Born to Lead - The Birth of The General - Elam
by RamTheChosenOne | 3 years ago | 0 Comments
Born to Lead
Before he’d ever thought about being drafted or playing in the National Football Red Zone League, Derek Elam was named Cadet Colonel in his JROTC class in 7th grade, a post usually reserved for those significantly more senior than him. “He just oozed confidence, command, and charisma, the older members, to a man, recognized how special he was and each one of them followed him,” his commanding officer recalled.
Elam was valedictorian of his class, he academically finished high school at the age of 16. He was offered full academic scholarships to every ivy league school in the country, but had his sights set on West Point. He never imagined a career in football, his imagination hadn’t even considered it. He says, he’s always planned to be the Secretary of State then Commander in Chief. As a native North Carolinian and avid football fan, Cam Newton has always been his favorite football player. But his true role models were Colin Powell and Barack Obama. His ethos summed by these two quotes from Secretary Powell: “Leadership is solving problems,” and “Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”
Once Elam academically finished high school, he decided he would attend West Point and begin his journey toward sitting in the nation’s highest political seats. Then, he won North Carolina’s Gatorade athlete of the year and led the Ardrey Kell High Knights to state championship victories, twice. That’s when every blue-chip college football powerhouse came calling. But Elam still had other plans. After significant discussions with those closest to him, and a quite persuasive recruitment pitch from Coach Cutcliffe - he decided he would continue his football career in college. Elam credits Coach Cutcliffe’s clarity, vision, and honesty for why he ultimately decided he could do both, pursue a career in football and then try and be the leader of the free world. Drawn to the idea of turning around a football program through effective leadership and to the fact that Duke has one of the most competitive ROTC programs in the nation, Elam had cast his lot.
He majored in military science and achieved his degree in 3 years. He turned the Duke football program around, winning 3 ACC titles and an Orange Bowl in his 3 years. He declared for the NFL draft after his junior season.
Elam was not among the elite QB prospects in the 2022 Draft. His tangible skills were adequate but not spectacular, however he blew the Carolina Panthers’ conglomerate away in pre-draft interviews and Coach/GM Ballard knew that Elam was rarely gifted. The Panthers took him with the 30th pick in the 6th round.
Elam was thrust into his first NFL game in week 1 of his first season. Sam Darnold was benched and Elam stepped in to throw for 185 yards and 3 TDs in less than a half of football, which raised eyebrows around the league, and served as exhibit A for Ballard, as evidence that he was right about what he had. Throughout the rest of 2022 – a season that ended in a Super Bowl lost for the Panthers, Elam had spot duty and didn’t do quite as well as he had to start. In 2023, though – after Darnold had a bout with COVID – Elam took the reins and has not looked back.
According to some Panthers locker room lore, former teammate – Robbie Anderson coronated Elam “The General,” aka “Baby Brady,” aka “Mini-Goat” during the 2023 season. A campaing in which Elam piloted the Panthers offense to a record 4 – 1,000 yard receivers, and threw for 4600 yards, 38 touchdowns and 10 picks in 14 full games of action. He ranked as one of the most efficient QBs in RedZone. Ballard believes this is just the tip of the iceberg for “The General,” but all Elam is focused on is solving problems and keeping excellence as his attitude, back to that ethos informed by Secretary Powell. “I just want to do what I need to do, whatever that is for these guys to be successful. The way last season ended was not what we hoped for and it’s my job to lead us where we want to be.”
There’s no doubt in Charlotte, that he’s just the man for the job.