4* OL Riley Norman commits to Michigan State for track, not playing football

Submitted by MichiganMan2424 on

Riley Norman, a 4 star OL out of Cadillac, MI, just committed to Michigan State, but to do shotput, not play football. He was a consensus 4 star recruit, and part of the Rivals Top 250. It had rumored for a while that he was not planning on playing football in college, but had not been confirmed until now. He was considered to be a heavy MSU lean, so him going to MSU is no suprise.

If he ever decided to play football at MSU, he would not be allowed to walk-on and use the track scholarship. The scholarship would be shifted over to football, and count against MSU's 85 scholarship limit.

Edit: http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-R…

http://247sports.com/Player/Riley-Norman-13717

http://michiganstate.scout.com/a.z?s=175&p=8&c=1&nid=5680725

It's Norman, not Normal mods. Thanks for incorrectly editting my OP.

Wolverine Devotee

August 15th, 2012 at 9:03 PM ^

This is one of the most creative ways to piss away a football career I've seen.

I mean, he must have some talent if he's a consensus 4 star. Doesn't make much sense.

But then again, he is going to state.

MGJS SuperKick Party

August 15th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^

it is very possible for people to get burnt out on a sport that they are extremely good at by the time they graduate high school.

I went to high school with a two great distance runners, were all state cross country runners  for multiple years. Both by the end hated running. One stopped completely, and the other is training to be a body builder. Moral of the story, I guess, is that just because you're really good at something, doesnt mean you want to do it forever. Best of luck to Mr. Normal, I hope to see you in the Olympics one day.

mgobleu

August 15th, 2012 at 9:29 PM ^

Kim Jong Il was the best golfer in the history of the world. He was so good, in fact, that on his first round ever, he finished 38 under with 5 hole-in-ones. Oh, and Pyongyang golf course plays 7,700 yards. Problem is, he always found the game boring. I can see a 4* recruit passing on football.

Clarence Beeks

August 15th, 2012 at 11:58 PM ^

Edit - Zach Hill from Zeeland topped Duckett's record in 2009 (67-11.25). Of note, for those making the "2016 Olympic hopeful" comments about Norman, for comparison sake, Hill's personal best at MSU is 60-11.25. That's still almost 9 feet behind Hoffa, who took the bronze in London. Not saying that some day either of them couldn't be in the Olympics; just most likely not in 2016.

mbrummer

August 15th, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^

Maybe he doesn't like football.  Maybe he doesn't want to spend the 60+ hours a week a Division 1 program requires.

Maybe he doesn't want to wreck his knees or be concussed multiple times.

It's not everyone's dream to play Divsion 1 football and the NFL.  Kudos for the kid who made a tough decision and who is talented enough to get a track schorship.

I hope random people criticizes your life decisions too

Best of luck to him.

turd ferguson

August 15th, 2012 at 11:59 PM ^

He's a 16/17-year-old kid, and you're posting something for public consumption on the Internet suggesting that he's an idiot who's pissing his life away.  (On top of that, there's a damn good chance that you're wrong.)  How can you not find that wildly inappropriate and dickish?

My recent trips to this site have led me to believe that either I'm crazy or many/most of you are crazy.

turd ferguson

August 16th, 2012 at 10:50 AM ^

Okay, he didn't state that explicitly, but what exactly should we infer from this? 

"But then again, he is going to state."

Also inferred: the suggestion that by pissing away his football career he's making a career mistake.  Would WD have come on here and said Norman is pissing away his track career if he signed up to play football instead of track?

All of this, by the way, is why I wrote "suggesting" instead of "saying."

Mr Mxyzptlk

August 16th, 2012 at 5:02 AM ^

A close friend of mine quit the football team after his freshman year in college.  We all asked him to reconsider and told him that he was making a mistake, throwing away a huge opportunity, etc....  None of that mattered to him.  He didn't like getting hit constantly.  I think my dissappointment came because I felt like he was blowing an opportunity I never had.

Baldbill

August 16th, 2012 at 7:26 AM ^

There are many of us that have watched football from the sidelines for years. I was never going to be good enough to have a shot at college football, part of me is happy for the kids that do, part of me is jealous. I hope he has a long and successful shot putting career.

 

 

WolvinLA2

August 15th, 2012 at 11:37 PM ^

It's hard to tell who you're replying to, but if you're replying to me, I'm basing his Olympic potential on his college distances and the number of Americans who make the Olympic team in shot put.  There are NCAA champions who don't make the Olympic team, and I don't think Norman is anywhere near that level. 

He certainly deserves a college scholarship.  He was the top thrower in the state as a junior, and will probably be one of the better shot putters in the Big Ten as an upperclassman. 

But to put it into perspective - in 2012, Riley threw 61-2.5 to win state.  In 2011, a kid from Oregon threw 77-2.75, also as a high schooler.  Those are the types of kids who go to the Olympics. 

Clarence Beeks

August 16th, 2012 at 12:03 AM ^

I agree with you (see a few of my other posts in this thread). I was responding to those who were speculating that he could be an Olympic caliber thrower (someone even said in 2016). I was directing my question to them. Sorry, this format sucks on the app and it gets to be near impossible to determine who is responding to who...

unWavering

August 15th, 2012 at 9:05 PM ^

Is it possible that he will play football anyway?  I'm not sure how 2 sport athletes work.  If he's using a scholarship for shotput, would he be able to play on their football team as a walk on?