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“I was a Momma’s Boy,” said Deloatch on Tuesday during Day 2 of the Redblacks mini-camp. “I’m following in her footsteps so much. I’m down to earth, I can gravitate to any crowd. That’s what she was pretty good at, keeping a smile on her face. I think I got that from her. She’d been sick for like two years. We didn’t know that. She was walking around with cancer. She helped me pass my SATs, she’d help me study. If she’d died the year before, I probably wouldn’t be here right now, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what I did.

“I always think about her. Before games, before practices, I say prayers for her. (When she died) I allowed it to bring me down. But she didn’t want me to be like that. She told me not to worry about her. I’m good on my feet now, I’m happy.”

A tight end at Temple, Deloatch bulked up to 250 pounds and became a hybrid, also playing defensive end in third-down situations. He got looks from the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs last year. It didn’t work out. He got a call from the Redblacks, telling him they wanted him as a receiver. There was a condition, though.

“They told me they liked me as a receiver, but I had to lose weight, be faster and have more energy,” said Deloatch. “I’m down to 229 pounds, from October to now. No salt, no sugar in my diet, I had my girlfriend — she’s a trainer — help me out with that. It was definitely hard, but my job was on the line.”

The Redblacks like him — if it works out and he makes it through mini-camp, then training camp next month, he gives them a big body (he’s 6-foot-4) with pass-catching ability. A high school math teacher (Grade 9) back in Virginia, Deloatch got the go-ahead to give professional football a try.