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WASHINGTON - Yes, Aaron Curry admits it. Upon learning Wake Forest was interested in him, the undersized high school linebacker took some unusual steps to make an impression.

"I knew I had to look the part," the Demon Deacons' fifth-year senior said recently.

In some cases, this is where the story deviates into an underground universe of syringes and substances, of mood swings and mayhem, of bulging biceps and blissful ignorance. Aaron Curry, all 195 pounds of him, went looking for his own quick fix as Demon Deacons assistant coach Brad Lambert made plans to meet him.

"That morning before I got on the school bus, I was doing push-ups," he recalled. "When I got to the school, I was doing curls. And I wore a basketball jersey with no shirt under it so I could look big. I wore Timberland boots so I would look taller, because everybody was telling me I was too short and too slow."

All in all, a rather amateurish performance.

"I didn't get two months bigger in two hours," he concedes now.

But he didn't need to. Lambert saw a body that could be filled out by natural means and a worker bee who could really sting. It is the sort of recruiting tale that defines why Wake Forest will play in a bowl game for the third straight season when it faces Navy today in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl (11 a.m., ESPN).

Curry will take the field as the winner of the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker upon the advice of background-checking NFL executives. He checks in at 250 pounds and with plans to champion iplayclean.org, the steroid-awareness charity fronted by trophy namesake Dick Butkus.

"Guys who have been by and who have watched him practice are involved in picking this award," coach Jim Grobe said. "It's a really good step for our program and should make Aaron feel good."

Fayetteville has produced plenty of football talent through the years, which means outstanding prospects generally have dozens of suitors. One day in 2003, Wake offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke was looking for a lineman when he kept noticing this E.E. Smith High School linebacker flash across the screen.

Aaron Curry? Never heard of him. Word on the street said East Carolina had offered a scholarship. Mississippi State was allegedly involved, as well. Lobotzke passed along the tape to Lambert, who coaches Wake's linebackers, and to Keith Henry, the assistant in charge of defensive ends, for their input.

Here's how Henry describes the subsequent meeting of the minds: "Lambert comes back and he says, 'Lobo, has this guy done anything? Has he robbed a bank? Why hasn't anybody taken this guy?' "

High school coaches swore this was a team-first player without enemies or baggage. His grades checked out, too.

Lambert journeyed to Fayetteville to see the deal for himself, and when he met Curry, he smiled, having realized the reason for others' reluctance. The player wasn't just thin; he was trying way too hard to hide it.

Lambert wasn't dissuaded. At 5-foot-11, Jon Abbate was developing into a pretty nice linebacker, wasn't he? Henry was executing a similar developmental job on a 248-pound end named Matt Robinson.

Give this Curry kid some weights and carbohydrates, wait a couple of years, then let the results appear.

"I know when he saw me, he saw the long arms and wide shoulders and he felt there was something there," Curry said. "Coach Lambert can work with anything."

An interception in Curry's third season helped Wake win the 2006 ACC championship game. He tied an NCAA record by returning three picks for touchdowns a year later. He became known as a nonstop, laterally-mobile aggressor all along the way.

Unlike the Heisman Trophy, which is voted on by hundreds of media types, the Butkus is chosen largely by a committee of NFL personnel experts. As Curry piled up the tackles and scouts came through Winston-Salem, the player's prestige grew. Suddenly, ESPN and the NFL Network, among others, began listing Curry as the top overall prospect in the 2009 draft.

They had discovered this was a well-rounded and well-grounded prospect.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com