They looked pathetic. Even they won't argue that.
Linebacker Kelby Brown and tight end Braxton Deaver are two of the most accomplished players in Duke's recent program renaissance, but when they rolled up to Chipotle in Brown's pickup truck, stumbled out of the cab and retrieved two sets of crutches from the back, passers-by stopped and stared and the hungry patrons inside snickered behind their burritos. "It was a hilarious sight," Brown said. "But man, it was terrible."
That scene -- hobbling together into a fast-food restaurant -- might be the defining memory of what was supposed to be a climactic senior season for the two. They'd both enjoyed career years in 2013 as Duke surged to an ACC Coastal Division title. They both had eyes on a repeat performance, and a shot at the NFL.
Then Brown went down during a scrimmage in August and suffered his third ACL tear in five years at Duke.
A week later, Deaver met the same fate, his second knee injury in three years.
In an instant, all of the dreams had vanished. The season began, the team moved on and all Brown and Deaver were left with was another long road to recovery together. "I was so distraught and upset when it happened," Deaver said. "Literally, my life was in shambles, and I didn't know what direction to go in. But the people around me, especially Kelby, they allowed me to see the right path. He carried that load with me."
Brown has always been determined, but a litany of setbacks has made him more of a realist about his future.
It took him until his junior season to really make his mark, but in 2013, he was exceptional, earning All-ACC honors at linebacker and finishing third in the league in tackles, behind teammates David Helton and Jeremy Cash. As fall camp began last August, he was thinking about a future in the NFL for the first time. It seemed like a real possibility.
It was just a simple cut during a fall scrimmage that undermined those dreams. The knee buckled, and Brown knew all too well what it meant. "I cried like a baby," he said.
Deaver's enthusiasm has always been an asset. He's a big kid -- 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds of bluster and energy -- and he'd carved out a niche as the motor of an offense that had improved by leaps and bounds over the course of his career. As a junior in 2013, Deaver caught 46 passes for 600 yards, both second-best in the ACC behind future first-round NFL pick Eric Ebron. Until then, he hadn't given the NFL much serious thought, but as fall camp began in 2014, it suddenly seemed a legitimate possibility. Then the injury happened, and he figured it was all over.
Deaver sat in the trainer's room for five hours; one by one, teammates came by to console him. The last person he heard from was Brown, who called from home, where he was recovering from the ACL surgery he'd endured just days earlier.
Brown's brother, Kyler, a defensive end for Duke, had passed along the news of Deaver's injury to his family. Brown's mother cried when she heard.
Brown and Deaver are both from Charlotte, sons of undersized offensive linemen used to dealing with pain, and both had arrived at Duke as part of coach David Cutcliffe's program-changing Class of 2010. For both to lose their senior seasons to the same injury was incomprehensible.
But days passed and the rehab began, and after a few weeks things started to make sense. This was a brutal blow to both players, but going through it together felt right, felt necessary.
"We bonded through it," Deaver said. "We just tried to stay sane, and we were open about our feelings."
Deaver's immediate assumption was that his career was over, but after a week or two, his thinking began to evolve. A sixth year of eligibility was rare, but he and Brown were both excellent candidates for an NCAA exemption.
Cutcliffe met with both players to discuss their future. He'd given them a deadline to make a decision, but he didn't try to sway them.
Deaver spoke with his family and weighed his options. Before long, he had made up his mind: He was coming back.
"As I diluted the emotional aspect of it, it was a no-brainer," Deaver said.
For Brown, the decision wasn't nearly as simple. He had rehabbed the injury twice already, and to his thinking there was no reason to believe another ACL tear wasn't in the cards, even if he could work his way back. The odds were against him, and his body had already endured enough punishment.
A month after the injury, Brown was ready to call it quits. He'd watched Duke's first game from Cutcliffe's office; he watched the first road game from home. In Week 3, he ate the pregame meal with the team, rode the bus to the game, put on his headphones and listened to his usual pregame music. He loved that feeling, craved it. But then the game started, and he leaned on his crutches and watched.
In early October, Brown went home to Charlotte during Duke's bye week. His mind was made up. He told his parents he was done, and they were heartbroken.
On the drive back to Durham, Kelby and Kyler talked things over. They imagined what 2015 would feel like with Kyler lining up on defense and Kelby sitting in the stands. That felt wrong, too.
"Coach Cut had sat me down a couple times -- maybe every week -- and he kept telling me, you can't make a decision based on fear," Brown said. "I think it took a while for that to sink in. I'd get excited in pregame and get riled up, but at some point I'd let doubts creep back into my mind. At one point, I just said, 'Nope, I'm just making a decision while I'm riding high and I'm not going to look back.' "
When the brothers arrived back on campus, Brown marched into Cutcliffe's office and delivered the news that he wanted to return. When he called to tell his parents, they thought he was joking. Instead, he'd turned a page -- and then he turned to Deaver to keep him moving forward.
Brown and Deaver were both granted their sixth year of eligibility, and both returned to limited drills this spring.
On the practice field last week, after running a drill, Brown and Deaver raced back to the huddle, the linebacker sprinting just ahead of the burly tight end. It was nothing really, just two players having a little fun during offseason drills, but for the people who knew how far they'd come, it was a victory lap.
"I laughed because it's been so long since they could run freely that they're doing it just because they can," Kyler said.
The rehab process hasn't been easy. In fact, there were times it was downright brutal. Knees swelled, joints ached, Chipotle patrons laughed.
Deaver, the optimist, pushed and pushed. Brown, the realist, commiserated after each grueling day of work. They talked coaching when they couldn't be at practice, and they shared tears when they couldn't be at games.
"They're cut from different cloths," said Deaver's father, Jay, "but this situation has made them develop a spiritual connection."
Six months ago, Brown was at a low point in his life. Now he calls the injury something of a blessing.
"This has deepened our friendship, made it a lot easier on both of us," Brown said. "We tell each other that almost every day."
Brown was running and doing light drills this spring, but mostly he was coaching up the other linebackers. It's a young group, and it needed the extra work. When he's ready, he'll be the linchpin of Duke's defense. Some days, he feels closer to that goal line; others it seems infinitely far off. That's when Deaver offers a push. When it's over, Brown said, it won't matter how it all turns out. He's already decided the journey has been worth it.
Deaver sees that NFL dream coming into focus once again. He'll be the most established member of Duke's receiving corps this season, and he's already been in the ear of new starting quarterback Thomas Sirk, reminding his young teammate to get him the ball.
"Expect to see me exactly who I am," Deaver said. "I'm just going to bring it, and I'll talk a lot of junk. I don't have any more cards, but I'm excited to get back out there and hit somebody in the mouth and catch a bunch of footballs."
Still, he's trying to be careful not to think too far ahead. When he talks about the future, it's with a new sense of maturity, a better understanding of how the world works. That's been Brown's influence.
"It's different when you're talking about real stuff, grown-up stuff," Jay Deaver said. "I think he appreciates Kelby's maturity, and I think it's rubbed off on Braxton."
This wasn't the easy path, the one they'd envisioned this time a year ago. But it's the one they were supposed to follow, a journey together to become better players, better people.
The rest of the players on this year's Duke team don't remember the 3-9 seasons. They haven't had to endure the low points and hear the jeers. They haven't had to climb their way back from the abyss.
That's a good thing, Brown said. He doesn't want others to have to see all of that. He's winning to carry that weight, alongside his good friend. That's why they're still here.
"We still have that little edge," Brown said. "And we know what can happen if you don't have high expectations."