The article below originally appeared on San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.

The College of San Mateo football team is going to send a number of players from this year’s team to four-year schools, many of whom will be landing at prominent Division I programs.

On Wednesday, sophomore free safety Eddie Elder became the first player to commit from this year’s class when he signed with Arizona.

“It’s pretty nice,” Elder said. “My roommate and I celebrated and we’re going to continue to celebrate. It was a dream come true.”

Elder was such a hot commodity — coaches were calling him non-stop daily — that he doesn’t even want to see his next cell phone bill.

“It was a good stress relief (picking a college) to get off my back,” said Elder, who also had scholarship offers from Arizona State, Tulsa, Utah and New Mexico State. I can’t ignore a coach’s call, but it was running my minutes (plan) up.”

Elder will be more than happy to pay the extra surcharges this time. The dynamic 6-foot, 190-pound talent was named the state’s defensive player of the year as well as a national Junior College All-American. Elder finished with seven interceptions — returning two for touchdowns — to go along with the six picks he had as a freshman. Elder had it all: athleticism, speed and football smarts.

Elder was so talented and versatile that the Bulldogs had him play all over the field, including cornerback and a hybrid linebacker role. CSM defensive coordinator Tim Tulloch has been with the program for 14 years, and he said Elder is the best cornerback or safety he’s ever coached.

“He has the intangibles that you can’t teach or coach,” Tulloch said. “He was our guy. Any time we needed a big play, he stepped up and made it. He brought a quiet confidence, but his play was loud. He hit like a truck and we played him at a number of positions throughout the season to attack a certain weakness in the offense we were playing. He had such a feel of where the ball was going to go, and of what the (opposing) offensive coordinator was doing.”

Indeed, Elder’s instincts were downright uncanny. In the Bulldogs’ 7-6 loss to Mt. San Antonio College in the state championship game last Saturday, Elder was often breaking in on the intended receiver even before the Mt. SAC quarterback released the ball. Although there’s plenty of talent and film work involved in his success, Elder said there’s another more important component to what makes him tick.

“It’s my hunger,” he said. “A lot of players just play to be out there. When you’re fighting for something, you’re not just out there to show up. I fight for what I believe in, and that means every time I’m on the field I’m fighting for my friends and my family. Especially my family. They mean everything to me.”

Elder, 20, grew up as the middle of seven siblings. Family life has always played a key role in the Elder household, especially when one of Elder’s sisters, Angela, died in a car accident six years ago. Angela’s death brought the Elders closer, and that bond remains strong to this day.

“She was the glue to our family,” Elder said. “I still think about her every day. In life you have to move forward; you can’t stay in the past. Our family took it hard and Angela will always be in our memories, and the best thing you can do is appreciate life.”

Elder also encountered some adversity out of high school. He grew up in Sacramento, prepped at Luther Burbank High and received a scholarship offer from Oregon in his senior year. But Elder didn’t have the grades, denying him momentarily from his dreams of playing at a Division I program.

“It was a tough situation,” Elder said. “But I learned not to take things for granted and I got my grades together. I learned from my mistakes.”

Did he ever. Elder had two of the greatest years by a CSM defensive player in a long time. He was a threat to pick off a pass on almost every possession — think about that for a moment — while providing leadership in the huddle. Even though he lived out of the area, picking CSM was a no-brainer for Elder.

His high school coaches played at CSM, and they had a connection with the Bulldogs’ coaching staff. Every summer Burbank went to CSM to compete in summer passing leagues, so Elder and Tulloch got to know each other well. Once he arrived at CSM, Elder wreaked havoc.

This year, Elder played a pivotal role in leading the Bulldogs to arguably the greatest season in school history. CSM won its first NorCal Conference championship and advanced to its first state title game. Elder took the loss to Mt. SAC especially hard, but leaves CSM with plenty of fond memories.

“I truly wanted to be a part of a team that was state and national champs,” he said. “You don’t get to say that too often. The ride at San Mateo has been good. The best part of playing here is it’s truly a family, and that means everything.”