Dontari Poe, the Carolina Panthers' new nose tackle, is 6-foot-3 and well over 300 pounds.
But he giggles softly when he considers that, if not for his prodigious size, nobody would know he's an NFL player.
This is because Poe is low-key, softspoken and earnestly friendly. He prefers to be a part of a group of family or friends rather than the headliner of a crowd. He shakes the hand of everybody he meets. He's a hugger. And he is still closest with the group of friends he made at Wooddale High School in Memphis, Tenn.
He says they keep him honest and humble.