Adam Harris a possible M football addition
My parents best family friends are ex-athlete megadonors of the athletic program, thus are very in the loop when it comes to M sports, particularly football and track. According to them (via email from my mom) RR is trying to convince Adam Harris of Michigan's track team to join the football team for a year and play tailback.
Apparently Adam was a pretty big time football player in high school, but chose to run track in college. He just took 4th in the NCAA's in the 60 meter dash, which makes him really fast. This doesn't make him a good football player, but it helps. I could also see him as M's version of Trindon Holliday (sp) that little speedster from LSU who was so dangerous on kick returns.
His biggest concern is that he wants to go pro in track and doesn't want to hurt himself, but RR apparently is pushing for it. He might not contribute at all, but adding a lightning fast guy to your team can never hurt.
Interesting. To be honest, if I was Adam Harris, I wouldn't risk my chances of becoming a pro track athlete to run around on the football field a bit.
It'd be fun to watch him return kicks though.
Morgan Trent and Troy Woolfolk are speedsters, too, and they actually play football. I doubt Harris would be an upgrade over either of them as far as returning kicks goes.
Not that it necessarily translates to football and both those guys are quick but from a speed standpoint Harris blows them out of the water.
True. I just don't think it matters much. I'd rather have a semi-fast guy with football skills than a superfast guy with no cutting ability, no sense of setting up his blocks, no sense of footwork, etc.
nevermind
Any idea how much money you can make in pro track? It seems like if you're a sort of middle of the road professional you wouldn't make that much.
I spent about 10 minutes searching the internet for Adam Harris's high school football exploits. I have found nothing. The kid is super fast, but I question how "big time" he was as a football player (if he played).
Yeah, I'm not sure what he meant by big time either. I would guess maybe he was a division 2 or 3 sort, but I think the point is that he's not just a fast guy who has never held a football. And although Trent and Woolfolk are fast, they don't hold a candle to this guy.
He stands to lose much more than he can gain. I'm not sure if they need speed returning punts/kicks. They have some speedy dudes, but they just don't catch the ball or hang on to it very well.
hmmm
What does it mean to "go pro" in track? I tried googling a few things but I couldn't find anything.
It means that you are sponsored by a major brand (usually Nike, Reebok, Adidas) and run in the major meets and sometimes do commercials.
I live in an SEC state and somebody once told me (unofficially) that they thought that the SEC teams were just harvesting the track meets and looking for all of the speed they could find. Bring these kids in with their speed and teach them enough to get by on the field and let their speed carry them. Obviously this is not true but it does not sound like all that bad of an idea.
The problem with this notion is that once you accept a scholarship for any sport other than football, you're forbidden from playing football until your junior year. (This is done to keep teams from skirting the 85-scholarship limit.) You are allowed to accept a football scholarship and play another sport as a freshman, but situations like that are rare. If you're a football coach, would you really hand out a valuable scholarship to a track specialist on the off chance that he becomes a good football player? It's probably not worth it.
I think he'd have a better chance getting sponsored by adidas, or whomever, by getting way more exposure on the Michigan football team. When will he get the opprotunity to be seen by a national TV audience running track? He would probably only see 3-4 plays a game and assuming he gets a track schalorship, he won't use up one from the football bank. I'd advise him to use the football team for the extra/free publicity.
A company isn't going to sponsor a track athlete based on what he did in another sport. If he's good enough to become a professional sprinter, he'll get his apparel deals. All world-class athletes have sponsors. In fact, if anything, companies would probably frown upon a track guy playing football, viewing it as a needless injury risk.
as soon as you start playing another sport, the schollie gets charged to the higher revenue sport. it's what keeps schools like miami from oversigning.
According to his bio on mgoblue.com, his older brother AJ is a RB for the Edmonton Eskimos. At a glance, it looks like he had a decent season a year ago (originally cut but then re-signed and was a significant contributor by the end of the season).
Also according to mgoblue, this guy is a senior this year. How does eligibility work? Can you exhaust your four years in one sport and then go on to another? I know that as soon as you enroll in a post-secondary institution your clock starts ticking. I think you only have five years, but I may be wrong on that count. If that is the case, Harris would have one year to play one year. That doesn't really seem worth it for either party.
Correct, he would have to play this fall and it would be the only season he could play. He's not looking to make a career out of football, but like many of us who played high school football at a high level, he probably misses football a lot and would like the chance to be a Michigan football player for a season. I would put off just about anything to be on M's football team for just one season.
I can't see him giving up his track focus for a chance to return a few punts. He has a very bright future in track and one season on the football team isn't worth sacrificing that. He competed at the Olympics this past summer for Guyana. It's an easy decision.
The coaches liked what they saw and approached him and that's it. I can't see him seriously considering the offer.
I just googled "ex-athlete megadonors" and couldn't find anything related to Michigan football. This post is crap.
This doesn't really surprise me. I had a class with him in the fall and figured he was probably already on the football team. He's pretty well built but is rather short, probably no taller than 5'8".
Back in the late '60s and early '70s the Lions had a world-class track guy named Earl McCullouch on the team as a WR. He ran track at USC, and at one point was world record holder in the 110 hurdles. He also was part of a world-record holding 4x100 relay team at USC, with OJ Simpson as one of the guys on the relay team.
Even though McCullouch was NFL rookie of the year in 1968, he had a problem that surfaced before long, which is why Detroit fans started calling him Earl "Stone Fingers" McCullouch.
Renaldo Nehemiah (sp?) of the 49ers?