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PROVO -- Corby Eason has shown well this fall after committing to the BYU football program just short of two months before joining the team for the 2009 season. His contributions to this year's team have been well-noted by fans after just two games as he's been seen subbing in for Brandon Bradley at the boundary corner position.
For those who know him best, it was only a matter of time before he started to contribute on a regular basis.
"Corby, that's my boy right there", complimented fellow defensive back and close friend Brian Logan. "We knew from day one that he could play and now that he's been here and that he knows the system he's making plays every time we're out there."
"I love Corby Eason", added Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall. "He's a good player, a good student and he's a really good fit for BYU and I'm really glad he's here in this program."
Eason hails from Columbus, Georgia, but came to BYU via Erie Community College in New York where he played just one year of junior college ball. He had a close associate who encouraged him to join him up there in hopes of leaving for Division I football after hopefully just one year of play.
"I knew I was good enough to play Division I football, so I didn't want to stay there any longer than I had to", he explained.
He played well enough to garner some attention from such programs as UCLA, Arizona St., Marshall and Maryland, but none of those schools had a spot for him immediately after his first year, which was his main goal.
One school that did come through with an offer was Marshall, which he strongly considered until BYU came calling.
"I didn't really know anything about BYU except that Steve Young played there", recalled Eason. "I loved watching Steve Young play and I sort of followed him, so that made me interested in BYU for sure."
He was recruited by wide receivers coach Patrick Higgins who helped arrange an official trip for Eason. After his official trip, he quickly committed while choosing to forgo his scheduled trip to Marshall.
"I loved BYU from the second I stepped on campus", he said. "It felt a lot like home to me which might seem weird to people considering that I'm a minority and not LDS. It just felt more like home than New York did and that‘s for sure. Everyone was friendly, like they are at home in Georgia. In New York, nobody says ‘hi' to you and nobody seems to care to know you, but at BYU, it was like it was at home."
Eason battled well during his first year and earned himself a spot on the two-deep roster. During that first year he made an immediate impression on his teammates as someone who was completely committed to the BYU football program.
"From day one, Corby just did his work", recalled Logan. "He's never a guy who complains, has an attitude or anything and he's really helped me since we got here at the same time. We're like brothers and he's a great example to everyone on this team on how to go about your business and you're seeing that pay off this year. He's put in the work and he's really helping us."
This year he's continued to make a big impression on his teammates, coaches and now fans who have witnessed some impressive play from him early on during the season.
While Eason is slow to talk about any success he's had on the football field, Logan is not.
"If every player on this team had the work ethic and attitude of Corby, I really don't think we'd ever lose," Logan said. "He's worked as hard, if not harder, than anyone on this team. He really is an inspiration to me and its great seeing all his hard work pay off."
He's also seen a lot of success off of the football field both academically and socially. While it is extremely tough for some minority non-LDS athletes to fit in at BYU, Eason feels it hasn't been a challenge at all.
"I thought it would be and I had a lot of people telling me it would be before I got here, but it really hasn't been tough at all," he said about fitting in at BYU. "BYU's standards are my standards and even though we look different and our beliefs are a bit different, we all believe in God; we all believe in living clean lives and just focusing on how we're the same is what makes it easy.
"I feel a lot more at home here than I did in New York, that's for sure. BYU is like a home to me now and it's really always felt that way to me. BYU really fits who I am as a person."
