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Peyton Barber declared for draft because mom is currently homeless

We now know why Auburn running back Peyton Barber declared for the NFL draft.

Barber said Wednesday at the NFL combine that his mother was currently homeless.

"It was just because some things I was going through with my family," Barber said Wednesday. "I don’t know if anybody really knows my mom, she’s homeless right now. So it’s kind of doing it for her."

When he announced his intentions for the NFL, Barber's decision was initially one of the more curious ones among players declaring early. He ran for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns as a redshirt sophomore in 2015. Not horrible numbers by any means, but also numbers that weren't exactly eye-popping either.

He said in a letter posted on Al.com when he made his decision in January that he knew going to the NFL was the best step for him.

While Barber ran for over 1,000 yards, he failed to run for over 100 yards in any of the final six games of the season and had no more than 13 carries in any of those games. But it's now clear that his stats only played a small part in Barber's decision-making.

Barber said his mom was living with his aunt and her children in Alpharetta, Georgia.

"Right now she’s staying with her sister," he said. "It’s her and her three kids staying in an apartment back home."

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!