Michael Dyer was never arrested, never charged, never convicted. That's what they keep coming back to -- his biggest advocates.
Looking back, his uncle Andre Dyer -- a 20-year veteran of the Little Rock, Ark. police department -- had no problem with Auburn's star tailback owning a .45.
"It didn't make me angry to know he had a weapon," the uncle said.
The gun was legally purchased and owned. There were issues that made it sensible, and, perhaps necessary. This was four years ago when Michael Dyer could have bought and sold Auburn. He owned a national championship and all the promise in the world.
The problem was Michael later testified that the gun was used -- without his permission -- in a highly publicized robbery case involving (now) former Auburn players.
Events seemed to cascade out of control from there. Thrown off two teams, rehabbed -- at least morally -- at a third, Thursday is a crossroads for Michael Dyer.
Now at Louisville, Dyer will faced No. 2 Florida State coming off the biggest game of his career since leaving Auburn in December 2011. You remember don't you?
In January of that year he was the BCS title game MVP. Rolled over an Oregon defensive back to set up the winning score. Broke Bo Jackson's freshman rushing record. The game marks a crossroads for a lot of reasons. Louisville is expected to be FSU's biggest remaining challenge before a possible playoff berth. Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has coached the nation's No. 1 defense less than a year after leaving Georgia.
You want to talk crossroads? One of Grantham's players -- Georgia transfer Josh Harvey-Clemons -- inadvertently deflected that pass into the hands of Ricardo Louis. You know it otherwise as the Prayer at Jordan-Hare.
What else has to be said about Bobby Petrino? At his first big-time job since leaving Arkansas in shame, he has the Cardinals at 6-2. The irony almost lost in this narrative is an offensive mastermind winning these days with defense.
But 10 days ago it was Dyer who gouged North Carolina State for 173 yards. He was healthy. He looked like the old Michael Dyer. He is starting against the Seminoles.
"He looks awesome," Grantham said of Dyer. "Really that talent showed up in the NC State game … Now that he's healthy you'll see in the next couple of weeks."
One thing for sure, Dyer has a lot of people to thank.
"What we did for Michael," said one of them, "we do every day for young black men. We take chances."
Fitz Hill is the president of Arkansas Baptist College. San Jose State's former head coach took Dyer in a couple of years ago. That was after a conversation with a Little Rock cop who works with at-risk youth. At that point, the idea wasn't to play football. It was maybe, possibly to get a junior college associate's degree. That way Dyer could transfer back to FBS for what had to be one final chance.
Arkansas Baptist is a small four-year school in Little Rock that also offers two-year degrees. The school of 900 has endured financial problems but has stabilized according to Hill. It offers a GED drop-out prevention charter program just so kids can get high school degrees.
Hill calls it "human rehabilitation" and rails against "NCAA restrictions they put on young, at-risk black men."
"I can't tell you how many schools can't recruit young black men because of [ACT] test scores," Hill said.
He makes no excuses about his school being that rehab mill for at-risk athletes. He can use sports to do it, to get them an education. The baseball team had a player drafted. In addition to Louisville, Western Kentucky also took a football player.
The so-called 4-2-4 model allows those athletes who have left a 4 year school to get a 2-year juco degree so they can return to a 4 year program.
"Most people think Michael was involved with the law," Hill said, hammering home that message again. "He'd never been arrested. I was dumbfounded by that."
But perceptions linger, especially in these times when presidents and trustees don't want to be blamed for inviting trouble to their campus.
"As I listened to his story, I became even more interested," Hill said. "When he explained to me what happened, I don't know why anybody wouldn't give him a chance."
It's a crossroads because an NFL general manager -- Hill won't say who -- was so enamored with Dyer he wanted to draft him early.
"I'll draft him based on your recommendation," the GM told Hill.
Dyer was that much of a prospect. When this got back to the tailback he refused to come out early, even though some level of NFL riches would have been assured.
"I've been unfairly judged," Dyer told Hill. "I need to clear my name. Everybody thinks I'm a thug."
Except that at one time Dyer did legally own that gun. His time at Auburn ended when reportedly he was among a group of Tigers who failed drug tests. After leaving The Plains, the stay at Arkansas State lasted only a few months. Police stopped him for speeding and found marijuana as well as that gun. Again, Dyer was never convicted of high crimes, it was just the perception of all those things together.
"He can also be a butthole sometimes," Andre said. "He gets that from me. That's being honest. I can be a butthole too sometimes."
Like the Louisville program itself, Michael has been given a second chance. The school tried for years to be included in the BCS/Power 5 elite. After the last round of realignment, it snagged on with the ACC.
AD Tom Jurich could have run for mayor. Then came the controversial decision to allow Petrino to return. By that time Dyer had already been accepted by former Cardinals' coach Charlie Strong, now at Texas.
"Coach Strong did a great thing for us," Andre Dyer said. "He made Michael understand that he is not done."
The comeback has been littered with injuries and a slow comeback. Strong and Petrino cannot be accused of importing immediate help. In Michael's one and only season under Strong he played in seven games, rushed for 223 yards and scored two touchdowns. Since leaving Auburn, he has carried the ball 94 times in two seasons, scoring three touchdowns.
Dyer has Gus Malzahn to thank too. Even thought it was Gus who kicked him off Arkansas State, he had coached him at Auburn. Andre Dyer said he still frequently texts the Tigers' coach.
"I would follow him to the end of the earth," Andre said. Everything that he told me he would do for Michael, he did. He has not thrown Michael away."
Willie Taggart deserves thanks too. The South Florida coach was the first to offer him a home post-Arkansas Baptist. Dyer took Strong's offer because it was closer to home.
All sides say the gun and drugs are out of Dyer's life. He has spoken to at-risk youth in the Little Rock area as part of his comeback. (Louisville did not make Dyer available to interview for this story.)
But at his core, Andre Dyer is a cop. He and his wife took Michael in when was in eighth grade. Michael's father was killed in an auto accident when he was 5.
"I'm not going to get into my personal opinion of what the state police did … at Auburn," Andre said. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his name got thrown into it."
Andre also talked about lonely stretches of highway between Alabama and home in Little Rock. He didn't blame his nephew for legally carrying a gun.
"After dark," he said. "you could see absolutely nothing from Birmingham to the Tennessee border."
It made Andre uneasy when he escorted Michael through crowds at Auburn.
"I've been down there after games," he said. "I noticed the way a lot of those people bombard those athletes down there … Don't get me wrong, people were appreciating his talent. But there were some people down there that had the wrong thing on their mind."
The SEC-level hype is gone. Michael Dyer is starting in the biggest game since facing Oregon more than 3 ½ years ago. He is on track to graduate in December. Before having a pro football career, he'll be assured of having a life.
Never charged, never convicted … never better?
"It couldn't be any better right now," Andre Dyer said.
