Two checks, one path altered: How a timely Discover card envelope forever changed Dabo Swinney's life
CLEMSON, S.C. — Dabo Swinney called his mother from Tuscaloosa, Ala., in August 1989 and delivered the bad news. He owed his landlord, Mr. Cotton, $400 in back rent for Unit 81 at the Fontainebleau apartment complex. He owed the University of Alabama about $550 for half of his tuition for the fall semester, and if he didn't pay it by the next day, his enrollment in classes would be canceled.
Swinney, who was trying to become the first in his family to graduate from college, had hit a wall. His Pell Grant and financial aid money hadn't yet arrived. His mother, Carol, didn't have the money. His father was struggling with alcoholism. The walk-on receiver for the Crimson Tide needed almost $1,000 to continue his redshirt freshman year, but he couldn't make the money appear from thin air. "I had no answers," Swinney recalled. "A thousand dollars. At that time, it might as well have been a million for me."
With all hope lost, Swinney got on his knees and prayed. He didn't expect a miracle. He expected he would return to Pelham, Ala., the map dot between Birmingham and Montgomery where he was raised. He would work. He would scrape together the money. Then he would return to Tuscaloosa and continue. Would his spot on Alabama's football roster still be there? He didn't know. But he was at peace with his choice—probably because he didn't have one.
Later, Swinney walked past the basketball court and laundromat to the mail area at the Fontainebleau. He found a stack waiting for him. Tucked between all the pizza coupons was an envelope from Discover. Swinney opened it and read the enclosed letter. He didn't completely understand what it offered, but he recognized what he saw below the letter. "There were two checks attached to it with perforated edges," Swinney said. "Two checks. It makes me have chills to even think about it right now."
(CampusRush.com)
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