Candy Ladies Fueled Pitt DT Calijah Kancey's Position Switch
PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers defensive tackle Calijah Kancey wasn't always destined to become a dominating defensive tackle in the NFL. When he first got his start playing football, he was actually a running back, he revealed in an appearance on NFL Network's Good Morning Football.
But it was actually his success at running back that made Kancey a candidate to switch over to the defensive line. Long before he was even considering playing in college for Pitt, Kancey was a star rusher for his local youth team in his hometown of Miami, Florida and that came with some rewards.
"Miss Morgan is a lady who stayed in the same complex as my cousin who housed us for the nights after my games on Saturday," Kancey said. "If I had a good game, I was able to go spend some money with the Candy Lady and get as many snacks as I want."
Turns out Kancey was pretty good at running back, because he ended up spending a lot of time with the Candy Ladies.
"After my first year of playing football, I spent too much time with the Candy Lady over the break and I had to move to defensive tackle,” Kancey said.
After a fall full of snacking on Skittles, Hot Cheetos, Reeses Cups, Snickers and Honey Buns, he had put on enough weight to make the switch to the defensive line and the rest is history. That switch has paid off for Kancey, who was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a Unanimous All-American this year and is projected to land in the first round of this year's NFL Draft.
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