Chartric Darby’s ambition when he played football at South Carolina State was to be one of the best defenders in school history.
 
That was a pretty lofty goal considering the list of defensive players who have worn the garnet and blue for the Bulldogs over the years: names such as Pro Football Hall of Famers Deacon Jones and Harry Carson and Black College Football Hall of Famers Donnie Shell and Robert Porcher.
 
Darby got his wish, however. The four-year starter, two-time First Team All-MEAC pick and 1997 All-American joined his fellow Bulldogs in the MEAC Hall of Fame when he was enshrined during an awards brunch at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Va., on March 8.
 
“Just getting the opportunity to be mentioned as one of the best in the MEAC is great,” said Darby, who played defensive tackle at South Carolina State from 1994-97. “The Fathers who played before me made a statement. They did what they had to do, and they changed the game. It means the world to me to be acknowledged among some of the best in the MEAC.”
 
Other members of the 2018 MEAC Hall of Fame Class are Bethune-Cookman safety Nick Collins, Morgan State volleyball athlete Ja Nina Lee, South Carolina State women’s basketball athlete Charlene Johnson and Howard University quarterback Jay Walker.
 
He went on play 11 seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions. Darby was inducted into the South Carolina State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006, and in 2007 he was named to the Bulldog Centennial Football team.
 
“I always prayed on it, but I never paid attention to it,” said Darby of his Hall of Fame selection. “It’s big to me. I never thought about it. It’s a blessing that it came about. I can’t put in words how I feel. I’m thrilled.”
 
Darby describes his as a “tough journey” to the Hall of Fame
 
The North, S.C., native grew up watching South Carolina State. His uncle, Frankie Darby, had been a fullback for the Bulldogs and he would take him to games. However, the younger Darby, like many young athletes, had his sights set on playing for one of the larger schools. He expected to get scholarship offers from a Division I-A (now FBS) program, with the University of South Carolina at the top of his wish list. His uncle took him to South Carolina State, where he started out as a linebacker, his position in high school.
 
However, he soon moved to the defensive line – over his objections. He became a starter as a freshman while playing all four defensive line positions.
 
“I was not happy at first,” Darby said. “I was like, ‘Man, you’re going to move me to D-line?  I’m not big enough to play D-line.’ But once I closed my mouth and sat back and listened to the coaches, it made a whole lot of sense.”
 
At 6-foot and 246 pounds, Darby was undersized for a defensive lineman. But he had amazing upper body strength and exceptional quickness. That combination made him ideally suited for rushing the quarterback, and he settled in at defensive tackle. After recording 12.5 quarterback sacks his sophomore season, Darby realized that defensive coordinator Ben Blacknall and defensive line coach George Wheeler really knew what they were doing after all. By his senior season, he had bulked up to 275 and was terrorizing opponents.
 
“If they had never made that change,” Darby said, “I would have never made it to the NFL as a linebacker.”
 
Darby did more than just make the NFL; he had a very productive career. He started for the Buccaneers in their Super Bowl XXXVII win against the Oakland Raiders and the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
 
Getting to the NFL was a “tough journey” for Darby as well. He was an undrafted, undersized defensive lineman from a small school. His journey saw him bounce around the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers for a season without sticking; he also played a season with the Barcelona Dragons in NFL Europe before finding a home with Tampa Bay.
 
“I didn’t get there overnight,” Darby said.
 
Darby gave credit to his parents and the preparation he received playing in the MEAC for his NFL career.
 
“Everything started from home,” he said. “My mom and dad instilled in me you can always give out but you never give up. My dad pushed. He always told me, ‘Son, once God opens a door for you no one can ever close it.’ Through the blessing from God and my determination, everything came through.”
 
NFL scouts tend to question the quality of competition below the FBS level, and that in all likelihood contributed to Darby not being drafted. However, Darby said the level of competition he faced in the MEAC was what enabled him to have such a long NFL career. North Carolina A&T tackle Jamaine Stephens, the Steelers’ first-round pick in the 1996 draft, and Florida A&M guard Jamie Nails, Buffalo’s fourth-round pick in the ’97 draft who played six seasons with the Bills and Miami Dolphins, were among Darby’s MEAC opponents.
 
“I’m a firm believer that I went against some good offensive linemen (in the MEAC), and I was able to do some good things,” he said. “I went against some good players. It was competition. In the MEAC, it’s an opportunity to play for an HBCU but play at a high level. The MEAC prepared me. (In the NFL) I was going against guys from Oklahoma and Florida State and Florida. To me, it was easy. These guys weren’t as aggressive as guys I played against in the MEAC.”
 
Darby currently lives in Land O Lakes, Fla., and he is president of New Horizon Foundation in Tarpon Springs, Fla. He said the foundation is a way ‘to give back to kids and to give back to the future.”
 
The purpose of the foundation is to teach youth to give their best to their community and to encourage them to attend a black college.
 
“It’s hard for a black male or a black female,” Darby said. “If you get an opportunity to go an HBCU, it can change your life and make things totally different.”