By Adam Cole Opelika Auburn (Ala.) News
This Saturday is a date Kris has been circling Abrams-Draine for quite some time.
It’ll be a reunion for the Missouri defender, the Mobile native’s first time playing soccer in his home state since moving west in 2020, and he’ll have family and friends heading north for the three hours to catch up on the game. sit in the stands at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Abrams-Draine will also have a friend on the sidelines of the opposing team in Auburn defender DJ James. That will be a reunion in the works as the two go way back. They were youth teammates and inseparable friends in high school, playing for a Spanish Fort team that scored 32-7 in their three seasons together.
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“We’ve come a long way,” Abrams-Draine said. “We are both still chasing our dream and doing it right. … And he’s just like my brother. For example, I call him my brother. We did everything together in high school, since freshman year, so (we) just built that bond and we’re close to this day.”
Both have played significant roles in their respective programs. James was one of Auburn’s best defensive defenders for three games, despite a shaky start for the team. He registered his first start against Penn State, registering four tackles and two breaks. He has been targeted 12 times in three weeks, more than any other Auburn defender, and allowed only three receptions.
“DJ James brought a lot of knowledge to the unit, brought a lot of experience from Oregon,” said Auburn safety officer Zion Puckett. “I just feel it’s bad to play on his side, every game he gets a lot of confidence.”
Missouri defensive back Kris Abrams-Draine, right, breaks a pass intended for Vanderbilt wide receiver Will Sheppard, left, in the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday 30 Oct. 2021in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mark Humphrey
Abrams-Draine came to Missouri as a receiver and transitioned to defense as a sophomore, but he made quick work of the position shift, generating 37 tackles, three interceptions and 10 PBUs a year ago, and he is already considered by some to be a top designer. .
Their success in college football started with their roots in Mobile, as they played in the same youth league and even spent a year on the same team with the Mobile Panthers. Drew Thomas, who coached the Panthers travel team, trained both James and Abrams-Draine as they got older, saying both are “like sons to me.”
“They pushed each other,” Thomas said. “It was always a competitive thing, but it was friendly, it was like a friendly competition. They always respected each other. They always pushed each other to get better.”
Although the two knew each other at a young age, their friendship blossomed when Abrams-Draine started high school. Both Kris’ mother, Pamela Abrams, and DJ’s father, Desmon James, recall that the duo were inseparable.
“They’ve been best buddies, man,” Desmon said. “I mean, when I tell you, (Kris) came to my house, spent the night, the weekend, and then my wife would cook the good Sunday dinner and all that good stuff, and then DJ would go to (Kris’) mama’s home and spend the night or a weekend.”
Auburn’s DJ James warms up for Auburn’s game against Mercer on September 3 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Justin Lee/
Abrams-Draine was a standout athlete at Spanish Fort, playing multiple spots on the football field, including quarterback in his senior year, as well as basketball for the Toros en route to being considered a standout receiver.
James was used to football and shined between the sidelines, with 43 tackles, six interceptions and 16 PBU as a senior, but Ben Blackmon recalls that the defensive back was somewhat understaffed when he went to Oregon high school. Then the head coach of the Spanish Fort, Blackmon also remembered the friendly competition between James and Abrams-Draine.
“They are both good friends, they both believe in themselves a lot and they will both tell you that they would both win the battle between each other,” Blackmon said.
Neither Blackmon nor Abrams-Draine remembers many specific matchups or moments. Their minds return to the intensity of those in-practice matches, but for a moment Kris catches his eye, particularly of a practice against DJ for about 20 college scouts.
“I think it was me,” Abrams-Draine says without hesitation.
For Blackmon, those matches are what helped the duo the most.
Auburn’s DJ James (4) knocks Mercer’s Devron Harper (1) off the track on Sept. 3 in Auburn.
Adam Sparks,
“Every time you have to compete every day in training against the quality of the athlete they both are, it just makes you better, you know?” said Blackmon. “That’s the selling point of playing in the SEC.
“They both wanted to play in the SEC, they both got their chance, because when you play in the SEC you play against the best of the best and also in training day in, day out. So it really forces you to step up your game every time you play.
“And it not only made them better, but it made our whole team better because they all saw how hard they were fighting and it made them want to fight that way too.”
The goal of high school was for them to both end up in the same college, Abrams-Draine said, but it didn’t work out in the end. Still, whether James was in Oregon or since he’s been back in Alabama, the two remain close, and Abrams-Draine even occasionally texts him to answer questions about the pass coverage technique.
And while everyone involved is looking forward to Saturday’s game, they are also looking forward to the end of it.
“I’m looking forward to seeing DJ and Kris after the game, when they hug and see each other,” Desmon said. “As for those guys, the only way they can see each other is talk on the phone. They can’t really get a hug or anything, that sort of thing, just the love they both have for each other, so that’s what I just want to see.’
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