— For the longest time, Da'Rel Scott wore the yellow jersey.

The tailback had been slammed to the turf against California in Week 3 of the 2008 season, injuring his shoulder. For weeks afterward, Scott wore the bright yellow practice jersey so the defense knew to avoid contact with him.

The jersey was a fitting symbol for an obviously talented player — a legitimate NFL prospect — who has spent portions of his Maryland career not quite himself.

While his time in College Park has included memorable success — he has take-your-breath-away acceleration in the open field — it has also been spent navigating around obstacles.

There was the shoulder injury that limited him even as he rushed for 1,133 yards in 2008, becoming the first Maryland back to top 1,000 yards since Chris Downs in 2002. There was the suspension at the end of that season for violating curfew. There was a spate of fumbles early in 2009, followed by a broken forearm bone that sidelined him for nearly half the season. Long before that — when he was in third grade — there was his father's split from the family, the ensuing feelings of anger and abandonment and, later, the slaying of an aunt with whom he was close.

After all that, Scott has come to believe that his life — and specifically his Maryland football career — has become a test of his resilience.

"Things are going to happen," Scott said. "It's a matter of how you bounce back from them."

Said his mother, Gloria: "Da'Rel is a strong-minded young man."

As preseason camp opens, Scott, who competed as a sprinter during the indoor track and field season to enhance his speed — he ran 60 meters in 6.87 seconds — has been playing with more urgency. He and his coaches understand that the setbacks have cost him precious time. More than ever before, he seems to appreciate the fleeting nature of a college career.

"This is my last season of college football," said Scott, who graduated in May but has eligibility left because he redshirted his freshman year. He is pursuing a graduate kinesiology degree.

"You just want to go out with a bang, go out so someone will remember you," Scott said. "Try to get your name up in that stadium."

Coaches said they have seen Scott frequently hanging around at the football complex, studying plays and video and stretching.

"Sometimes the year before last, we'd have trouble keeping him around here," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "This is a very important year for him if he wants to go to the next level."

Scott said he has more time this season to devote to football.

"I can come in and watch the film I need to watch," he said. "I've got my degree already. Now I can focus on football a little more even though I've got some graduate stuff."

Maryland opens the season Sept. 6 against Navy at M&T Bank Stadium.

Scott aspires to an NFL career. He said he is inspired by his mother, who raised Scott and his two older brothers and whose sister — Scott's aunt — was slain in 2005.

Gloria Scott said she wants her son to fulfill his NFL dreams — but not for her.

"I don't look for anything from Da'Rel," she said. "I want Da'Rel to use his gift to glorify God. I want him to have more than I had in life. But I'm blessed; I have a roof over my head. I'm not one who wants material things."

Scott, a former high school sprinter from Conshohocken, Pa., has made a career of comebacks.

After rebounding from the shoulder injury, Scott was suspended for a curfew violation along with six teammates before the Humanitarian Bowl after the 2008 season. The suspension ended as the second half began. Inserted into the game, Scott rushed for a Maryland bowl record of 174yards in two quarters to lead the Terps over Nevada.

"I felt I let my team down doing that, so I just had to make up for it," Scott said.

Last season, he had the sixth 100-yard rushing game of his career against Middle Tennessee State in Week3. But he fumbled twice in the contest, then lost the ball again in a loss to Rutgers the next week.

"It was them just sticking a hat right where the ball was," said Scott, who added that he overcame the fumbling by running lower to the ground and listening to his teammates' encouragement.

When he broke a forearm bone in Week5, Scott turned — as he always does — to his mother and brothers for support.

He also found strength, he said, from Cole Sterry, a Howard County boy battling kidney cancer. The team met Sterry, then 7 years old, in 2008.

Scott formed an attachment with him, carrying him across the field in one arm after a game, posting the boy's photo on his locker, calling to check up on him before chemotherapy treatments and visiting his home more than once to chat and play video games.

The boy is in remission, said his mother, Melanie, who described Scott as a role model for her son.

"They love each other," she said.

Scott has kept in touch with the boy.

"Even though he has a father and mother, I want to make sure I'm there for him," Scott said.

Left unsaid is that Scott's own father left the family when he was about Cole's age.

jeff.barker@baltsun.com

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