The highlights of Vikings star left tackle Christian Darrisaw have gone viral on social media this week. His extremely powerful hands at the point of attack. His incredibly quick feet in close quarters. His innate ability to effortlessly marry both together inside his 6-foot-5, 315-pound frame.

All of it helped him vaporize edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux in last weekend’s season opener against the New York Giants, and will play a key role when Darrisaw goes to battle with star edge rusher Nick Bosa in this weekend’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Maybe the most important part of Darrisaw’s makeup, however, is something that doesn’t necessarily show up on film. It’s intangible. It’s on display in the way Darrisaw prepares, which, in turn, has helped him develop into an elite player at his position.

His discipline. That character trait is something Darrisaw forged as a teenager across four months at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. It wasn’t a recommendation. It was a requirement.

“They didn’t play out there,” Darrisaw said. “They didn’t tolerate no B.S.”

As a lightly recruited prospect out of Riverdale Baptist High School in Maryland, Darrisaw ultimately committed to Virginia Tech. The scholarship offer came with the caveat that he would attend Fork Union in the fall to fulfill a credit requirement before enrolling at Virginia Tech in the winter.

“Just having to sacrifice everything to have the opportunity to play at the next level,” Darrisaw said. “I really questioned myself like, ‘How much do I love this game?’ ”

The answer was clear to Darrisaw only after he made it through his first week at Fork Union. There were no phones, no computers, and no access to the outside world during that grueling stretch. The ethos centered on separating the strong from the weak.

“They had us doing mile runs, push-ups, pull-ups, all this other stuff,” Darrisaw said. “You saw dudes leaving left and right.”

Not Darrisaw. He came to Fork Union with a purpose, and he was hellbent on seeing it through. He quickly learned it was better to trust the process than question it whether he was competing on the football field or navigating life in the barracks.

“I got a lot of lessons out of it,” Darrisaw said. “Just the discipline and all of that type of stuff helped me grow as a man.”

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw spent four months at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia as a teenager. It helped him learn the discipline necessary to succeed at the highest level. (Courtesy of Fork Union Military Academy)

Though he thinks back on his experience fondly nowadays, Darrisaw noted that it wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination.

All of the perceptions associated with the military academies became reality for him overnight. The whistles being blown in the hallways at 6 a.m. The uniform that had to be worn around campus. The very specific way his bed was to be made and his clothes were to be folded.

“The funny part was there are kids that have been there since middle school,” Darrisaw said. “We’re a bunch of 18-year-olds listening to a bunch of 14-year-olds telling us what to do.”

You name the stereotype and Darrisaw probably lived it during his time at Fork Union.

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw spent four months at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia as a teenager. It helped him learn the discipline necessary to succeed at the highest level. (Courtesy of Fork Union Military Academy)

There was a specific square he had to be standing on each morning when the drill sergeant arrived at his door. They would then march to breakfast as a group before returning to their respective rooms to make sure everything was spick and span. The smallest infraction was met with consequences.

“It could be a crease in the bed or the hoodie could be folded wrong,” Darrisaw said. “It was pretty crazy, and it definitely taught me a lot.”

The demand for excellence carried over to the football field where Darrisaw honed his abilities in the trenches and helped Fork Union finished with a 9-1 record. That part of it came much more natural to him. He performed so well in his role, in fact, that a handful of schools wanted back in on his recruitment.

Not that Darrisaw ever considered switching up on Virginia Tech. That’s simply not how he’s wired.

“He committed to them, and once Christian commits to something, he ain’t going nowhere,” said Caesar Nettles, the former head coach at Riverdale Baptist. “That’s who he is, and that ain’t ever going to change.”

As he progressed through the trials and tribulations at Fork Union on and off the field, Darrisaw was unknowingly preparing himself for the next chapter in his life. That’s kind of the point.

“The guys who buy in like Christian did accelerate from the discipline we have in place,” said Frank Arritt, the former offensive line coach at Fork Union, who now serves as head coach there. “We focus on the development of the full man when they’re here. It isn’t all about football because there’s more to life than that.”

That said, even after Fork Union finished up its schedule, Darrisaw still had a little more football to partake in. The program puts on a combine annually that attracts upwards of 200 college coaches. It concludes with everybody forming a circle with a couple of players going mano-a-mano in the middle.

“It’s basically some Bear Bryant stuff,” said Vance Vice, the former offensive line coach at Virginia Tech, who now serves in that role at UNLV. “You learn a lot about guys in that moment.”

After watching Darrisaw go again and again and again, Vance knew he had something special on his hands. The tenacity followed Darrisaw to Virginia Tech, where he was a starter from the onset, then to the Vikings, where he has established himself as a foundational piece of the future.

As he reflected on his career this week, Darrisaw pointed to Fork Union as an inflection point. The four months that could have broken him only made him stronger

“I’m grateful for it,” Darrisaw said. “I wouldn’t change anything about the path I took to get here.”

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