He was just a high school sophomore, barely 16 years old but already a prized football prospect, and his life was changing fast.
With a child on the way, Dre Kirkpatrick's first step towards becoming the man he suddenly needed to be was getting his first job.
He chose McDonald's.
"I worked there two weeks," Kirkpatrick said. "They were supposed to make me a cashier. They put me on the grill. I couldn't take it."
Big Macs were not his thing. A little humble pie served him well.
Now, Kirkpatrick is settling into a career he plans to both love and stick with. Last month, the Bengals used the first of their two first-round draft picks on him. Soon, he'll sign a contract with a bunch more digits -- "I made $7.50 an hour, but I hated it," he said -- than his lone McDonald's paycheck had.
He plans to earn it, and as a rookie cornerback he'll likely be tested early and often. Last weekend's rookie minicamp was just the start, three days of on-field instruction with Kirkpatrick as the headline player and often the object of his new coaches' affection.
When Friday's afternoon practice ended, 48 players went to the north side of Paul Brown Stadium to stretch. Kirkpatrick went to the sideline for one-on-one instruction with defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. The Bengals are in the business of protecting their investment, and Kirkpatrick's new job is to help them maximize it.
"I'm just ready to work," Kirkpatrick said. "I'm not worried about where I got picked or anything like that. I just want to meet the team and get to know some of the guys and learn from them and take the experience and put it to use.
"You have to be able to come out here and prove yourself. The expectations are high. Everybody is looking at you to come out here and succeed and be successful. That's one of the things I'm striving for right now, and I'm taking one day at a time.
"I told (the coaches), 'Don't take no breaks on me.' I need it. Everything is a learning experience, and I want as many of them as I can get."
He brings three years of experience, two as a starter, in what was maybe college football's best and most complicated defense at Alabama. Kirkpatrick said Alabama coach Nick Saban would often install multiple game plans and change them as the week went on, including sometimes on the day of the game. That experience -- and the experience he's had with his own son, DeAndre -- has made Kirkpatrick want to get into coaching when his playing career is over, but he's hoping that's a decade or more down the road.
He has more than enough on his plate right now.
"Dre is a willing learner," Bengals secondary coach Mark Carrier said. "He wants to be better. He's taking to coaching.
"His maturity is going to help him. When the older guys get around him, they'll help him. But if he's not willing to accept help and wants to act like he knows it all already, he won't make the progress he needs to make. They'll like this kid because of what he's all about. He prides himself on his preparation, and I like that."
Kirkpatrick credits that in part to growing up in what he called a "super-strict" household run by Kim and Rev. Charles Kirkpatrick in Gadsden, Ala. He said telling his parents he was going to be a parent at such a young age was "scary" and that he feared he'd ruin his football career.
"My parents, they made me who I am today," Kirkpatrick said. "Me being a parent, it's something that had to grow on them. It was hard. It was different. All my teammates would get out of practice in high school and go their separate ways, and I'd go pick up my baby.
"Being a daddy, that's serious."
Little DeAndre Kirkpatrick will turn six on June 1.
"He knows his daddy is a football player," Dre Kirkpatrick said. "If he knows the difference between college and the NFL, I don't know. But he's going to spend some time with me here in Cincinnati this summer, and everything I do is to provide for him."
Kirkpatrick said he chose Alabama and Saban partly to stay close to his son and partly because "I needed to mature. I needed (a coach) who was strong-minded, who never slacks off on his players and is always hard on them, no matter what.
"I came in with a big head. I was the No. 1 corner in the country in high school. There was a lot of hype about me and about Julio (Jones, the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver who had already played one year at Alabama) and I was ready to get after him.
"I lined up against him (in practice), made a big play and celebrated like crazy."
And Saban promptly let Kirkpatrick know that such celebration would not be a part of further activities.
"Coach, he took my spirit away," Kirkpatrick said. "I needed that. It was great for me."
Saban and Kirkpatrick won two national titles in Kirkpatrick's three years at Alabama. A little tough love -- and some tough lessons -- went a long way. Kirkpatrick's new chapter begins now, and next week the Bengals' full roster will be in for on-field coaching sessions.
"I can't wait to line up and test myself against A.J. Green," Kirkpatrick said. "Jump right in. That's the only way I know how to do it.
