A Personality Feature on Kaleb Kim 

Written by Kaitlin Kiernan for Advanced Sports Reporting at Auburn University in Spring 2020

“You have to find success in imperfect situations,” said former Auburn center Kaleb Kim. “Your situation might not always be ideal, but at the end of the day, no one is going to really care, it is all about how you respond and perform under certain conditions.”

In 2015, the Buford, Georgia native joined the Auburn Tigers Football roster. Kim was a four-star offensive tackle out of Mill Creek High School and five years later, the lessons and skills that he has learned through his time at Auburn are now being put into use as he makes his leap into a life after college.

When Kaleb was young, he was always playing sports and in eighth grade, he started to get noticed by the football coaches. “The coaches started to keep a close eye on me,” Kim said, “As a freshman, I had a meeting with the coaches and they wanted to pull me up to varsity and being a fourteen-year-old kid, that is kind of a big deal to be playing with seventeen and eighteen-year-old guys.” Kaleb then understood that he was ahead of all of the other players in his class and after his freshman football season, the University of Miami at Ohio offered him a full scholarship. “It was really a special moment. Being able to use football to get a free education would be a huge step.” After a stand-out sophomore year season at Mill Creek, Kaleb then started traveling to campuses on Saturdays. His first “big” offer was the University of Tennessee and that is when he realized that football could be that gate to getting his education. “Going into junior year is when Alabama offered me and when you get those offers, everyone else kind of just joins the party.”

Shortly after Alabama offered, Auburn offered him as well. “The first visit I took to Auburn is when I realized that Auburn was just a little bit different,” said Kim. “When we walked into the stadium, Kaleb’s face just kind of lit up,” said Kaleb’s father, John Kim, “It is where he felt that he belonged.” The goal when he came to The Plains was to find the field however, he could. After a redshirt year, spending some time as a backup due to a knee injury, he finally saw his name in the starting lineup on the ribbon board at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in August of 2018. There were a lot of questions about the 2018 Auburn Tigers, with a new quarterback and a brand-new offensive line. “Washington was nerve-racking. Being a center there is a lot of pressure that comes with that,” said Kim. Meanwhile in the stands, Kaleb’s

family was overwhelmed with emotion. “I was too busy crying,” said John, “It is a moment that is hard to put into words. He worked so hard and it seemed like we had waited like what seemed like forever. When I saw his name flashing up on the starting lineup, if I had to compare it to anything, it was like when he was born. My heart dropped to my feet.” This moment came after overcoming a knee injury the occurred the last scrimmage before the A-Day 2018. “It was pretty devastating,” said Kim, “A guy fell into my right knee and there was a lot of damage in there and it was tough to recover. We were not sure if I was going to need surgery or not, it was fifty-fifty. It was a tough recovery process throughout that whole summer. It was really a character-building moment.”

Kaleb’s family was present to see his injury occur. “I saw it happen. I saw his knee buckle and I kind of knew it wasn’t good,” said John. “My heart just sank. They carried him to the training room, and I ran over to him and he was so upset. He felt that this was his time, and this was another setback. I really wanted to tell him that this is not meant to be, maybe just study and get your degree. But as a father, I could not tell him that and I knew deep down that he was not a quitter.” After the injury, Kaleb leaned on his family to help him push through and not quit the game he loved. “Every day after the injury they would check in on me and see how recovery was going,” Kim said. “There were times where it got really really hard. There were certain times where I would think that this isn’t worth it, or I can’t do this. But I would talk to my family and it gave me the reason as to why I was doing it. The reminded me of everything I had gone through to get to this point, and it would be a shame to let a knee injury get in the way of that.”

After an ACL tear this past season’s game against Samford University, Kaleb had a choice to make. He could rehab his knee, stay in pursuit of his NFL dreams and maybe give the 2021 NFL Draft a shot or he could move forward and pursue his professional goal of going into medical sales. “A lot of the decision had to do with my overall health,” said Kim, “I was going into my second knee injury and it was kind of the end of my college career.” When the Coronavirus pandemic shut down the university and forced students to vacate campus, Kaleb did not have access to the resources and facilities that were available to him at Auburn. Since times were uncertain, and still are, Kaleb made the choice to end his collegiate journey and start the job hunt. He adds, “There is a time where you have to say enough is enough and move forward. I do not want to have serious health issues down the line. If I were continuing, every day is just an

absolute grind on your body. It is difficult, but I do not think it is going to be one I regret in the future.”

“Everything happens for a reason, and I know Kaleb knows that,” John said. “He took everything as a learning experience, and I think that he is a lot stronger because of everything he has been through.”