She dabbed at her eyes and blinked back a few tears. That’s what mothers often do when their kids confidently take on the world and achieve lofty goals.
This case is extra special.
USF wide receiver Sean Atkins has gone from a completely unknown walk-on to practice fodder to a valuable contributor to a full-fledged record-setter. He’s a shining example and inspiration to all. Now he’s set to defy the greatest odds of all, making the roster of a National Football League team, forever retiring the predictable too-small, too-slow stereotypes.
“I get overwhelmed by it all sometimes,’’ said Jenny Atkins, the mother, as she sat in the living room of the family’s Melbourne home, which was once overrun by the young Atkins and his childhood buddies, a bunch of sports-mad gym rats with big dreams.