The inside story of how Will Campbell became the Patriots’ 1st-round pick

Minutes before the last job interview of his life Will Campbell ran He pumped his arms in a white hooded sweatshirt and pounded his cleats into green artificial turf Sweat slipped from his dark walnut curls down his -foot- frame soaking the hoodie Then he stopped Campbell scanned the white domed ceiling above and the familiar football field stretched out ahead A glare accented his thin goatee the first sign of a large number of this -year-old is an old soul A hundred yards away out-of-town visitors entered through the opposite end of LSU s practice facility ready to start the interview Campbell walked over in a froth dripping with a confidence that commented he knew he belonged He has perpetually belonged here Be it a football field the LSU campus virtually anywhere in his home state Campbell all pounds of him is a breathing testament to the belief geography is destiny Campbell hails from northeastern Louisiana a city called Monroe where his mother Holly sat in the same seats watching high school football games as her mother and her mother before her Holly s game-day parking pass is older than both her sons She runs a sporting goods store that s been in the family since and sits less than two miles from their church Campbell s father farms and cooks sometimes Cajun seafood stews like touff e He played football in college after begging his parents to move closer to Monroe where he could play at Neville High School and where he eventually met his wife In current times he works in agriculture retail and grows soybeans corn and cotton on his own time They call him Bull Bull is a natural storyteller especially tales like the LSU-Georgia battle he and Holly attended months before Will was born Late in the match the marching band played LSU s fight song and a future Tiger started kicking inside the womb You could see him jumping up and down in there Bull says To know Will is to reckon with his home The soil beneath his family tree is the same he s walked since he was born it s the dirt where he laid irrigation pipes at his father s farm the backyard earth his cleats sank into before Neville High School and Tiger Stadium the land he spilt blood for sport hunting ducks deer and alligators Yet with days left before the NFL Draft last month the Patriots concluded there was still fresh ground to cover On April coach Mike Vrabel led a contingent of a half-dozen Patriots evaluators into LSU s facility to meet Campbell Vrabel had heard from his scouts and read their reports on this three-year starter two-time captain and consensus All-American He d met Campbell at the NFL scouting combine in late February and again during a March visit in Foxboro Still Vrabel craved more Something he could not see nor hear LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell warms up before an NCAA football tournament against Mississippi on Saturday Sept in Oxford Miss AP Photo Vasha Hunt Vrabel wished to feel Campbell His violence and grit To learn what drives a man beyond destiny and to find out if he could break it To determine whether Campbell can help power the Patriots back to the place he believes they belong So Vrabel still around the -foot- and pounds he was listed during his days as an outside linebacker wrapped a yellow blocking pad with black straps around his torso After particular pleasantries he ordered Campbell to hit him Block him Fight him A crowd of curious fresh-faced LSU players gathered yards away with Campbell s former position coach Brad Davis More than anyone standing in that group Davis understood what was coming It was like watching a prize fighter walk out of the tunnel and into the ring he remembered Will had this look on his face that I had seen so several times pregame It didn t matter who lined up across from him He was going to battle No spectator revealed a word in a silence of reverence Everybody understood what was at stake Davis revealed Vrabel beckoned Let s go Monroe made Three weeks after the workout Eric Herndon took a Saturday morning stroll around Monroe Herndon is built bald bearded and the longtime strength and conditioning coach at Neville High He likes to open conversations by joking he feels better than he deserves but this day Herndon deserved to soak in a pleasant day knowing summer humidity will soon swallow Louisiana whole Herndon strolled past the Campbells house a white ranch with black shutters and a large oak tree out front looming over a small yard The tree branches shade trimmed grass and tidy bushes and a flag holder jutting out of its trunk often flying LSU purple and gold A driveway runs roughly yards up the right side of the property with a basketball hoop at the top A inadequate minutes and blocks later Herndon stared out at the Ouachita River that snakes through town and wondered what s in the water how and why greatness seems to sprout here every generation or so Bill Russell was born in Monroe Delta Airlines first took flight here as did the careers of famous musicians politicians and a scant Major League Baseball all-stars Herndon s mind next drifted to Campbell and the time he first presented up in his weight room Greatness was nowhere in sight He was just like all the other freshmen Herndon says He was bigger but he wasn t -foot- and pounds yet either Campbell of subject has inevitably been big He was an infant who used to reach above the kitchen counter before age to snatch a snack Then he became a Little Leaguer who had to bring his bat glove and birth certificate to tournaments so he could play Come football season parents begged Bull his son not play so their boys could be spared from the violent devastating runs of little Jerome Bettis Jr Sometime in those PeeWee years Campbell also began smearing eye black all over his face before games a tradition that lives on this day When he measures on the football field it s like a different human being Bull noted Football Will is different from Thursday afternoon Will Will Campbell stands on the sideline during a high school football encounter at Neville High School in Monroe La Photo courtesy the Campbell family A insufficient years later after Will moved to offensive line started as a freshman at Neville and angrily cried on the three-and-a-half-hour drive home from his first LSU recruiting camp when he wasn t offered a scholarship then returned two weeks later and secured it he took on another new position coach An assistant on Neville s staff named Chad Johnson had flipped from coaching linebackers to offensive line before Campbell s junior season of His background in offensive coaching was minimal so an arrangement formed Campbell would coach the tackles while Johnson kept his focus on the centers and guards He was just so smart and just so mature Johnson disclosed I figured out pretty swiftly that he knew what he was doing Campbell applied lessons he d learned from Roddrell Stewart his personal trainer of more than a year Stewart another son of Louisiana who goes by the nickname Burger speaks like Campbell is never too far from mind He was among his first clients a -year-old boy who changed how Stewart ran his business forcing him to realize individualized coaching is the best coaching he could provide No other client Stewart believes could have pushed through a particular summer session when temperatures neared degrees a day that now lives seared into his memory How they locked eyes as Campbell labored through his fatigue His best guess is Campbell survived because of Bull and his farm Where you ve got to do manual labor it gives you a different type of grit Stewart declared Man he didn t cower No matter how demanding it was no matter how hot it was no matter what it was he was consistently willing to work At Neville football practices Campbell s words still echo across the field though this time it s not a -year-old barking them It s Johnson Sit on a stool Sit on a stool he commands A young Will Campbell left pauses during a workout with former personal trainer Roddrell Stewart Photo courtesy of Roddrell Stewart RTS Kingdom training The phrase is a reminder for offensive linemen to keep their backs straight while jumping out of their stance Johnson jokes his fondest memory of Campbell is when he jumped out of his chair to kick his senior captain out of a meeting for goofing off The real answer is a famous story about Neville The quarterfinal state playoff competition in Campbell s senior year A serious groin strain had sidelined him for the start of a contest Neville expected to win but trailed at halftime So Campbell ducked under the stands and began to undress Civilian clothes off uniform on What are you doing his coaches demanded I m going in the damn challenge Campbell shot back He played the rest of the night Neville won None of this surprised Davis who had recruited him for years Campbell looked the part of a starting left tackle save for his short arms But the ferocity and strain on his film attracted Davis more than anything This kid went out there and exhausted himself Davis disclosed You were watching the battle from the opening kickoff until the last snap and this kid was playing full tilt Oklahoma was the only school that tugged at Campbell hard enough to give him pause during his recruitment But the beckon of Baton Rouge proved too strong He was off to LSU Destiny called An uncommon captain LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell gets ready to run a play against Arkansas during an NCAA college football match Saturday Oct in Fayetteville Ark AP Photo Michael Woods In March LSU s football organization paused its winter workouts for the greatest week on the academic calendar Spring break Davis watched every contestant leave campus to bask on beaches in Florida or Texas or the simple quiet of home That is except for one lineman his freshman left tackle from Monroe Campbell had enrolled in January a semester early and was in the process of packing on pounds of muscle to push himself over pounds for the summer That week inside an empty facility he appealed Davis and a graduate assistant to log almost a full work day with him and him alone For six to seven hours a day they studied film They walked through plays They sharpened his techniques and conditioning Campbell longed to start as a freshman something Davis knew from the first time they met and entertained even though LSU s history explained -year-old linemen wait their turn But by the time Campbell s chief competition a fourth-year senior with battle experience returned to resume their position battle in practice the war was over It took Campbell less than a month to graduate from third-string backup to undisputed starter By the th or th practice it was a consensus as a staff that he was our best tackle Davis stated It wasn t even close LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell warms up before an NCAA football event against South Alabama on Saturday Sept in Baton Rouge La AP Photo Matthew Hinton Campbell finished the season a freshman All-American He started every championship but the one he missed because he had been hospitalized the day before due to what the squad communicated as dehydration That season Davis remembered a scant teammates remained skeptical of his rise claiming Campbell was a coach s pet They ridiculed him But the following summer even the agnostics had seen too much not to believe Everything Will does is about work Hard work stated former LSU edge rusher and fifth-round Patriots draft pick Bradyn Swinson That s a guy that s going to do everything right As a sophomore Campbell became a captain and earned a unique LSU honor the jersey No which according to the activity reflects the preponderance impactful athlete on the roster from the state of Louisiana Indeed his early arrivals to meetings and exhaustive film examination were as real as the pancake blocks he delivered on Saturdays Underneath all of his achievements and accolades Davis discovered something new Campbell is a pleaser at heart especially for those closest to him If he felt like he let me or his teammates down it absolutely crushed him Davis announced Absolutely crushed him I mean almost to a point where it was a detriment because you could just see his entire demeanor change Late in Campbell s sophomore season as LSU traded touchdowns every quarter in a shoot-out with Florida Davis poked at his pleasing nature hoping to stoke a fire within the captain and his association LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell celebrates with fans who stormed the field after an NCAA college football meeting against Alabama in Baton Rouge La Saturday Nov LSU won - in overtime AP Photo Tyler Kaufman After one drive Davis went down the bench addressing his offensive linemen He complimented the right tackle then slapped the shoulder pads of the right guard and praised the center Completely he reached Campbell Davis revealed nothing and walked away His silent scorn lit a fire of frustration in Campbell He barked at his coach as he walked away ironically toward a scoreboard that proved LSU s offense had already done its job and done it well Davis ignored him fueling the blaze he had left behind I knew that I made him feel like he wasn t living up to my expectation or his Davis remembered He went out the rest of that tournament and when I tell you he f these kids up he was playing against he went out there and tried to annihilate them LSU rolled - Instantly after the competition Campbell bee-lined for Davis at midfield He knew what his coach had done Oh is that good enough for you now Are you satisfied Campbell requested Davis smiled promising never to withhold his affection again LSU eventually finished - that season while Campbell clinched All-SEC honors The Tigers capped their season by edging Wisconsin - in a bowl event on New Year s Day a time to celebrate if there ever was one But four days after the bowl event the Campbells phone rang early in the morning All celebrating stopped and so did life as they knew it Pain to pride Will Campbell right stands with his late cousin Tarver Braddock before an LSU home meeting Courtesy the Campbell family Shortly before dawn broke on Jan a fire broke out at a hunting camp in Jefferson County Mississippi It started on the porch of a trailer then consumed everything around the six friends housed inside Five were left burned or lacerated upon their escape including Campbell s younger brother Thomas The other Tarver Braddock passed away Tarver was years old He was handsome Funny Athletic A light in the lives of those around him A cousin by blood Will considered Tarver a brother because their mothers sisters Holly Campbell and Lindsey Braddock sought it that way from the beginning They raised all of their children together including Tarver s older sister Stella in a unit that grew loved and learned together in Monroe Five days after the fire the family held services for Tarver where Will and Thomas served as pallbearers His death came three months after the loss of their shared grandfather Holly and Lindsey s father Billy Husted a pain Will silently held onto through the season But after Tarver s death Campbell chose to broadcast his latest loss to the world At present has officially been the hardest day of my life he wrote on Instagram You were my heart Not long after Campbell began pouring his pain into the field Will dove into his football even more than he already was Holly stated and just kind of used that as his avenue to deal with everything From left Brian Campbell Holly Campbell Will Campbell and Thomas Campbell stand on the field at Tiger Stadium Courtesy of the Campbell family He aimed to become the No overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft a new goal for his widely expected final season at LSU According to Davis Campbell pulled a freshman teammate along for the ride a member who displayed up late to meetings and never grabbed the right equipment in the weight room Campbell committed to calling him around a m bulk days during the season ensuring he arrived early enough for breakfast and remedy Then he sat with him in meetings and proven his feet and hands were properly taped before practice He likely saved this kid s career to be honest revealed Davis who declined to reveal the young player s identity One day that kid will call Will and thank him for caring about him as a person And it was it was one of the coolest things I ve ever seen in my life Every morning before LSU games Campbell and Davis broke bread at the squad hotel Without fail their talks started with the points of the Neville football tournament the night before Largest part times Campbell would later address the offense at his offensive coordinator s request rousing his teammates ahead of kickoff In quiet moments between the fiery speeches and personal chats two questions often surfaced in Davis mind What drives Will What does he want After the season and careful thought Davis turned to Tarver s memory It s almost like he feels like he has to fulfill his cousin s legacy by going out and having success Davis stated It s amazing Since Tarver s passing Campbell has run football camps and pickleball tournaments in his cousin s memory He s posed for billboards around town to draw attention to the Tarver Braddock Foundation He s spoken about Tarver in the media countless times Herndon who dealt with Tarver s passing every day back at Neville High pondered the same questions Davis did But he landed on a different answer I think everybody wants to be remembered for something And the first thing that comes to my mind I think Will wants to be remembered as being a really really good teammate Herndon mentioned Of having the ability to motivate everybody around him and get everybody moving in the same direction New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis Tuesday Feb AP Photo Michael Conroy Meanwhile almost miles to the north the Patriots located their own answers to these questions The front office considered Campbell a viable option for their No pick throughout the entire pre-draft process even after Vrabel and new vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden shook up the pecking order upon arriving in mid-January Two months later during his March visit to Foxboro Campbell sat inside a Gillette Stadium conference room for a vital pre-draft test Roughly a dozen Patriots staffers introduced themselves around the same table each for seconds or so They shared their names and background information involving their families hometowns or work histories By the time all introductions had completed Vrabel sought Campbell to repeat what he had learned Campbell spat back answers on every staffer Which left only one question the significance or lack thereof of Campbell s short arms His arms measured inches at LSU s Pro Day considered the bare minimum for NFL offensive tackles and he recorded the shortest wingspan of any offensive tackle to attend the combine since Since then no athlete at his position has made the Pro Bowl or All-Pro gang with such measurements Campbell also allowed two sacks in his final season His film manifested a small tendency to set aggressively to his left in pass protection perhaps in efforts to compensate for his lack of length which let wily opponents slip inside and generate pressure Specific evaluators considered Campbell was best suited as an NFL guard Not that he nor those close to him agreed An issue the media created Davis stated of the arm length We never ever even thought about it here His film speaks for itself Whatever doubt people may have had he s gonna shut that up Stewart answered I guarantee it For two years nobody had any measurements on me and nobody stated anything about my play So now all of a sudden arm length decides if I m a good performer or not Campbell disclosed at his Pro Day I think it s BS With days left until the draft there was one way to find out Running no more Patriots rookie Will Campbell speaks to the media as the Patriots hold rookie minicamp on Friday in Foxboro Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald So there they were Vrabel and the son of a coach and northeast Ohio across from a kindred football spirit less than half his age Two men born into a life they chose to run with now colliding The punches Campbell delivered were less muscles contracting than generations of Louisiana firing Because legacy means inheriting a shared past and the obligation to move it forward He shoulders that every time he goes on the field Herndon announced He knows exactly who he represents This was for Monroe For Bull For Holly For Thomas For Tarver Vrabel opened with run-blocking drills Then he went after Campbell s arm length testing his ability to recover in pass protection Vrabel offered feedback after every rep sometimes about his hand placement or footwork Campbell sweated throughout the workout next to Miles Frazier an LSU teammate and future third-round pick of the Lions Selected reps were purely technical others more of a brawl Campbell even put Vrabel on the ground At last the head coach slipped his blocking pad off He got what he desired a decisive yet sanctioned defeat The workout ended Campbell took the Patriots out to lunch at Phil s one of his favorite local joints Officially it s a Baton Rouge oyster bar and seafood restaurant Unofficially it s a shrine to campus heroes past and present with LSU memorabilia draped all over the walls The lunch lasted two hours in a back room Once the Patriots left Campbell still had eight days to wait for the draft He called his dad What s your gut telling you Bull urged My gut says I m going to New England he replied On April the Patriots selected Campbell with the No overall pick The decision had been made days earlier settled by Campbell s performance in the workout We coveted this contestant Vrabel admitted on draft night Two weeks later on a drive to uproot their son in Baton Rouge and begin his move to New England Holly and Bull retold the story of draft night in Green Bay How they had huddled backstage in the green room with Will Thomas the Braddocks more family and LSU coaches How they roared after the phone call a release after years of Neville football games and Louisiana dreams The moment of a lifetime paid for by lifetimes working for a moment A minute passed between the time Will s phone lit up and his selection was declared Holly revealed it felt like The celebration rolled off stage and back to the Marriott hotel where they were staying The next morning Patriots staffers met the Campbells in the lobby at The family was escorted to a nearby airport where a private jet waited to rush them to Foxboro The Campbells climbed aboard Will could completely stop running It was time to fly