Chickens & doodles: How GSU's Crumitie honed his speed, draws his inspiration

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Speed is home grown.

At his childhood home in the outskirts of Tallahassee, Florida, that’s where the story of Damien Crumitie’s windbreaking speed sprouted its origins. His father, David Crumitie Sr. owned three acres of farmland just outside the Sunshine State’s capital city and as a boy, Damien spent most of his afternoons after school in the yard with his dad and three brothers.

Like most kids, the quartet of Crumitie brothers rode 4-wheelers and played football. Damien, more than his brothers, helped his father with working on the land, cutting grass and helping in the garden. While spending so much time outside, and not much else to do in the rural area, Crumitie found a seemingly old-fashioned way to grow his speed.

“We chased chickens a lot so that helped my speed,” he recalled. “Running after chickens with my brothers. There’s really nothing to do out there in the country so that’s what we did. Out there working, riding lawnmowers, 4-wheelers and stuff. Playing backyard football in the sand barefoot. That’s how I really got better in defense and toughness, we were playing backyard football.

“It took like three times. It took a while to catch (a chicken), but I was good after that. I caught 10 chickens. We had like 15 out there, so I caught most of them. My oldest brother (David Crumitie Jr.) did it, too. I always tried to compete with him because he was the fastest one at the time. That’s what made me want to go out there, too, to chase chickens.”

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