CHICAGO — Shilique Calhoun flashed a bright smile as he approached the podium Thursday, sporting a new haircut and a colorful bow tie. The reporters who awaited him, previously clamoring, quieted down. Just a few still murmured as Calhoun approached, not noticing as he slipped into the crowd.
"Who we waiting for?" Calhoun joked, joining the reporters on the floor instead of taking his place at the podium. It was the first time Calhoun drew a laugh Thursday, but it wouldn't be the last.
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Michigan State's standout defensive end owned the podium at Big Ten Media Days and the roundtable that followed it. He answered questions reporters weren't even finished asking, pitched himself as a future broadcaster and, on at least three occasions, told reporters he wasn't going to cry. His friendly, open and honest sessions were refreshing on a day of non- and half-answers.
But for Calhoun, who opted to return to school instead of leaving early for the NFL Draft, this stardom was far from a given.
In 2002, Calhoun's house burned down after a portable heater ignited his bed while he was at school. The family lost nearly everything in the fire and had to bounce from friend's house to friend's house to get back on its feet. But for everything he and his family lost, Calhoun gained something from the fire as well: perspective.
"We had to start from scratch because everything burned up – clothes, toys, anything of that nature was all gone,” Calhoun recalled. “It kind of made me cherish everything that I’ve got. Anything that I received from anyone was special to me because it was something I could call my own.”
Back then, his mother got him through the hard times. Cynthia Mimes, a teacher at an alternative school, dealt with kids with behavioral issues all day at work. She certainly didn't want to deal with more when she got home.
She made sure Calhoun and his six siblings were fed and had what they needed, and Calhoun took a mental note. Later on, he would observe and take mental notes of the things she wanted. And on Thursday, he brought one of them to Chicago.
Mimes wanted a selfie stick, so Calhoun bought one for her. But first, he paraded it around media day, taking pictures of himself. The stick and the pictures will be hers after the weekend.
But being a self-described "momma's boy" is just one part of Calhoun's identity. Another, perhaps more pressing, side is Shilique Calhoun the football player. And much like the momma's boy had to go through a tragedy before he could light up a room, the football player had to experience defeat before he could light up a field.
Thinking back, Calhoun's hardest moments are what shaped him to have the success he now enjoys. When he was younger, there was a swagger about Calhoun and his teammates, not shy about their plans to take the country by storm.
The swagger of the Rich-Homie-Quan-era Spartans is a far cry from the perpetual chip Calhoun and Michigan State now tote around on their shoulders. Their preseason No. 6 ranking is evidence they won't be sneaking up on anybody.
But those days turned Calhoun into the workaholic football machine he is. And it wasn't because of his team's success; it was because of its shortcomings.
One of his toughest losses came in 2013 against Notre Dame when the Spartans lost by four points in what would be their only loss of the season. At the time, though, the loss hurt for a different reason.
"That one hit my heart," Calhoun recalled. "Knowing I wouldn't be able to play them again, I think that one hurt the most, knowing I wouldn't get another shot at them."
Among his most humbling moments, he remembers never beating Notre Dame, and he even counts a close win against Iowa.
Why? It's that perspective again — the one that compels him to cherish the highs and not take anything for granted.
"Things weren't going so well, and we expected them to," he said, summarizing all his most eye-opening games. "We expected to be the best, we expected to beat teams, but we didn't play the way we should have played, and that's why the outcome wasn't what it should have been."
As he remembers all this — the fire, the losses and the close wins that opened his eyes — Calhoun is wearing a colorful custom bow tie, the only one of its kind.
It was a gift from his mom.