Armari Durham has always dreamed of playing football at the college level, and he recently took a step in the right direction to achieve that goal.
Durham, a former Greene County football star, recently signed with the Naples Knights Football Academy, a college preparatory program.
The NKFA was built for student-athletes who need to gain more film or exposure and receive help with their academics.
Durham graduated in May and found this opportunity via social media. He thinks it will give him a chance to grow both as a football player and a person.
“This program is only for six months, and it is just to get more film and get my grades to where they’re supposed to be,” Durham said. “I’m going to use this to my advantage because not too many people get second chances.”
Durham isn’t the biggest guy on the field. At 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, he is a little undersized for the college level, so he didn’t get much attention from coaches.
However, Durham said that “size doesn’t matter” to the coaches at the Naples Knights Football Academy.
“They like my strength and how I’m willing to give my body up,” Durham said. “I feel like size doesn’t matter, and you can do whatever you put your mind to. You can do it, because at Greene County, the teams that we played were a lot bigger, stronger, and faster. But I feel like I made an impact in every game we played. So I feel like size doesn’t matter at all.”
Durham can back up his words. He was the team’s second-leading rusher last season, totaling 769 yards and 10 touchdowns on only 86 carries. Durham averaged nearly 8.9 yards per carry as a senior.
Durham aspires to play running back at the next level and believes the coaches at the NKFA will help him succeed.
“They run a spread offense, but they depend on their run game a lot,” Durham said. “They feel like I’d be a great fit into their offense because of my skill set.”
Durham wants to develop more as a player on the field and showcase his skills, while also improving his grades, hoping that a college will recognize his potential.
Football means everything to Durham, and he doesn’t want to waste this opportunity.
“Football means a lot to me because it has shown me discipline, hard work, and I have also learned a lot of different skills,” Durham said. “It has shown me how to become a man and how I deal with emotions. I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got when I’m on and off the field, and I want to show I’m not going to disappoint anybody.”
Durham will move to Florida and enroll at the NKFA later this summer.