Former Stanhope Elmore safety Dashaun Caffee celebrated the publication of his first book this weekend in Millbrook. He was joined by friends, family and community members who all came to support and get their personal copies signed.
The idea for this project came about naturally for Caffee. As a junior at Stanhope Elmore, he decided to sit down at the end of every week and consider what he wanted to strive towards in the following years of his life. Without thinking about it too hard, he put pen to paper and drew up a list of goals. The top two were: play football in college and write a book.
“I didn’t have a thought about writing a book before that,” said Caffee. “But I wrote it down, and now I’m here (at my book release party).”
The book, “I’m Proof,” is all about Caffee’s pursuit of his goal to play college football and how he overcame the doubts about his size. At 5-foot-7, Caffee is on the smaller side for most every position on the football field. He started his career as a defensive back and was comfortable in that position.
His sophomore year at Stanhope Elmore, the Mustangs were down a starting safety. Football coach Hunter Adams came to Caffee and informed him he would be moving to safety in the following game, a big one against Prattville. After that game, Adams decided he would start at safety for the rest of the season.
By senior year, Caffee was confident that his goal was within reach. Until he suffered an injury and decided to push back his commitment. The period of waiting on coaches’ phone calls was agony for him, but he prayed and kept believing in himself.
Eventually, he got a phone call from South Alabama coach Major Applewhite offering him a spot on the team.
“Everything finally felt like it was coming together,” Caffee wrote in his book. “I’d put in the work and now I was being rewarded for it. That moment was everything I’d been waiting for: validation, reassurance, and the beginning of a new chapter in my life doing something I put a lot of time and effort into.”
Caffee credits his mother, Novellar Robinson, for many of his accomplishments but especially this one.
“Seeing her hard work, seeing the way she works,” Caffee said. “She didn’t have a lot of the resources that I have now, so I’m just taking advantage of that and listening to her.”
Caffee plans on continuing his writing in some fashion going forward, whether it’s through another book or something else. “I’m Proof” is available for purchase on Amazon.
