All the right tools.

Byline: Shawn Miller The Register-Guard

Braving the weather and the typical child-to-stranger nerves, Bronson Durrant - just 5 at the time - patiently waited in front of the local hardware store, selling bird houses that he built for 10 bucks apiece.

His earnings that summer paid for his first bike - a Huffy Metaloid - as well as his way into the Lane County Fair, among other things.

"My mom blew the rest of it on school clothes," Durrant said.

By the time he was a teenager, Durrant had purchased a barrage of electrical tools to maintain residences for the property management business where his mother, Charlie, works.

He was already used to work. His father, Donny, has used a wheelchair since a paralyzing car accident years before Bronson was born, and so since childhood, Bronson Durrant has been his father's hands on household chores.

"I have to mow the lawn, take care of maintenance stuff around the house ... like installing a sink," Durrant said.

No wonder, then, that when Marist football coach Rory Rosenbach talks about the 6-foot-4 senior, a standout on the offensive and defensive lines for the Spartans, that he stresses Durrant's work ethic.

No wonder, too, that back in July, when Durrant made an oral commitment to sign a letter of intent to accept a scholarship to play football at Boise State, it was an emotional experience for an athlete and family who have put years of work and sacrifice into reaching such a goal.

"My dad was actually watching a video called 'Onto the Blue' the other day," Durrant said. "It was all about Boise State's football team, and he was just so proud. He almost breaks down and starts crying every time. He's just so proud of me ... seeing my life start to progress and go places that he never even dreamed of going."

The goal didn't come without a cost - both financially and, at times, to Durrant's social life.

Charlie, who works two jobs, always pushed him scholastically, emphasizing the importance of grades to get into college. Donny inspired him to outwork his competitors on the athletic field, because it was the way to cover the cost of that college education.

Because education has been so important to the Durrants, Bronson has been in private school since he was five.

Keeping with tradition, he even took a second job this summer at a local cafe, just to help cover some of the cost that his high school education requires.

"It has never stopped since then," Donny Durrant said, remembering his then-5-year-old's initiative. "How many kids do you know that have bought their own lawn mower, bought their own skill saw, bought their own weed whackers, bought their own hedge trimmer?

"Most of the stuff he got by the time he was 10, 11 years old just so he could make money."

A three-year starter for the Spartans,

Durrant has needed every bit of the work ethic required at home. Against Cottage Grove last year, he suffered a broken right wrist, which sidelined him with a full-arm cast for five weeks until the regular-season finale.

He broke the wrist again in summer workouts - the same day Boise State offered the scholarship - and missed this year's season opener, a loss to Sheldon.

After receiving a doctor's clearance to play in the second game, Durrant made it through a little more than one quarter before sustaining a knee injury that kept him out of commission until last Friday.

"We were down toward the goal line," he said. "I threw somebody onto the ground and I fell on top of him. The pile collapsed on top of me. When I got up to try to straighten my knee out, I couldn't straighten it out because I guess there was a piece of cartilage caught in the meniscus.

"If you get an injury to your knee, it's the one you want to have happen."

Finally healthy, and now wearing a pair of knee braces to prepare for what will be required in college, Durrant said he realized the importance of taking care of his body, primarily by making better choices in eating and avoiding soft drinks.

Rosenbach, who characterized Durrant as the "kid you'd want your daughter to bring home," noted the senior's hustle and work ethic, not to mention his unique mobility and quick feet for his size.

"He was in every single day in the weight room. He did extra stuff on his own. He'd work himself to the point of exhaustion," said Rosenbach, who added that Boise State is looking at Durrant as an interior offensive lineman.

"He's one of the hardest workers I've ever been around."

The University of Oregon showed recruiting interest, even asking Durrant to attend its summer camp, about three weeks after Boise State's. However, Durrant's summer wrist injury, suffered a week and a half before the Ducks' camp, precluded his participation. Oregon State encouraged Durrant to walk on; Portland State is the only other school that offered a scholarship.

And so Durrant is Boise-bound.

In the meantime, with his future destination set and several months of high school left, Durrant said his emphasis is to finish not only the school year strong but his final football season on a winning note as well.

"The natural reaction is to just relax, try to coast," he said. "What I'm trying to do is keep my grades up.

"I'm trying not to act like a superstar on the football field or anything like that. I'm trying to be humble about all of it.

"I've seen so many great players lose my respect because they just didn't have the right attitude."