From B-L to the NFL, and back: Dontrelle Inman spreads message of hard work
When Dontrelle Inman was working on T-shirts for his first football camp, he made sure to include one of his go-to words on the back of them – More.
Inman said the word has been part of philosophy from when he was a standout at Batesburg-Leesville to his college days at Virginia and now going into his fourth year as a receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers.
“My mentality is, I always needed more,” Inman said Saturday at his free camp at Lexington High School. “Never be complacent because complacency in the end lands you on the couch. You won’t have a job. So the more you do, the more you get, the more you work.”
Inman, a member of Batesburg-Leesville’s 2005 state championship team, has put in the work on his road to the NFL. He went undrafted coming out of Virginia in 2011 and signed with Jacksonville before being cut.
Inman then played for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. The 6-foot-3 receiver spent two seasons with the Argos and won a Grey Cup Championship before landing with the Chargers in 2014.
Inman had his best season last year, hauling in 58 passes for 810 yards and four touchdowns.
“He is a special guy and special person, so none of his success is a surprise to me,” said Courtney McInnis, who coached Inman at B-L and is an assistant coach at White Knoll. “He had a great attitude and was never down on his teammates. He is a great kid to be around. He wanted to make everyone better.
“For him to show back up and give back to community is just special. Kids love it. Because they see, ‘If he could do it then I could do it too, go to college and get a degree.’ ”
McInnis was one of the camp’s coaches along a few of Inman’s former teammates and friends.
Inman said the camp was full with 100 players signed up. He hopes to do more things like it in the future.
“Had the time to do it this year and made it my priority to do it,” Inman said.
Inman’s priority now will be to get ready for the season, and he is getting adjusted to the Chargers’ move to Los Angeles. In May, he had surgery to repair an injured core muscle but should be ready for training camp in July.
Inman will be one of two S.C. natives in the Chargers’ receiving corps after the team drafted Clemson standout Mike Williams in the first round.
“I haven’t worked with him too much, but he is a great kid,” Inman said of Williams. “He competes and we saw it in the championship game. And he is from South Carolina, so that means a lot.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "From B-L to the NFL, and back: Dontrelle Inman spreads message of hard work."