Clark: Keyshawn Helton's story is definition of hope, perseverance

It was a scene that would make any Florida State fan smile.

It took place early last February. Willie Taggart, barely unpacked in Tallahassee, brought Keyshawn Helton and family into his office at the end of an official visit.

National Signing Day was about 72 hours away, and the undersized receiver was running out of options. He had been offered scholarships by some smaller schools, but those spots were being filled up as he waited, hoped and prayed for an offer from his dream school instead.

One that he wasn't sure was ever going to come.

Taggart didn't even know Helton existed until a coach at a rival high school in Pensacola told him about the kid at West Florida High that he needed to watch.

Now, he had him in his office. Sitting at a table. Surrounded by his family.

And he said those words.

The words that would change Keyshawn Helton's life forever. The words that made all of those tear-filled, anxious nights worth it.

Taggart told him: I want to offer you a scholarship to Florida State University.

"It was just tears flowing down our faces," Helton said. "It was a dream come true for me."

We hear that a lot, don't we?

Well, maybe not the first part about the tears. But many of the young men who end up signing with Florida State say it's their dream school. We hear it so much that it's almost become a cliche.

Keyshawn Helton isn't most kids, though. This really is his dream.

He had flown almost completely under the radar as a recruit. Even though he is the nephew of NFL Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, it seems almost nobody in major college football circles had heard of the kid. And if they had, they thought he was too small to be an impact player in their program.

But Helton knew better, never losing faith that he belonged in big-time college football.

"Ever since I started playing football, I've been the smallest one on my football team," Helton said. "So I've always had people tell me I'm too small to do something, too little, too weak. So I've just always played with that chip on my shoulder."

Some kids, after being told time and again that they aren't a Power 5 football player, start to believe it. And they end up committing to a Central Arkansas or a Coastal Carolina -- two of the few schools that offered him a scholarship his senior year.

Not Keyshawn Helton, though. He held out, even if it meant losing some of those fallback plans.

Helton said Florida State has always been his favorite school. Not just because of the proximity to his hometown, but because his mother went to school here. He's been wearing garnet and gold practically his whole life.

And he truly believed he could play at FSU. That he could help the Seminoles win football games.

But as 2017 turned into 2018, as National Signing Day got closer and closer, the West Florida High star had no real Plan B if Florida State didn't work out.

"There was no school I could call and say I want to commit," he said.

Which made for some emotional moments as the wait for a scholarship offer from the Seminoles continued into the final weekend of the recruiting cycle.