tackle and offensive line, but his mom helped him with nutrition so he started to lean out,'' John Wilkins says. "I remember getting a phone call one day from one of the coaches. 'Kevin scored three touchdowns.' And I'm like,' Wasn't he playing with the offensive line?' They ended up putting him at running back. He just became athletic.''

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NJ Advance Media file photo

***

That athleticism was first noticed by then Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and then-Scarlet Knights offensive line coach Kyle Flood at a Don Bosco Prep football game.

Schiano and Flood were there to recruit Johnny, who was a standout fullback during Don Bosco's state-championship run.

"Coach Flood and Coach Schiano were at this Bosco game and I walked over to introduce myself to them,'' John Wilkins said. "Coach Schiano said, 'Oh yeah, we're watching him.' And then he points to Kevin and says, 'Who is that?'

"Kevin was in 8th grade; he was their ball boy. Coach Schiano goes, 'Look at how fast he runs out there to get the ball. What position does he play?' That was their first look at him.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Flood, now an offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons after serving as Rutgers head coach from 2012-15, recalls first noticing Wilkins.

"Seeing a young man on the sideline retrieving the kicking tee definitely makes an impression because it shows how much he loves the game and wants to be around it in any way he can,'' Flood told NJ Advance Media.

"You can't ever have enough players in your program like that.''

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Kevin joined his brother at Don Bosco Prep, then transferred to St. Joseph-Montvale as a junior. By then, Rutgers was joined by Boston College and Connecticut in the recruiting push.

"He wanted to go to Rutgers,'' John Wilkins says, "because he had a connection with Coach Flood, it was close to home and his family could watch him play.''

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Just as his football career began to take off, Kevin faced more adversity. John and Kathleen Wilkins went through a bitter divorce.

"I know that was tough on Kevin,'' Kathleen says. "He finally finds a home, where he has a brother he idolizes, a sister who adores him, and a mom and dad who love him and ...''

Kathleen pauses during an interview, admittedly not wanting to share the details of the split.

"It was hard on everybody,'' she says.

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Reflecting on the tumultuous time in her life, Kathleen says she wouldn't have blamed Kevin if he lashed out.

Less than a decade removed from getting rescued from his 14th foster home, Wilkins was now living in a car.

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"My mom had a (Chevrolet) Tahoe and me, my brother and sister slept in it in the parking lot at Don Bosco Prep,'' Kevin says. "I'd wake up in the morning, go to school and my mom would go to work. And at night we'd go back to sleep in the parking lot.''

Kevin says they lived out of their car "for a couple of days'' before various members of the Bosco football team welcomed them into their homes.

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Photos courtesy of Kathleen Wilkins

Football, he says, was his reprieve. It also helped that he was generating more recruiting interest. Still, just because he had the talent to play college football, it didn't mean he could earn a scholarship.

"There were so many days where Kathi would be up late helping him with his homework,'' John Wilkins says. "At 12 o'clock at night, or early in the morning before the bus, Kevin would just grind through it. She was an integral part in motivating him (academically).''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Chris Ash arrived as Rutgers coach in December 2015, shortly after Wilkins played in all 12 games as a backup nose tackle as a redshirt freshman. He immediately took a liking to Wilkins.

"Kevin's an emotional guy,'' Ash says. "Sometimes he gets really high and sometimes he gets very low emotionally. But when Kevin is around other people, he constantly has a smile on his face. And he does brighten the day for a lot of other people. He's got a great personality. He's a really impressive kid.''

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Ash is among the few people in the Rutgers football program who knows Wilkins' story.

"Absolutely it could've taken a different turn for him,'' Ash says. "There's a lot of things that happen along individuals' journeys but the fact that somebody took a chance on him and adopted him and then got him started on football -- those are two major events that hopefully shape the course of his life into something positive.''

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A part-time starting defensive tackle for the past two seasons, Wilkins has morphed into an integral part of the Rutgers defensive line this fall, recording 39 tackles (4.5 for loss), two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries while starting all eight games.

"Football changed his life for the better and now it has an opportunity to change his life again,'' Ash said. "It allowed him to get into college. He's going to get his college degree. He may have an opportunity to go on and play football after college. It's a great story.''

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Zack Heeman and Jon Bateky are Rutgers teammates who have lived with Wilkins in campus residences in recent years.

"I think a lot of people in Kevin's situation would hide in a shell, not want to talk about what he's been through,'' Heeman said. "Bouncing around and not having stability, it's amazing how personable he is and how he's able to relate to all different types of people. He'll talk to me about fishing and he'll talk to another guy about rap music. He's a really good teammate, and a really good friend.''

Bateky, who often plays next to Wilkins on the defensive line, recalled hearing about Wilkins' hardships not long after he arrived in 2015.

"It's a story of perseverance,'' Bateky said. "A lot of people wouldn't have been able to go through what he did. To come out with a degree from one of the top universities in the country and to probably play in the NFL down the line, it just shows whatever obstacles you have, there's always a way to get out.

"He's like my brother. That was my first roommate I had when I first got here. He's just a fun guy to be around.''

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***

Kathleen Wilkins says Kevin's story would be worthy of the big screen if it hadn't been done not so long ago.

"When people compare us to The Blind Side, we're way more dysfunctional than that family,'' Kathleen says, referring to the 2009 movie that immortalized Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who made it to the NFL after growing up in poverty and getting adopted by a while family from Memphis, Tenn.

"I'm a single mom. There's not a lot of money here, not the same luxuries that they had. It was just my pure hopes that I could make a difference in this boy's life. And what Kevin has done has completely far surpassed anything I ever expected of him. When he was 6 years old and getting ripped out of his home, nobody would've dreamed of this kind of outcome for him. I never put expectations on Kevin that he had to succeed in football or whatever. With the grace of God, all I hoped is for him to be healthy and to grow up mentally and spiritually. And if football's not in the cards that's okay. I love him because he's Kevin.''

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Photo courtesy of Della Parker

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The happy ending for Wilkins came in the form of a reconnection with his biological mom once he turned 18. He was in high school at the time, and the reunion was by chance.

He was on a visit to see his sick grandfather on Berdan Place in Hackensack.

"The last thing my grandfather wanted to do before he passed away was to see me,'' Wilkins says. "I remember walking in and seeing a lady in the kitchen. I still knew what my mom looked like but as I walked in, the lady looked around and said: 'Who are you?' I go, 'Kevin.' ... 'Kevin who?' And my older brother Rasheen goes, 'Kevin, your son.'

"My mom kind of broke down crying because she hadn't seen me in a long time.''

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From her Lodi home, Parker's voice cracks as she recalls the reconnection.

"As Kevin got older, he wanted to see me,'' she says. "I lived through my addiction and he went through all the different foster homes, and he had it tough because he wanted to be with me. I talked to him the one time (and) he acted out so they had to take him to therapy. He still had his mind on seeing me. As he got up there in age, my oldest son brought him to my dad's house.''

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She doesn't dispute not knowing what her youngest son looked like while standing in the kitchen.

"I didn't even know who it was,'' Parker, 54, says. "When Rasheen told me it's Kevin, your son, I hugged Kevin so hard I cried.''

A mountain of a football player, Kevin is also a self-confessed "mama's boy.''

"Really,'' he says, "I have two moms.''

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

In an ironic twist to the story, Kevin says his moms live less than a mile apart.

"That was not planned,'' Kathleen Wilkins says. "I had no idea where Della lived when I picked my home. It wasn't until I was sitting in a nail salon here in Wallington the first week I lived here, and I see Kevin's aunt walk in. I was shocked, and she was like, 'Did you know Della lives right around the corner?' There's no way that God was not involved in that. And now we go to Rutgers football games together to watch Kevin.''

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

Parker says she's been drug-free for nearly seven years.

"I know a lot of people going through the same situation don't get a chance to see their kids again,'' she says. "A lot of people don't even know where their kids are at. Once Kevin turned 18, I've seen him ever since. His foster mother and me are like best friends. That's like my sister. The movie, The Blind Side, I feel like that is us. But in (The) Blind Side the mother never got herself together. The mother was in addiction; he tried to see his mom. I'm past that and I am so proud of him.''

She has regrets, but Kevin's path to the Wilkins family isn't one of them.

"I tell Kathi, I'm glad you all had him -- I wish the situation wasn't what it was -- but I'm so glad that he was with you,'' Parker says. "If he wasn't with them I don't think he could be where he's at today.''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Another irony?

Wilkins insists he wouldn't have scripted his life any differently had a Hollywood director given him a chance to edit it.

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

"What I want people to take away from my situation is that no matter how hard life can get you can always get up and prevail from it,'' he says. "There's no reason why you can't make something of your situation, no matter how good, bad or ugly. That's what I'm doing now.

"I'm not a finished product yet. Nobody is. I'm just going to keep working and hoping my story continues to be something great and have a great ending.''

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.