Colby Dempsey Reflects on UAB Journey ahead of Senior Day
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - November 23, 2024
Colby Dempsey is down to 60 minutes left to play in Birmingham’s Protective Stadium and 120 minutes of game time remaining in a UAB uniform.
His first season finished with a Conference USA championship ring. His last two seasons will conclude with losing records. He’s been part of two bowl winning teams and played for three different head coaches. He weighed about 155 pounds when he showed up on campus and proved doubters wrong over time. He’s been part of big wins and excruciating losses.
Now the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Dempsey is poised to wrap it up and move on.
“It's surreal, for real,” said Dempsey, who will take part in the UAB Senior Day celebration before Saturday’s 1 p.m. kickoff against Rice at Protective Stadium. “I came in here COVID year, that’s a minute ago. But time to fly. So it was like, we’re just sitting around, you're looking around at the facility, where you came in as a kid, mindset and physically. Just knowing that's going to come to an end. It’s a good feeling. though. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not as sad as I thought I was gonna be. It's more because I really gave it my all. I gave this city my all. I've been through a lot. That's probably where I'm sad at, that it didn't go exactly where it should have been.”
By the numbers, Dempsey has 69 tackles, two interceptions and 20 pass deflections in 45 games over the past four seasons on the field and five years in the program. One of his biggest UAB highlights, though, came in 2020, when he played in just two games. He was part of a C-USA championship team that season, while redshirting as a true freshman. That came a year after he earned a ring as a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“I took it so for granted, only because I came from high school and I just won a national championship,” said Dempsey, who had 10 interceptions on a 15-0 team as a high school senior. “We were the number one team in the nation and I come in here my freshman year and we win the C-USA championship. I’m on a high. I’m thinking this is exactly how it’s supposed to be. You know, we were dominating. We knew exactly how to play the game. Everything was just working perfectly. I was thinking like, okay, then I'm coming up, I'm like, yeah, this is something we can roll with for sure.”
That doesn’t mean it was easy for him personally. He not only came in undersized but lost 20 pounds after getting Covid. He worked his way back to about 180 pounds, got sick again and dropped 15 pounds in a hurry. He played in two games during his redshirt season and eight games, mainly on special teams, in 2021. He was banged up in 2022 but still managed to get in 11 games.
“To come here, to not play, to get sick, to lose (some games), to get overlooked for people you don’t think you should get overlooked by, it’s real tough,” Dempsey said. “School, family issues, everything hits you at once. That really prepared me and I got to give a shoutout to my parents. My mother (Trennette Peavy) really helped me out a lot. I really want to take time to give my Mom her flowers. I honestly wouldn’t be here without her. She made sure everything was fine and I got through it.”
Dempsey was a key part of the defense these past two seasons, playing in each of the past 22 games with 17 starts. However, enduring back-to-back losing seasons has been difficult.
“It's a lot of weeks that a lot of things that didn't happen and made it cloudy,” said Dempsey, who has finished work toward a degree in communications studies with a minor in business administration. “I just know we let the fans down and everybody down. But I just want them to know we really worked. It wasn't how it seemed. Nobody just gave up out there and we fought hard, even though we got beat bad (at times). I promise you, we’re out there working hard, we're not out there giving up. Trust me, I’ve been here for all these years, been through three coaching changes. I’m bringing that Blazer loyalty, that fire to the field. I just hope the fans appreciate and see everything I gave to this team and this city.”