Bevins tells students to ‘adapt and overcome’

Improvise, adapt and overcome.

Creston native Collin Bevins told an audience of local students here Wednesday that the mantra repeatedly told to him by his head football coach at Northwest Missouri State University has served him well over an injury-plagued career as a Bearcat All-American player.

Bevins overcame the uncertainty of his college future after deciding to transfer as a freshman on scholarship at Iowa State University. Then, he dealt with a series of injuries during his four-year career in Maryville, including a painful sprained foot that limited his playing time Saturday in Northwest’s second consecutive national championship game victory. (He limped across the Creston Community Middle School gym Wednesday, wearing an orthopedic walking boot.)

As a Bearcat football player, Bevins finished with more national championships than losses, with a 55-2 overall record and three national titles during those four years.

Now, he’s projected to be the second Creston native to be asked to an NFL training camp next summer. The first was former Iowa quarterback Kyle McCann, who participated in a New York Jets training camp and played in the NFL Europe league.

As the featured speaker at Wednesday’s character rally at Creston Community Middle School, Bevins delivered a message about overcoming obstacles and staying persistent on the path toward a goal.

On his journey to All-American status and the owner of three NCAA Division II national championship rings, Bevins spent a lot of time in the training room dealing with injuries.

Injury history

Last year, Bevins suffered a torn hip labrum in the first game of the season. He missed two games before returning with a constricting brace, but still set Northwest Missouri State records for quarterback sacks and tackles for losses in a season from his defensive end position. He underwent surgery on Jan. 8 and missed all of spring drills.

Bevins also had a hyperextended elbow his junior season and played several games with a bulky brace on his left arm.

As a sophomore, Bevins was sidelined for a brief time near the end of the regular season with a concussion. It was his only season as a Bearcat the team didn’t go on to win a national championship.

His freshman year, he was inured in the first round of the playoffs with a partial MCL tear in his knee and had arthroscopic surgery the following April.

This year, Bevins was sailing along injury-free for the Bearcats on their way to extending their winning streak to 30 games, until the final minute of the 35-20 semifinal victory at home over Ferris State University. A 315-pound offensive tackle from Ferris State fell on his right ankle and foot while being penalized for holding against Bevins on a pass rush.

While his teammates were running onto the field in celebration about a return to the championship game in Kansas City, Kansas, Bevins was on crutches hoping to be able to play one week later.

He gave it a shot in brutal weather conditions Saturday — 12 degrees at kickoff with -5 wind chill and heavy snowfall during the game. But the combination of severe pain and being unable to get solid footing in the snow led to a mutual decision between Bevins and his coaches to only substitute occasionally during the game to give other defensive ends a rest, rather than play full-time as he had all season.

At 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, Bevins became the team’s biggest cheerleader that day. He still relished in the team’s third championship during his career, and sixth overall in school history, but he had hoped to make more of a contribution on the field.

Life sometimes throws you a curveball, Bevins told the young students Wednesday.

Overcoming adversity

“When I was asked to speak today about what it takes to be successful, I wanted to say it’s not a road map where you always know it will take you,” Bevins said. “Everything does not happen as you would plan it out and imagine it to be now as an eighth-grader.

“Coach (Adam) Dorrel always told us, ‘Improvise, adapt and overcome.’ I had to improvise on the fly several times. It made me stronger as a person. All those things made me push myself mentally to come out stronger. You have to overcome and make the best of your opportunities.”

Any of those injuries could have discouraged him from continuing his football journey, Bevins said. But if he gave up, he wouldn’t be the NFL prospect that he is today.

“I always went to my coaches for guidance on what I should be doing,” he said. “Nothing worthwhile comes easy. Over time, more and more of my dreams became a reality.”

Bevins was a state-champion wrestler, all-state football player and standout in track and soccer for the Panthers in high school. He was named the 2012 Creston High School Outstanding Male Athlete. But, he said something was missing from his high school career when he looks back.

Bevins admitted that he did not take school seriously enough in middle school and high school, which made college more difficult than it would have been with better preparation.

“I was one of those kids who would just get by,” Bevins said. “I was not in school for school; I was in school for athletics. That’s really not the way to go about it. Once I got to college it was a shock at first, getting used to the academics. If you learn how to apply yourself now and really focus on your academics, it will be much easier in college than it was for me in the beginning.”

Next step

Now, as the Northwest Missouri State career leader in quarterback sacks and tackles for losses, Bevins looks to follow in the footsteps of the former Bearcat defensive end who previously held those records. Former Bearcat Matt Longacre is a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams.

Bevins, a senior at Northwest, will take the spring semester off to train full-time for a possible professional opportunity at the Bommarito Performance System facility in Miami, Florida.

“Right now I’ll rehab my foot and fly down to Miami around the first of January,” Bevins said. “I’ll be there eight to 12 weeks, depending on whether I get an invite to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in February. They invite 56 defensive linemen, and some of the agents I’ve been talking to said it’s pretty likely I’ll be invited.

“Hopefully I’ll get a chance in a (NFL) camp and I can always come back in the offseason to finish school,” said Bevins, an education major who has been preparing to be a teacher and coach. “Matt Longacre comes back in the summers to work on his degree.”

On Wednesday, Bevins spoke of playing in seventh grade for coach Dick Clark, who still holds that position while also teaching science at Creston Community Middle School. He said that was the start of his football career that may culminate in his childhood dream of being an NFL player.

He reflected on the 11-year journey from that seventh-grade season as students lined up to get his autograph and have their picture taken with him Wednesday afternoon.

“Now this game turns into a business,” he said.