The first time I met Max Starks was at basketball practice.

I was a freshman at Lake Highland Prep in Orlando, Florida and I was running off the court with the rest of my teammates, getting a drink of water in between sprints. All of a sudden, a giant man walked into the gym and everything seemed to stop for a second as people tried to catch a glimpse of this behemoth.

"Who was this guy?" Everybody kept thinking.

The man walked over to the side where I was standing and started talking to me. "What grade are you in?" he asked.

"I'm a freshman," I said.

"You're one big ass freshman," he said.

At the time, I was about 6'0 and weighed 180 pounds. I was big for a high school freshman ... the sad part is I haven't really grown much since.

Anyway, as the man got closer, I realized that he was no man at all. Sure, he was huge -- he stood about 6'7 and weighed well over 300 pounds, but this guy had a baby face.

After thinking about it for a while, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to ask what year he was finishing up in school. I figured this guy had to be in college ... maybe I had seen him on television playing already, I figured.

"What year are you in?" I asked.

"I'm a junior," he said.

"You're one big ass junior," I said.

A junior? I thought to myself. This guy had to be one of the biggest college kids I had ever seen, regardless of age.

Right about this time, our coach called us out to the floor, and to my amazement, the giant ran out there with me.

Was this guy actually in HIGH SCHOOL?

It turned out that he had actually just transferred to our school. "I'm Max," he said, as we trudged out to the floor.

I was in complete shock.

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As it turns out, Max, was actually Max Starks -- the same Max Starks who will be starting at offensive tackle for the Steelers this Sunday. Before he became an NFL millionaire, on the verge of his second Super Bowl ring, Max was just another high school kid and I was just trying to stay out of his way.

You could say that the next two years of my life were spent under Max's arm pit ... literally.

Since I was the center on the junior varsity team, I would always have to guard the varsity center during scrimmages, which meant that I spent the better part of practices trying to figure out a way to slow down the big guy.

Since I had pretty much stopped growing at this point, I had to find a way to stop Max, and every other taller player I came into contact with.

I decided I would become a professional charge taker.

Not a flopper like Vlade Divac, either. I would hold my ground and get run over if it meant that our team could get the ball back. I also spent my time diving on the floor for any loose ball I could find. I had a propensity for ending up on the ground. All of these traits landed me a freshly-minted nickname from my new buddy Max.

Baby Falls A Lot.

The varsity team used to sit in the stands and count how many times I hit the floor during a certain contest. Looking back now, even I have to admit that it was pretty funny.

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Sensing that my basketball career would soon be coming to an end, I turned to football. Everyone always told me that I played football on the court anyway, so I figured the transition couldn't be that bad.

That was until I went to my first training camp and lined up against Max in football pads ... it was not a pretty picture. Since the football coaches had already decided to make me a lineman it meant that I had to practice constantly with the varsity guys. Of course, this meant that I would also have to pick myself off the grass after getting smashed by #77 Starks.

Over time I started to figure out what to do; I got the hang of football. In the meantime, Max became one of the hottest recruits in the country. College coaches used to line up to watch him play. Ultimately, he went off to the University of Florida and I moved up to varsity the next year ... with some gigantic shoes to fill.

As I began my junior year in high school there was a running joke amongst some of my buddies. "You have to replace Max," they'd say laughing. "You're going to get killed."

I spent the new year just trying to stay on my feet, which as you've probably guessed, was a bit of a problem for me at the time.

I made it though ... and so did he.

[Note: When I told Ben Roethlisberger that I was one of the guys who took Max's place on the line when he graduated from high school, Big Ben's response was short and quick. "I don't believe it," he quipped.

It's true," I said.

"I still don't believe it," he said laughing.]

Max became a starter at Florida and ended up getting drafted by the Steelers in 2004. I went off to college and tried to watch all of his games ... hoping some day that I might be able to cover one. It was always a cool feeling to be able to turn on the TV and tell my friends that "I know that guy."

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I used to see Max at home every once in a while but it had been about two years since the last time we had spoken ... until today.

As I walked down the steps and onto the field I couldn't help but crack a smile as I watched my old buddy conduct interview after interview. When I finally got his attention about halfway through the media session, his response was exactly how I expected to be. "Baby Falls A Lot," he happily bellowed.

Before I could even get out another word I found myself in a massive bear hug/headlock, right back under Max's arm pit.

I couldn't help but think about all the times I had ended up in the exact same position.

"Did you ever think we'd be here," I said to him as he walked onto the field with the rest of his teammates.

"Dude," he said. "I never thought that, come on now."

Me neither buddy, me neither.

Related: Super Bowl XLIII, From XLIII