Both of his parents died when he was a little boy, and he lost an older brother in January. He quite possibly cheated death himself when he was 13.

Lundy, who played high school football at Florence and later at Holy Cross, had a solid collegiate career at the University of Virginia and caught the eye of pro scouts.

Drafted in the sixth round by the Houston Texans, the 5-foot-10, 211-pound rookie has emerged as their starting running back and will face the team he grew up rooting for, the Philadelphia Eagles, in the season opener for both teams on Sunday in Houston.

Lundy's two brothers, Jamaal and Mikal, both played football at Florence, and later at the University of Connecticut and Towson University. They will be on hand, as will their grandmother, Etta Davis, who raised the boys once their parents died.

"I think it's a dream come true just to be starting in the NFL," Lundy said in a conference call on Wednesday afternoon. "To get to play against the Eagles, the team I grew up watching and cheering for, I think might be kind of ironic. It's going to be a great experience for me, and I'm just going to try to . . . cherish every play I get. I was a huge Eagles fan growing up."

Things have worked out for Lundy in Houston. First of all, the Texans' opted to pass on University of Southern California star running back Reggie Bush, a Heisman Trophy winner, in the draft. They instead selected defensive end Mario Williams with the top pick.

"When we chose to go with Mario in the draft, we knew we'd be searching for a back somewhere later in that day," Houston coach Gary Kubiak said Wednesday. "Our opportunity came in the sixth round with Wali.

"He's (Lundy) come a long way. From Day 1, we came in here, Domanick Davis was the back here in Houston, and he had a setback early in camp where he basically missed training camp. We were in a search mode with these young players, gave them all a legitimate chance to make an NFL roster. This kid (Lundy) kind of stepped to the forefront. He's handled himself like a pro from Day 1. Very mature young man."

Davis, Houston's top rusher the past three seasons, was placed on the injured reserved with a bone bruise in his knee and is out for the season. To add some depth in that area, Houston also recently signed running back Ron Dayne, a Heisman trophy winner at the University of Wisconsin, and former star at Overbrook High School.

His mother JoAnn died four years later of breast cancer when Lundy was only 8 1/2. Lundy's oldest brother Shaheed, 27, died in January after a lung collapsed due to a bout with pneumonia.

Lundy himself had a serious health incident as a youngster. Initially, his grandmother was told that Lundy, then 13, had the flu. He was losing a lot of weight and couldn't hold food down.

But doctors at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia discovered Lundy had scar tissue that had been there since birth, which was blocking his intestine. He had emergency surgery and stayed in the hospital for nine days.

"That was just another obstacle I had to overcome in my life," Lundy told The Daily Orange a few years ago. "God has seen me through a lot of different challenges."

At Virginia, Lundy rushed for 3,193 yards in 49 games, and scored 52 career touchdowns. He was a two-time All-State performer at Holy Cross where he was a SuperPrep All-American. He rushed for 2,030 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior, and also had 29 receptions and 411 receiving yards with six touchdowns. Lundy played for Al Groh, a former NFL head coach with the New York Jets, at Virginia.

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