Cody Kessler was unheralded coming out of high school, but went on to star at USC. Now, no one really expects much of him as the Browns' starter. But he loves to be counted out.
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MIAMI -- Christie Kessler asked her son Cody this week if he was nervous warming up on the sidelines of the Ravens game, preparing to replace Josh McCown if he couldn't go any farther with what was later determined to be a broken collarbone.
"He said, 'Mom, I've been waiting for this moment all of my life,''' Christie told cleveland.com in a phone interview. "I'm ready.''
He better be. Because the kid from blue-collar Bakersfield, Calif., whom some thought would peak in junior college, is starting for the Cleveland Browns Sunday against the Dolphins' star-studded defensive line.
"Here we go,'' said Hue Jackson, who urged doubters to on draft day to "trust me'' on the apparent reach for Kessler in the third round out of USC. "We'll see what that statement was all about."
But just like Jackson was built for the pressure of being an NFL coach, Kessler was raised for this role right from the start.
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His mom played basketball and volleyball at Bakersfield's North High, and received a full-ride scholarship offer to play basketball at Fresno Pacific, although she turned it down. His dad, Donnie, was a star pitcher and wide receiver at North, who went on to play receiver at a junior college.
By the time Cody was born, his mom was coaching volleyball at North, and assisting with the girls basketball team along with teaching. His dad was coaching defensive backs and receivers at North, and Cody became a fixture on campus.
"He's been in the gym since he was about six months old, literally, at practices,'' she said.
When her teams were on the court, she'd stroll Cody out to Don on the football field.
"I'd say, 'okay, for this hour he's yours,''' Christy recalled. "That just became his life.''
Kessler accompanied his mom to all of her road trips, and learned the game of basketball from her. From his dad, he learned football and baseball.
"I'm lucky,'' said Cody. "They're both great athletes.''
Early on, they discovered that not only was their son freakishly athletic, but insanely competitive. When Cody was in the third grade, he had a sports-themed birthday party. But when he lost the putting competition that Don rigged up in the backyard, he pouted and stormed into his room.
"I didn't want to come out,'' Cody said. "I was so competitive. It ruined my birthday.''
Of course, Christie and Donnie coaxed him back out. But they knew then they could be in for a wild ride with their eldest son.
At 8 and 9, he'd watch gamefilm with his dad's North High football players who came to the house.
His first love was basketball. When Cody was in sixth grade, he was playing against eighth-graders. When he was in eighth grade, his travel team was beating seniors in high school. As a freshman, he was playing varsity football at Bakersfield's Centennial High.
"I always played with older age groups,'' Cody said. "My dad always said, 'it's tough now, but it will pay off. He was right. I wasn't always the biggest or the fastest, but I got better.''
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The Kesslers always planned to have three kids, close together. But after Cody, they lost three babies and had to wait six years for Dylan, now a senior lineman at Centennial and Cody's best friend, to come along.
"It turned out to be a blessing,'' said Christie. "It gave us a chance to bring some other kids into our home.''
The first one was one Cody's close friend Alphonso Jackson, who moved in when he was in middle school. Eventually, his relatives wanted him back home and he moved out. But the Kesslers remained close. They went to his first football game at the new school and he ran for a 48-yard touchdown on his first play and a 46-yarder on his second.
"He had a ton of potential,'' said Kessler. "Unfortunately it didn't work out, but we're still really close.''
When Cody was 15, his close friend Shawn Johnson was living with his aunt on the east side of town and traveling 30 minutes by city bus to get to Centennial. During the week, he'd stay with the Kesslers so he didn't have to travel back and forth. One day, Johnson joked about moving in with the Kesslers full-time.
"I asked my mom and she didn't hesitate,'' said Cody. "She talked to my dad and they were all for it. It was tough for us money-wise to have another kid in the house to take care of, but my parents never thought about that.''
Christie's only reluctance was a broken heart when Jackson moved out. She wasn't sure she could go through it again. But she heard a sermon in church about helping people, and was inspired.
Shawn showed up with a battered laundry basket containing a few shirts, shorts and a pair of jeans. His only shoes were on his feet.
"My dad said, 'Shawn, I can take you to get the rest of your stuff,''' Cody recalled. "And Shawn said, 'this is all I have.''
Christie was more convinced than ever they were doing the right thing.
Shawn went on to earn a full ride football scholarship to Montana State, where he set several all-purpose records. He just signed to play for the Green Bay Blizzard of the Indoor Football League next February.
"He also became the first person in our family to graduate from college,'' said Christie.
Johnson was one of the first people who called Kessler after he was named to start Sunday.
"That's just how I was raised,'' said Cody. "It's never me first. It's 'what can you do to change someone else's life?' He thought we were helping him out, but he was helping us out. He taught me so much along the way.''
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Donnie coached Kessler in middle school football, but stopped when he got to Centennial. He wanted Cody to make his own way, with no one thinking he was handed anything.
At Centennial, Kessler starred in football and basketball. He averaged 29.5 points and 11 rebounds in basketball, earning Bakersfield Area Player of the Year honors.
'If he had a game he didn't like, he'd go out on the court until midnight just shooting over and over,'' Christie recalled.
In football, he threw for 36 touchdowns and two interceptions as a senior, rushing for eight TDs.
"His high school coach (Bryan Nixon) coached Cody very hard and Cody loved that,'' said Christie. "I don't think he complimented him until his senior year.''
Despite the great high school career, it took the relentless work of Donnie for the 6-1, 215-pound product to get noticed. Some schools offered him basketball scholarships, but he was sold on football by then.
Donnie made highlight tapes and sent them to Cody's favorite schools. Retired from his job as a corrections officer because of a shoulder injury, Donnie devoted himself to Cody's career. He took him to camps all over California, and even brought some camps to Bakersfield. He connected with quarterback tutor Steve Calhoun, who helped Cody realize he could play big-time college football.
He was also tutored and mentored by Bakersfield native David Carr, the former No. 1 pick of the Texans, and worked out with David's younger brother Derek, now the starting quarterback of the Raiders.
"There were times when people would say I wasn't going to play in college,'' said Kessler. "It was tough. It was difficult. I was expected to go to the junior college in Bakersfield like a lot of our athletes do. I just kept telling myself I wanted to be bigger, I wanted to be better than that.''
Kessler had his heart set on Southern California, but wasn't getting offered. He was about to commit to Washington when he got the call from then-offensive coordinator Clay Helton.
"He was like 'coach I've been waiting for this call. This is exactly what I've always wanted to do,''' Helton, now the Trojans' head coach, told cleveland.com in May. "I don't how many kids would've done that with a top quarterback in the country (in Max Wittek) already committed. He was just never scared of competition.''
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In Kessler's first year, he watched coaches pick Wittek to replace an injured Matt Barkley in the Sun Bowl.
"We had people telling us to get him out of there,'' said Christie. "He comes home and we were like, 'Cody, where do you want to go?' He said, 'what are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting that starting job.'''
After he left for spring drills, he pulled over to the side of the road and texted his parents.
"He said, 'I'm not coming back until I'm the starter. I'm going to make this town proud,'' Christie said. "He said, 'everybody's supported me so much and I'm not going to let anybody down.'''
Kessler won the job and never looked back. He went 27-14 in three years as a starter, throwing 88 touchdowns against 19 interceptions. He left as the school's most accurate passer with a 67.5 completion percentage and a 1.51 interception rate. He set more records at USC than any other quarterback.
He also persevered through four coaching changes, including two in mid-season involving Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian. The latter came last season because of a drinking problem.
"Cody was more concerned for Sarkisian the person than the football coach,'' said Christie. "He said, 'he's struggling and we have to be there for him.'"
Helton, who took over for Sarkisian and grew so close to Kessler that "he's the first one that I bawled like a baby after our last game and I've been in it for 21 years."
This week, a friend and Centennial football coach took out a billboard for Kessler on I-480 near the airport that reads "Cody Kessler, good luck from Bakersfield.''
Christie cried when she saw it on Twitter. She knows he'll do everything he can to make the town proud.
"They never said he would do any of the things he did at USC,'' said Christie. "But he's used to being an underdog and if anything that just drives him.''
It's been that way from the start.
