After returning to college in 2016 via a medical redshirt, offensive lineman Xavier Dampeer says he has no regrets about a college career that was dramatically altered by one bad night. AL.com caught up with the fifth-year senior at Auburn’s Pro Day, and he had this to say about his time on the Plains:

“Nothing about it’s been easy, but I’m glad I came here,” Dampeer said. “Because life is not easy. Life is going to throw a lot of hardballs and life is going to throw a lot of hard punches. I’m going to get knocked down sometimes, but it’s about how you get up.

“I just take everything I learned here, because it’s prepared me for life, so I’m glad I came here because it’s all about the bigger picture.”

The night in question didn’t involve a mistake by Dampeer, but rather by fellow Tigers teammate D’haquille (Duke) Williams. The hard punches, however, were more than just a figure of speech.

During a night out with teammates following Auburn’s win versus San Jose State in 2015, Williams got into it with security at a bar in Auburn after a member of the party was thrown out for refusing to take off his sunglasses. In what has been described by AL.com as a “rampage,” Williams then started swinging, striking four people in an intoxicated rage. One of these four was Dampeer, who caught a stray punch that broke his jaw and ended his 2015 season before it got started. You can read the story here.

The incident not only cost Dampeer but also resulted in Williams being dismissed from the team.

“We were just out one night, you know, and long story short, things took a turn for the worst,” Dampeer said. “I was trying to be a good teammate, but you know what happened, my jaw wound up being broken. That’s all water under the bridge now; there’s nothing I can do about it.”

A JUCO commit in 2014, Dampeer didn’t have much time in Auburn to begin with. The loss of his senior season put his pro prospects in serious jeopardy.

Even after a medical redshirt granted Dampeer an additional season, another rash of bad luck would see him fall out of the rotation. After winning the starting center job in camp, an injury suffered during the LSU game sidelined him for the next two games of Auburn’s schedule. By the time he was healthy, Austin Golson was cemented as the starter following two dominant performances by the Tigers’ line against UL Monroe and Mississippi State.

Still, Dampeer says that he has no regrets about his college career:

“I’m at peace with that,” Dampeer said. “It took a minute when that situation happened and stuff like that. I had to put my pride to the side. I wish I would have handled things differently and all that, but at the end of the day, what happened, happened. There’s nothing I can do about it now. There ain’t no sense in dwelling on it. Dwelling on it’s not going to change anything, but it could affect what’s to come.”

Stories like this show that football really is the ultimate team sport. It would be easy for Dampeer to be bitter and carry that resentment with him forward. By viewing this incident as water under the bridge, Dampeer shows the “team first” mentality that will help him not only at the next level but also in life.