Auburn alum and guardian of three Vederian Lowe is ready for his NFL Draft moment

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WIFR) - Vederian Lowe is ready for his NFL Draft moment, albeit with some anxiety.

“I’m nervous as hell but I’m excited, to say the least man and it’s just a surreal feeling,” Lowe said.

After graduating from Auburn in 2017 and playing the past five seasons at Illinois, Lowe is projected to be a day three pick. Although it wasn’t until a major change in his life came before his second year at Illinois.

“We found out that King was on the way as soon as my sophomore year started so I had just turned 19,” Lowe said.

In June 2019, Vederian and his now-wife Haylee welcomed a son, King, into their lives. Haylee was the one to keep things balanced in the young family’s new life.

“In our relationship, I was more of the–at that time–more of the person to hold it up and to put everything into retrospect, we can handle this we can do it, don’t worry about it,” Haylee said.

“She came to me and told me that we’d work it out, we’d find a way to make sure to continue to do what I needed to do and she would help support the family and whatnot and she’s delivered on every promise she’s made and I’ve gotten us to this point,” Vederian said.

“Until I held King in the hospital that day, I was like ‘I want to get to the league, I want to make football my job, I want to make that my profession and I’m going to do what I have to do to get there,’” Vederian said.

But during the offseason between his sophomore and junior season in 2019, another major change happened in Vederian’s life. Just two months after King was born, Vederian’s mother passed away due to an enlarged heart.

“She was a great woman, she could sing, I really loved that about her, she was a great woman,” Vederian said.

With the passing of Vederian’s mom, Vederian’s younger brother, Vidalis, was without a place to call home. Vidalis would move in and take care of his aging grandmother, but after a short time, Vederian knew he had to do something for his brother.

“That just wasn’t the life I thought an 11 or 12-year-old should have, so he came and stayed with us for a family vacation that me and Haylee went on with her family, and then while he was here in our care we decided that it was best for him to stay with us,” Vederian said.

“You know just for me and her being so young and then trying to get our lives that we had structured…to bring in a 13-year-old and to go from it literally being a parent of a one-year-old to being a parent of a teenager, that was some of the hardest things we’ve had to do,” Vederian said.

2021 was a big year for Vederian and his growing family, in February Vederiand Haylee got married. In May, Haylee gave birth to the couple’s second son, Trey. In July, Vederian officially gained guardianship over Vidalis. Finally, in 2021, Vederian broke the program record for most starts in a career at 52 for Illinois and the offensive lineman earned his degree in December 2021.

“I’m just glad that I have the people that we’re put into my life to help me, to put me in this position…to even be here right now because I wouldn’t be here without her (Haylee), I wouldn’t be here without her support and her family’s support and I wouldn’t be here without my grandfather, there’s a bunch of people that helped me get here,” Vederian said.

‘We’ve definitely made the most out of the situation,” Vederian said.

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