Being Sam McGuffie
Let's take a step back today and think about the decision that Sam McGuffie is trying to make. The best way to do that is to try to walk in his shoes.
Sam was a high school superstar out of Cypress Cy-Fair in Houston, Texas. Where he was a four-star running back recruit by Rivals, rated No. 10 all purpose backs in the country, and had offers from every major college program in the country (Notre Dame, USC, etc). Sam is 5"11 and 185 pounds.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
What really made Sam stand out from other recruits was his YouTube mix tape that as of today has had 2.7 million hits. Sam is seen jumping over on coming tacklers in this famous YouTube video.
So Sam is 18, a highly recruited running back, and now a rock star!
Fast forward to February 2008 signing day, when all Michigan commits have sent in their faxed signed letter of intentions but McGuffie's has not shown up.
Was he having second thoughts about Michigan? Maybe the coaching change? Did his last minute trip to Cal have him re-thinking his Michigan verbal commitment? Well, late that afternoon after some soul searching Sam sent in his letter to the Michigan athletic department.
Now we move to the first game of the year against (now a top-10 team and BCS Bowl member) Utah. Due to injuries and suspensions at running back, Sam finds himself in the starting lineup playing on national TV against a ranked opponent and hasn't even been to his first class yet. He carries the ball eight times for eight yards with a touchdown and had two receptions for 22 yards.
His touches and yards then start to go up in the next games:
- Miami: 17 carries, 74 yards, three Rec for 32 yards
- ND: 25 carries, 131 yards, four Rec for 42 yards
- Wisconsin: 15 carries, 36 yards, one Rec for negative three yards
- Illinois: 19 carries, 70 yards, two Rec for negative one yards
- Toledo: 25 carries, 105 yards, five Rec for 44 yards
- Penn State: four carries, 36 yards, one Rec for negative five yards
- MSU: two carries, 10 yards
- Purdue: Did not play
- Minnesota: three carries, 16 yards, one Rec for 39 yards
- Northwestern: Did not play
- Ohio State: one kick off return for 16 yards
Final year stats for Sam: eight touchdowns, 118 carries, 486 rushing yards, 19 receptions, 175 receiving yards.
The reason Sam's numbers dropped off late in the season was he received a concussion in the Michigan State game. He did not play against Purdue, got another concussion in the Minnesota game after his long receiving catch, and sat out the Northwestern game. He came back for the Ohio State game where he touched the ball once on a kick off return, which resulted in his third concussion of the season.
To make things even worse he loses a close family member (believed to be his grandmother) the week of the Northwestern game.
As you can see, this young man is dealing with a whole host of issues; he is in his first semester of college, is far away from home, he just lost a close family member, and is recovering from three concussions in the last five weeks of the season. That is a lot for anyone to deal with, multiply that times two when you're only 19.
The latest is Sam is still enrolled at Michigan and going to finish up the semester. After that it's anyone guess on what he does next. Many are speculating that he may transfer and play closer to home, somewhere like Texas Tech or TCU.
My advice to Sam would be to stick it out at Michigan. The first semester is always the hardest at college. Second, he has some of the best doctors in the world in Ann Arbor that can help him make a sound decision regarding his football future.
Third, if he does get cleared to play again move to the slot WR position so he doesn't get so many direct hits. If he is not cleared to play again, get a medical scholarship and try out for the track team. Either way you will leave Michigan with a valuable degree and a bright future.
Sam, no mater what you decide, good luck to you and your Michigan fans wish you nothing but the best.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
