Ben Boulware had a rare Friday night to himself last week, the perfect opportunity to head back to his old high school and sit under the lights. He did not come for the football, though.

He came for his younger brother, Cameron, playing drums in the band at halftime. Because of his own football responsibilities at Clemson, this was the first and only time Boulware would get to watch in person. So he made the short drive to his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina, and piled into the stands with his mother Krystal, dad Jamie, older brother Garrett, younger sister Bailee and extended family and friends.

Cameron had set his mind to joining the band last year and began taking drum lessons to be able to make the cut. He played at every game this year, home and away. So when halftime came, Cameron rat-tat-tatted his heart away. The Boulwares cheered and clapped, seeing Cameron live out what he wanted most.

Ben Boulware, second from right, wanted to play at Clemson to be close to his family. Courtesy of Krystal Boulware

"It was awesome to just finally get to support him in what he loves to do," Ben Boulware said. "He's supported me and my siblings over the past 10 years, going to all of our events and has been the loudest one cheering us on, so for me to finally get an opportunity to be his loudest cheerleader was an awesome experience."

These are moments that stay with the Boulwares. Cameron, 18, has autism but has never let his disability define him. He is just one of the boys at home. At school, he has raced cross country and won the Mr. T.L. Hanna pageant (where he led a powerful rendition of "Lean on Me") in addition to participating in band.

Still, Ben is keenly aware that there are times Cameron and other children with disabilities need just a little extra compassion and understanding. That is why Saturday in Tallahassee, Boulware wants to say a few words to Florida State receiver Travis Rudolph.

Their teams are playing yet another big game with major conference and College Football Playoff implications, but there is something even bigger that has stayed with Boulware.

Before the season began, Rudolph drew worldwide attention when a photo of him eating lunch with an autistic boy went viral. Sixth-grader Bo Paske described the moment like this: "It was kinda like me sitting on a rainbow." Rudolph presented Paske with a jersey and tickets to the season opener, had him meet coach Jimbo Fisher and his teammates, and get a tour of the Florida State football facility.

Ben Boulware followed the coverage with great interest and wanted to reach out to Rudolph to simply thank him. "If that happened to my little brother, I would love for someone to do the same thing with him," Boulware said.

"We have such a big platform as student-athletes and especially playing at schools like we do at Clemson and Florida State. For him, it wasn't a big deal or a courageous act. He just saw a kid by himself that was lonely. The fact that he spent 20 minutes with a young kid, I thought it was awesome. I think it showed his true character."

Cameron is in a program for kids with special needs at his high school, so Ben never worried about him eating lunch alone. But he is certainly aware how difficult it can be to fit in as a middle-schooler.

"In middle school, they're all trying to be cool," Boulware said. "I know how I felt as a middle-schooler. I was probably a little bit different because of my little brother, so I understood and felt for those special-needs kids more than others because I've experienced it firsthand, but I know how the normal 13- or 14-year old kid is. Props to Travis."

Cameron has shown the family what it means to have unconditional love and what it means to have patience. He also has shown them how important it is to laugh just a little sometimes.

When Ben and Garrett were in high school, they had the responsibility of getting Cameron ready for school. That meant picking out his clothes, brushing his teeth, washing his face and getting him breakfast. Some mornings, this proved to be a more difficult challenge than others.

One day, they had a huge fight in the morning. Ben and Garrett got home from school that day and saw a mess in the front yard. Ben got out and looked a little closer and saw his clothes thrown everywhere. "That's my shirt!" he yelled. "These are my shoes!" The brothers looked up. Cameron and a friend were looking at them through the window in Ben's bedroom upstairs, laughing.

"They had thrown all his clothes in the front yard," Garrett says. "Ben immediately yells, and you see them dash off. It was hilarious. But it was also very clever of him. I was impressed with his prank on Ben."

Ben still goes home for family dinners on Wednesdays and Sundays. But these are all moments he nearly missed. Ben put up big numbers in high school and desperately wanted to play at Clemson. Not only did he want to stay close to home, but his family had gone to Clemson for generations.

But then-defensive coordinator Kevin Steele did not think the local player was a good fit for his scheme. So Clemson never offered and the Boulware family never got their hopes up. They knew how Steele felt about the Boulware boys. Rather than tough, gritty linebackers, he wanted safety-type athletes with speed to fill those positions.

The snub gnawed at Boulware, who received scholarship offers from coast to coast. What he wanted most of all was to stay close to home, so he could stay near his family. Boulware was close to committing to Georgia when Brent Venables arrived at Clemson in 2012.

A friend told the Boulwares they needed to get Ben's tape in front of Venables immediately. Within a week, Boulware had an offer.

"At the time, I cried like a little baby," Ben said. "I committed on the spot. That's what I was waiting on. My mom went here, all my uncles, my grandpa. My brother played baseball here. My sister is here now. So I figured it was destiny."

It may not have felt that way once he got on campus and had to deal with Venables. The two clashed right away, as Venables got on him constantly. His hard edge wore Ben down so much, the young linebacker wondered whether he had a future there.

Things started to change his sophomore year, when he got an opportunity to start against Louisville. Ben had the best game of his career. "He was successful beyond his wildest imagination, so he could finally see how that hard coaching paid off," Krystal Boulware said.

Ben Boulware and his older brother, Garrett, grew up racing dirt bikes. Courtesy of Krystal Boulware

His career took off last season, after he permanently moved to middle linebacker. Boulware earned All-ACC first-team honors and racked up 138 tackles, and led the team with 29 quarterback pressures. As a team captain and defensive leader this season, Boulware ranks No. 3 in the ACC in tackles per game (9.5) and brings his trademark intensity to every single play.

"It all worked out the way it was supposed to. It usually does," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said.

For a player who nearly got passed up, Boulware has come to embody the Venables defensive style all on his own: physical, aggressive and relentless. But those characteristics have also led to accusations that he plays dirty.

The latest came after he put his hands around Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson's neck at the bottom of a pile in Clemson's 42-36 win. Cards coach Bobby Petrino instructed reporters to watch the video to see "what was happening out there." Louisville fans howled that he had Jackson in a chokehold. Boulware offered an apology, but he makes no apologies for the way he approaches the game.

"I respect how fragile the game can be and how fragile a career can be," Boulware said recently. "That's why I play pretty wild. Everyone says, 'You're like a throwback linebacker, an old-school linebacker,' but I think that's how you should play the game as a linebacker, as a competitor. You've got to be a little crazy to play this game and I want to maximize my potential in the limited time I have to play the game, so that's why I play a little crazy."

The mentality that has earned him the nickname "Junkyard Dog" is steeped in his early-childhood years, when he and Garrett would race dirt bikes all over the south through pain and injury -- and just a little duct tape to cover their wounds. But there is no discounting the influence Cameron has had.

Ben knows every play on the field is one Cameron will never get to make. So he goes all out with maximum effort, fearlessness and intensity. That has drawn criticism from some, but adoration from many others.

None more than Cameron.

"I tell my older boys, 'You can wash out as an athlete, but Cameron is going to be your biggest fan for life. No matter what,'" Krystal said. "It's good to have that person in your life who loves you like that."