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Did you read where Noel Devine, that kid Deion Sanders was trying to adopt, took off on him? Deion is up with the Ravens. This kid took one of Deion's cars, filled it with the stuff Deion had bought him, drove the car to DFW (left keys in the car), and flew to Florida. He was to start practicing with the Prosper team today.

RB Devine surprises Deion, heads back to Florida

Sanders was trying to adopt troubled player, who left without a word

11:37 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 9, 2005

By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News

Noel Devine, the troubled high school running back whom Deion Sanders was trying to adopt, left Prosper on Monday and flew back to Florida, where he is expected to return to school.

"Anytime you open your heart to someone and genuinely show them love, you're affected when something like this happens," Sanders said. "But we can release it and let it go because we honestly know that we did everything God told us to do. We're not looking back over our shoulders; we're just praying for the kid."

Devine spent last week at Baltimore Ravens training camp with Sanders and returned to Prosper, where Sanders' family lives, on Sunday. Devine is registered at Prosper High School and was expected to start practice with the Prosper football team Monday afternoon. He instead took one of Sanders' vehicles, drove to D/FW International Airport, left the keys in the car, and boarded a plane to Fort Myers.

Sanders said he was shocked, as paperwork to complete the transfer of guardianship was expected to be finished Friday.

"It hurts because he just took the keys to a car and left. He didn't say this or that, or say good-bye to anyone," Sanders said. "He packed the car with the school clothes and stuff we had bought him and left. We don't care about the clothes and stuff, it's the principle. That's what hurts."

Devine, 17, who will be a junior this year, ran into trouble as a sophomore at North Fort Myers High School when his girlfriend had a baby and a good friend died from a gunshot wound as the result of an altercation that involved Devine, the friend and a third party.

One of the school's staff called Sanders, a graduate of North Fort Myers, to provide counseling. Sanders so liked Devine he made plans to adopt him and bring him to Prosper, where he would live and play football at Prosper High School.

This became a big story not only because of Sanders' presence, but also because Devine is one of the best running backs in Florida, having rushed for 2,773 yards and 34 touchdowns in two seasons of high school play.

Devine's parents are both dead, and he was living part-time with his grandmother and part-time with a friend's parents – Robert and Liz Harlow. While Devine's grandmother, Lee Thomas, has guardianship and was attempting to transfer that guardianship to Sanders, the Harlows made attempts to stop the process. A Florida judge said last week the guardianship case needed to be determined in Texas, and Devine left Florida to go to training camp with Sanders. Devine has spent time in Prosper throughout the summer and recently visited with some of the players and coaches, according to Prosper coach John Pease.

"He was a good kid and seemed to be hitting it off," Pease said. "What we would like is for him to make a decision that's best for him. If he wants to stay in Florida, and that makes him happy, we're fine with that."

Still, the manner in which Devine made his escape was troubling to those he left behind in Texas.

"He violated the trust we gave him," Sanders said. "I have five kids. I can't allow my home to be infected with that type of stuff, because sooner or later it's going to be affected with it."