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KELLER, Texas — Growing up, R.J. Washington was a self-proclaimed troublemaker.

"I used to be bad,” he said. "I was always getting into trouble.”

That changed during his freshman year of high school in a sweeping moment of heartbreak when Washington realized he no longer was invincible.

"You know, when you're in high school you never think you can get hurt,” he said. "I got slapped in the face with some reality.”

Maturing off the field helped Washington develop into the nation's top defensive end prospect.

He worried less about trash-talking and more about trashing the opposing team's quarterback.

Washington, from Keller, Texas, was the first to commit to Oklahoma, laying the foundation for this 2008 Sooner recruiting class that by signing day should be among the nation's elite.

When Washington arrives in Norman, he will join a talented crop of young defensive ends that includes incumbent Big 12 sack leader Auston English and rising star Jeremy Beal.

Despite being a sizable 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, Washington runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds, which made him nearly impossible for high school linemen to block without the help of a double-team.

During his time at Fossil Ridge High School, Washington registered 27 career sacks. His senior year, he had 21 quarterback hurries.

But what Fossil Ridge football coach Tony Baccarini has valued most in Washington isn't his speed off the corner or the ferocity with which he strikes an opposing running back.

"R.J. is a very emotional kid,” Baccarini said. "He has a lot of passion for everything he does. He cares about his coaches and his teammates.”

Going into high school, Washington cared for teammate Tyler Bailey as much as anyone.

Washington and Bailey were the stars on the Fossil Ridge freshman football team.

"Tyler was more athletic than I was. He would never drop the ball,” Washington said. "He was one of the coolest people I've ever met.”

But one Saturday night that football season, Bailey, also a straight "A” student, was found dead from an overdose of the prescription drugs Xanax and Oxycodone. Many believed it was the first time Bailey had ever used drugs.

"To lose a best friend, especially how he died, put the whole no one is invincible thing out there,” Washington said. "People make mistakes.”

Washington began to realize it was time for him to stop making his mistakes.

Since he began attending school as a child, Washington was a fixture in the principal's office. He would fight with other kids and curse at teachers.

His mother, Sherri Wright, would spank him with a belt or a vacuum cord whenever he'd mess up at school, which was often.

"I have a file folder for when he has children,” said Wright, a nurse at Forth Worth's Harris Methodist Hospital. "When his children start acting up, he can look at that file and remember what he put me through.”

It wasn't until Bailey's passing that Washington finally realized he needed to change the direction of his life.

"That helped R.J. draw attention to himself that he needed help,” Wright said. "He realized he didn't have to be a bully or a bad kid. He could be who he was.”

Washington stopped causing trouble at school. And he started to become a person others could look up to.

"He's been our leader ever since,” Baccarini said. "I don't know if what happened to Tyler is what changed R.J.

"I do know it was not too long after that everything started to go well for him.”

It has been four years since Bailey died, but Washington hasn't forgotten his friend.

Shortly after a narrow victory over rival Flower Mound this past season, Washington walked up to Baccarini.

"R.J. came up to me and said, ‘This game reminded me of Tyler,'” Baccarini recalled. "Tyler's death shook up R.J. pretty bad and he struggled with it for a while.

"But all that helped R.J. turn into a good, good person.”