NFL draft diary: TCU's Paul Dawson fighting negative perceptions

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY Sports has assembled a talented team of prospects to chronicle their paths to the NFL draft. Today's entry is from TCU linebacker Paul Dawson, who led the Horned Frogs with 136 tackles (81 solo, 20 for loss) as a senior in 2014 and is a potential first-round draft pick.

I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, in a rough area, in the 'hood obviously. My mother was an entrepreneur who was just trying different jobs. My father traveled a lot. He was in construction, so wherever he could find work, he would go and be out for months to years depending how long the job was. He left early in my high school years, and Mama couldn't really control what I did in the streets. That's the main reason I played sports: so I wouldn't be caught up in the streets, doing everything I saw my older friends do, getting in trouble a lot.

I played receiver. Wasn't really highly recruited coming out of high school. Took the (junior college) route to Trinity Valley Community College. My heart wasn't really in playing offense. I'm the type of dude who has a high motor. I couldn't just wait for the quarterback to sit there and be like, 'Throw me the ball.' I begged the coach to let me play defense, because I wasn't feeling offense at all. It was the day that a linebacker quit or got kicked off, I can't remember. He was like, 'Paul, you want to come along?' I was like, 'Yes! This is my opportunity.'

I was a qualifier coming out of high school, so that means I had good grades and could leave juco within one year. I chose TCU since it was so close to home, they had a good football program and Coach P — Gary Patterson — loved the way I played. I didn't really play defense until like the fourth or fifth game of my junior year. Coach P finally trusted me, put me in there, and I led the team with 91 tackles. My senior year, coming in, everybody knew Paul Dawson was going to explode, and I did. Became an All-American and Big 12 defensive player of the year.

The thing about it — my position coach had a survey for all the linebackers before my senior year. He asked us, what type of linebacker are we? Of course, I circled All-American. He had a little meeting with me and was like, 'So you think you're an All-American, huh?' I was like, 'You're damn right.' I'm just going to be myself all the time. He was like, 'You're more of a role player. You might be an all-Big 12 player. But I don't see the All-American in you.' I was like, 'OK, I've just got to prove him wrong.'

I'd usually be the last one to leave the facility. I'd be there until midnight. The coaches would leave at like 10. I'd just be in a little room, and they didn't even know I was there. They're talking now like I never watched film. How could I not watch film and be that productive? That doesn't make sense. I stayed, probably watched two hours a night, so that's about 10 hours extra a week. I put in that work, did what I needed to do, and it all paid off.

Now I'm reading that I've got 'character concerns.' My sophomore year when I got there, I failed one drug test for Adderall, and I got a prescription for it a couple months later. I never failed another drug test, never got in any trouble, never suspended. I was tardy a lot. I'd probably be a couple minutes late to that meeting or a weight-room session. But everybody loved me. I got along with everybody — all the coaches, all the offensive coaches. We made jokes throughout the facility all day. On Saturdays, they knew that I was going to go big, do my thing.

When I see stuff like my team doesn't like me, that's hurtful. I guarantee if you call Coach P right now, the only thing he'd say is I'm a knucklehead. But he would also say that everybody should coach a guy like Paul Dawson — a dude who has a lot of potential, who has the drive, who has the capability to go far and is very eager. He's the type of coach that's going to get in your face, cuss you out, just to see how you're going to react. I finally figured that out my junior year. I'd be a smartass, but he liked that. He'd always tell me, 'I see good things in your eyes. I see that you really want it.' And he believed in me.

When I have my interviews at the combine, they'll see what type of person I am. They'll see that my drive is nonstop. They'll see that I'm a great person in the locker room, no issues. Hopefully, I can do my thing, be an athlete out there in the drills. Hopefully, I run a good 40 — it's looking in the 4.6s right now. And really, I just hope the interviews come out to the coaches seeing and feeling where I'm coming from and just looking through my eyes at my perspective.

It's a blessing to be at this point that I am now in my life. I've got the ability and the film to go first round. I've just got to see how I do at the combine and at the interviews. I hope everything plays out.

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Follow Paul Dawson on Twitter at @PjDawson47