Christian Kirksey Credit: USA Today

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Green Bay — Memories run on repeat. Christian Kirksey thinks about his dad "all the time — every day."

When he's praying at night. When he hears a certain song. When he runs into an old friend in St. Louis. Four years later, the Iowa linebacker keeps his father, Elmer Kirksey, on his mind.

Said Kirksey, "There's never a day that goes by I don't think about him."

Before Kirksey played a down at Iowa, his dad died. He seemed to fully recover from a stroke, months passed, and then he suffered a fatal heart attack. Everyone in this year's NFL draft draws inspiration from someone, some event, something. Possibly no one at linebacker has a clearer motivation than Kirksey.

Kirksey's drive — all along — has been his late father. Next month, he'll be one third- or fourth-round option inside for the Green Bay Packers.

The 6-foot-2, 233-pounder speaks slowly when reliving the tragedy step by step. His voice doesn't skip. He was tough then, doesn't hesitate now.

Elmer Kirksey first had a stroke when Christian was a senior in high school. He missed most of his son's games that fall in St. Louis. But the hospital was right down the street from school. Most days — immediately after final period — Kirksey high-tailed it to the hospital to see his dad. He often stayed there for "a couple hours," sometimes sleeping over. Kirksey would assemble a makeshift bed and go home in the morning to shower before class.

His dad recovered, day by day, and was present for Christian's high school graduation.

"Everything," Kirksey said, "was looking really well."

Son left that ensuing summer for football workouts at Iowa City. And on July 12, 2010, Christian got the call. His Dad, at 58 years old, had died.

Family members drove the four-plus hours the next morning to Iowa and picked up Christian. He stayed there until August practices began. The initial shock, a relative said, absolutely did "break" Christian.

"We didn't see it coming," Kirksey said. "It was kind of a shocker."

Kirksey's mother actually called one of Christian's friends in Iowa with the news first. Father and son were tight. They fished, went skating, threw the football around, went to amusement parks, everything.

The relationship was fortified in church. Elmer Kirksey was a pastor.

One sermon was common at the lectern and the living room.

"He'd say, 'good, better, best,'" Kirksey said. "Never settle until you're good and your better is best. That's something I take with me when I'm going through life and going through football. Anything you do can always be better and do not stop until you feel you're at your best."

So for those four years, Kirksey said he "dedicated everything" to his dad.

As Brandon Kirksey points out, Christian had no time to sulk. Brandon, two years older, is Christian's nephew. At Iowa, sure, Christian had a support system. New teammates helped. Coaches consoled. But Christian did not have the benefit of months to grieve, to recover.

He needed to earn a spot. In college, he was a needle in the haystack.

While the initial news did break Christian, Brandon says it also "molded him and built him."

"An unwavering focus," said Brandon, who played at the University of Minnesota. "Especially around that time, some guys can't handle that. Christian's not the first guy to lose a parent while in school. And he's not going to be the last. It's a fight or flight deal. He chose to fight.

"He had a lot of adversity during that time. It just made him that much stronger."

Brandon remembers trying to be tough for Christian. He was like an older brother growing up. Yet when they first spoke on the phone, scripts were flipped.

Things happen, Christian told him. Life goes on.

Kirksey would start three seasons at Iowa. Tall, fast, athletic, he totaled 151 solo tackles (13.5 for loss) with five forced fumbles. Losing his dad made him a natural locker-room leader. When Iowa toiled in last place two years ago, Kirksey asked to play on the kickoff unit. Standing in the middle of that pregame circle on the field, he told teammates this was unacceptable.

The next season, Iowa went 8-4.

Kirksey is most comfortable at weak-side linebacker and believes he can fit into a 3-4 scheme at inside linebacker. Kirksey spoke to the Packers at the Senior Bowl. Strength might be an issue, but at Iowa's pro day he ran a scorching 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Against today's tight end, speed is a premium at linebacker.

Wherever he goes, his dad will stay on his mind. Christian and Brandon often hashtag "Kirkseyman" in their text messaging, a spinoff of "Superman."

"Kirkseyman," Brandon explains, is being more than the average man. It's being the person Elmer Kirksey wants them to be. Strong. Ambitious. Superhuman.

"He left a legacy for us that is almost impossible to surpass," Brandon said. "Christian strives every day to be half the man that he is."

Kirksey didn't back down four years ago. On the verge of the NFL, lessons learned then resonate today.

"Taking things as a man. Achieving your goals. Never quitting in life," Kirksey said. "I've been wanting to play in the National Football League since I was 7 years old, since I picked up a football. He told me, 'Never let anybody tell you that you can't do something. Demand greatness.' That's something I strive to do and I can truly say he helped me with that.

"He installed that in me — that fight and that will to be great."