Devard Darling took about five plays at Washington State’s first spring practice to create a buzz. The speedy 6'3", 210-pound Florida State transfer promptly torched Cougar DBs on two posts and a take off. “I thought, ‘Wow!’ ” says coach Mike Price. “If all the Seminoles are this good, I can see why Bobby Bowden’s such a great coach.”

WSU QB Jason Gesser, though, is a bit more reflective. Gesser was Darling’s recruiting host when the wideout, hoping to find a new home, came to the tall timber of Pullman last summer. The two have been tight since, and Gesser has witnessed -- at least partly -- what Darling endured the past 14 months to return to the football field.

On Feb. 26, 2001, Darling and 21 other Seminoles were going through mat drills, a grueling part of FSU’s off-season program. One Nole complained about chest pains, but staff members apparently didn’t hear him. So the kid pressed on for one last drill. The player struggled, but completed the workout. Then he staggered to a nearby wall and collapsed; 83 minutes later, he was dead. His name was Devaughn Darling -- Devard’s twin.

Because a definitive cause of death could not be established, and because Devard has the same sickle-cell trait as his brother, FSU would not give him medical clearance to continue playing. The family filed a wrongful death suit against FSU, and Darling hit the road, visiting Purdue, Tennessee and Southern Cal before picking Wazzu.

Washington State, however, didn’t clear him right away. A kinesiology major who earned a 3.0 last semester and is fascinated by medicine, Darling tried to be patient during almost three months of medical tests, but he soon grew tired of getting hooked up to so many tangles of wires. “I could tell he was getting really frustrated,” says Gesser.

“The whole process was so nerve-wracking,” Darling says. “I probably had 10 different doctors checking my heart.” Finally, last November, Devard got medical clearance to practice with the team. Far harder, of course, was learning to live with his brother’s death. “There’s truly not one minute of the day that goes by when I am not thinking about him,” says Darling. “I feel like I’m living, playing for two people now.”

Darling, a 10.3 sprinter, had only two catches as a frosh in 2000 but figures to round out the West Coast’s best receiving corps on a team with a legit shot at the Pac-10 title. “He has unbelievable raw talent,” says Gesser. “He can really help us. And I hope we can help him too.”

This article appears in the April 29 issue of ESPN The Magazine.