University of North Carolina Athletics
Where Mapp Leads, Tar Heels Follow
October 10, 2007 | Football
Oct. 10, 2007
By Turner Walston
Durell Mapp has something to prove. The senior linebacker leads the Tar Heels in tackles, and he's started since he was a sophomore. But the success he's had didn't come easy. It never has.
Mapp played both offense and defense for Cummings High School in Burlington. In 2002, he was named Most Valuable Player as he led the Cavaliers to a state championship. But he didn't get the scholarship offers he was looking for. "A lot of schools didn't want me," he says. "Most (Division II) schools didn't even want me." His lone offer was a partial scholarship to Catawba College.
So Mapp decided he would spend a year at Fork Union Military Academy, a college preparatory school that produced Tar Heel Jermaine Strong. Mapp worked out at two combines at the school, one for the school's football team and another for Division I scouts. "It was a little bit of pressure," Mapp says of the workouts. "I wanted to go out there and prove a point. I knew I was Division I material."
His inspiration came from his parents, Alexander and Deborah, and brothers Terome and Jermod. "I told my [family], I said, `I know I'm better than this. I know that I'm better than a Division II athlete that doesn't even have a full scholarship.'" Mapp's family stood behind him. "They said `We believe the same thing. We back you up 100 percent,' and they've just always been by me."
Mapp proved his point at the combine. Carolina coaches contacted Fork Union coach John Shuman, and he joined the team one day prior to the opening of Tar Heel training camp.
Was he overlooked for a reason? Mapp was eager to find out at his first college practice. "Maybe I'm not that type of player," he said to himself. He quickly learned that he shouldn't have doubted himself. "I thought, `Hey, I'm just as good as anyone," he says. "This is Division I football. I don't see any reason why I was overlooked."
Mapp paid his own tuition his first semester, with the promise of a scholarship beginning the next spring. He says he caught the coaches' eyes that first year, biding his time in practice. The hard work would pay off. As a sophomore, Mapp earned six starts at middle linebacker. In 2006, the junior nailed down his starting role at weak-side linebacker, and led the team in tackles. This season, Mapp continues to be a difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball. He currently leads the team with 62 combined tackles (his next-closest teammate has 36), and snagged his first career interception last week against Miami.
So how does an invited walk-on work his way up the depth chart to become a defensive leader as a junior and senior? Perhaps that perceived slight after high school helped Mapp's career after all. He continues to believe he has something to prove, every game, every practice and every play. "I stay with a chip on my shoulder to this day," he says. "For the simple fact that I've been overlooked all my life. I'm still being overlooked in many cases."
Last season, Mapp says coaches approached him about taking on a leadership role on the defense. "They said we needed some leaders on the team," he says. "I started stepping up and training for the leader role. Now, my senior year, I believe I'm a pretty good leader and I believe most of the guys would tell you that."
What does it mean to be a leader? "You've got to put your emphasis on team, and what helps the team," Mapp says. "You've got to talk to the other guys and try to get them to follow. You really can't lead if you can't do what you're asking other people to do."
Mapp hopes his experience and leadership will help earn him the chance to be the latest Tar Heel walk-on to walk all the way to an NFL roster. He would like to join the ranks of players such as Wallace Wright, Greg Warren and David Thornton. Mapp had the opportunity to work out with Thornton a few times in the off-season. "He just told me to keep on pushing," Mapp says. "[Thornton] said, `You've got the same chip that I have, that you want to prove everybody that you are good . . . the caliber athlete to play on this level. He told me to keep my head up and keep pushing."
Though this is his last season in Carolina blue, Mapp says he's proud of the turnaround he's helped engineer. "This season really lays the foundation of what this team can be in later years," he says. "We're doing a bunch of good things right now that are going to pave the way."
