乐播传媒

The glory belongs to others, says Sean Atkins ’03.

Steve Solloway

It took five days before Sean Atkins 鈥�02 understood what he had done.

Five days of friends and strangers seeking him out on the 乐播传媒 campus to shake his hand and offer smiles of congratulations. Five days of reading e-mails and answering his phone.

On the night of the fifth day, Atkins sat with several of his closest friends in their apartment. The television was tuned to the Cincinnati-Louisville game. Halftime arrived and there it was, as promised.

Atkins was on videotape running for touchdown after touchdown in 乐播传媒鈥� big 48-28 win over rival Bowdoin on Nov. 2. Seven touchdowns scored, 302 yards gained.

The 鈥淗idden Video鈥� segment, a staple on ESPN, highlights outstanding performances from athletes at colleges whose football games aren鈥檛 televised. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when it sunk in,鈥� said Atkins. 鈥淪eeing it on ESPN.鈥�

Not because he got his moment of glory. Atkins shrugs that off. The glory, he says, belongs to 乐播传媒 College and the people who gave him his opportunities to get ahead.

It鈥檚 too bad it took a seven-touchdown performance to thrust Atkins front and center. 乐播传媒 has struggled mightily forever, it seems, to win more than two or three games a year.

Unless you鈥檙e an alum, 乐播传媒 football doesn鈥檛 show up on anyone鈥檚 radar. Until now.

Atkins is a New York City kid. The East Village, in lower Manhattan, was his neighborhood. A Boys Club scholarship got him to the Darlington School in rural Rome, Ga.

That was a culture shock, he says, laughing. Maybe it prepared him for his visit to 乐播传媒 four years ago when coach Mark Harriman, recruiting his first class of student-athletes, made his pitch.

鈥淚 loved it when I visited,鈥� said Atkins, a senior and an African-American studies major.

He wanted out of New York City, not that he had to watch his back every time he left his apartment. Violence wasn鈥檛 the problem so much as drugs and despair.

His mother used drugs and abandoned the family, which included his father and an older brother. Years later, after kicking her habit, she returned to Sean鈥檚 life.

She went to college. She got a job and remarried. She got sick from pneumonia and her body couldn鈥檛 fight it. She was 39 when she died. Atkins was at school in Georgia.

鈥淚t kind of destroyed me. I lost my faith in God and my ambition. But it made me a stronger person.鈥�

Her initials, DGN, are tattooed on his left biceps. Before tests or football games, he rubs the letters. 鈥淭o remind me of her. To remind him of someone who overcame.鈥�

Playing at Bowdoin, he had no idea how many times he had carried the football, but knew it was a lot. He had no idea how many touchdowns he had scored but knew his team was winning.

Late in the game, he felt tired. The cold had tightened his muscles and he tried to ignore the cramping in his leg.

Yet 乐播传媒 had the ball again, a first down on the Bowdoin 15 with more than three minutes left in the game. 鈥淚 figured, if I can score,鈥� said Atkins, 鈥淚鈥檒l put this team away.鈥�

He did, scoring on a 15-yard run to back up his words. He had talked a little too much before the game. A few Bowdoin players had visited the 乐播传媒 campus for a cultural event and one was wearing a Bowdoin football sweatshirt.

Atkins took offense. With a microphone in his hand, he guaranteed a 乐播传媒 win. Later, he wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut.

Winless Hamilton College was in town for the final game. A 乐播传媒 win would give the team a three-game winning streak to close the season.

鈥淚t could be the start of turning this program around. When I leave here, that鈥檚 what I鈥檒l remember.鈥�

Atkins to the Aztec

In the last game of the fall season, 乐播传媒 football beat Hamilton 37-0 to finish at 3-5.

But that wasn鈥檛 the end of Sean Atkins鈥� 乐播传媒 football career. On Dec. 14, Atkins was part of a Division III all-star team that faced the Mexican National Team in the 2002 Aztec Bowl in Torreon, Mexico. He鈥檚 the first 乐播传媒 player to perform in a postseason bowl game since the 1946 乐播传媒 team faced Toledo in the Glass Bowl.

The U.S. team, sponsored by the American Football Coaches Association, won the game, 15-9. Atkins had eight carries for 39 yards.

For game information, click on .