Darian Hogg is known around the Big Country as a blue-collar wide receiver for Abilene Christian University. But Hogg is more than a dual sport athlete.
“Darian goes over the middle and makes tough catches,” quarterback Mitchell Gale said. “He blocks punts and he is a very hard worker.”
Hogg grew up in Arlington, and his father is a constant source of motivation in his life as a student as well as an athlete.
“My family has been a huge influence on my life, and my dad is my hero, to this day,” Hogg said. “He always took care of me growing up, and he doesn’t expect anything less than me graduating. I do that for him. It’s his goal that he wants to see lived out, so I am going to make it happen.”
His football career comes from humble beginnings, as a flag football player at a local YMCA, but he quickly became a division-one caliber player, and wanted to fulfill his childhood dream of dawning the blue and white of the Air Force Academy.
“Since I was four years old, my dream was to be an air force pilot, and the asthma shot that down,” Hogg said. “But this is my fourth year at ACU, and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
As a criminal justice major, he has dreams of a future that involves him serving and improving the lives of those around him.
“I want to get my masters in criminal justice, and either apply for a police academy and be a peace officer or join a SWAT team or something like that,” Hogg said. “Just something to help people, that is kind of how I have always been.”
Hogg also has a lighter side. He serves as the team barber, one of many ways he builds relationships with the guys he spends his entire college life with.
“My roommate plays football, in the same position group and we have the same major,” Hogg said. “Being on the football team, you have a lot more accountability. With football, you probably have ten good friends, and you still know everyone on the team.”
So when he is crack-blocking safeties and catching touchdown passes, it is easy for ACU football fans to only appreciate big plays by “number 47,” but it is the man inside the jersey that will live on when his football days are behind him.
To view a video about Hogg, visit acuoptimist.com
