By the time Desir entered high school, his fall sport of choice was soccer. But that all changed after his freshman year.

Going against his parents' wishes — his dad was once a professional soccer player in Haiti — Desir said he "just took a chance, took a leap of faith and just wanted to play with my friends and try something new:" American football.

Except he had no idea what he was doing.

"I did everything wrong," Desir said. "Whatever you think. I had the pads wrong. Back in the day it was the hit pads. I didn't know how the hit pads worked. I wore soccer cleats for awhile before I transitioned. I thought it was the same cleats."

A natural athlete, it didn't take Desir long to catch on, however.

"I think once I actually got the hang of things and got the concepts of how to actually play football, I just ran with it," he said.

No kidding. Desir quickly became one of the top defensive back prospects in the state of Missouri, where the Francis Howell Central High School product was an all-state and first-team all-league selection during his junior and senior seasons.

But at that point, Desir already had plenty of motivation to find on-the-field success. At the age of 15, Desir and his then-girlfriend, Morgan, 16, found out they were expecting a child.

A few months later, their daughter, Keeli, was born.

"Honestly, I had mixed emotions," Desir told WTHR's Bob Kravitz about his initial feelings at that time. "Like, I was still a kid myself; now I've got to raise a kid? I was happy, nervous, not knowing what to do, not having friends who were having that same experience.''

Desir forged on, and hoped to earn a scholarship at a big-time school. A little late to the recruiting game — and not scoring high enough on on his standardized tests — Desir had to settle for Washburn University, a Division II program in Topeka, Kan.

Redshirted during his true freshman season in 2008 — and originally slated to be a wide receiver — Desir moved over to cornerback the following year, and by the end of the 2010 season, he had racked up 12 interceptions, which already ranked third in school history.

Maybe, just maybe, Desir could get a shot to play professional football.

Now married to Morgan — who gave birth to the couple's second daughter, Kamryn, in 2010 — the two wanted to move closer to their families in St. Charles, Mo., which sits just a half-hour northwest of St. Louis. There, Desir was presented with the opportunity to finish out the last two seasons of his college football career at nearby Lindenwood, an NAIA school.

But when Washburn wouldn't grant Desir his release from its program, he had to sit out for a year. He found himself in a crappy situation — quite literally.

Working odd jobs at a local temp agency during his year away from football, Desir one morning was sent to a flooded apartment complex, where he was told, "You have to get all this stuff from the basement out and you have to get all the water drained from the basement area."

There was much more than just water in that basement, however — and Desir was covered in it up to his knees.

He earned $40 for his troubles that day.