Dewasa, fokus, rendah hati: Bryce Underwood dari Michigan bukan rata-rata anak berusia 17 tahun
Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
LAS VEGAS — A little more than two months ago, as Michigan embarked on its summer break following the completion of spring practice, some of the Wolverines got together to play pickup basketball, one of their favorite group activities away from the football field.
But when veteran edge rusher Derrick Moore arrived at the court, he quickly noticed the presence of someone who shouldn’t have been in attendance: freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, the five-star phenom whose commitment to Michigan last November transformed him into an NIL multi-millionaire long before his 18th birthday, which is still a few weeks away.
“What are you doing here?” Derrick Moore asked. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
The chilly reaction had nothing to do with what he thinks of Underwood as a person. Like so many of his other teammates and coaches, Derrick Moore is now a wholehearted believer in the teenage prodigy after observing how Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, has carried himself since flipping his commitment from LSU to Michigan last November and enrolling over the winter. Underwood joined the Wolverines in time for their bowl prep against Alabama and then took plenty of reps during spring ball amid a quarterback room thinned by injuries and transfers alike. All signs now point toward him being the team’s starter once the regular season arrives.
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood (19) signs autographs for fans before the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama. (Photo by Sarah Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Instead, Derrick Moore’s objection to Underwood playing basketball on that summer day was purely economic, even if he originally rolled his eyes a bit at the monetary figures attached to Underwood’s recruitment. One spring was all it took for Moore to deem it unwise of the program’s most valuable asset — a player who reportedly inked a market-resetting NIL deal worth between $10 million and $12.5 million over four years — to risk injury during a meaningless social activity. Especially after defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale spent the spring yelling at his players to “stay away from Bryce, don’t touch Bryce at all!” in acknowledgment of how vital Underwood’s health really is.
“I feel like we do a good job protecting him and also giving him good advice,” Derrick Moore said while representing the Wolverines at Big Ten Media Days. “He’s worth a lot, so we’ve got to make sure he knows. I feel like he already knows, but I feel like we’ve got to do a good job of reminding him that he can’t do too much. And if you do play basketball, no jumping, no jumping at all.”
Underwood, of course, was nowhere to be found in the South Seas Ballroom at Mandalay Bay, where the Wolverines’ contingent of Derrick Moore, fullback/tight end Max Bredeson, inside linebacker Ernest Hausmann and second-year head coach Sherrone Moore were responsible for telling wave after wave of reporters about the program’s shiniest new toy. It would have been thoroughly un-Michigan-like for Moore to bring Underwood to this week’s event, the league’s unofficial kickoff party for the 2025 campaign, though Colorado head coach Deion Sanders brought his true freshman quarterback, Julian Lewis, to Big 12 Media Days earlier this month. The Wolverines are digging in their heels to slow the Underwood hype train from picking up too much speed, but everyone around the program — let alone fans outside it — can sense the cars beginning to careen off the track.
In a last-ditch effort to fortify himself against the barrage he surely knew was coming, Moore responded to the first question about Underwood by reminding the media that Michigan has yet to name a starting quarterback, that the competition is wide open entering fall camp, that Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene and East Carolina transfer Jake Garcia and former four-star prospect Jadyn Davis will all have chances to stake their claim between now and the season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 30. “There is no starter,” Moore said.
But that didn’t stop reporters from asking Moore about whether the extra reps Underwood took during the spring, when Keene was recovering from an undisclosed injury and Garcia had not yet joined the program, accelerated the timeline for when he will be ready to play. Or about how Underwood has embraced the possibility — inevitability — of starting for Michigan, the winningest program in college football history, as a true freshman. Or about why the Wolverines won’t just declare Underwood the starter given the extreme financial commitment they’ve made to him. All those questions came in the first third of Moore’s allotted media time.
“His job is to just go be the best teammate, best football player he can be,” Moore said. “And whoever that person is, it’s going to take a village. And for us to be a successful program, to be a successful football team, we have to do a great job surrounding that person with weapons on the football field [and] senjata secara mental untuk menjadi sukses. “
Namun, ada penjajaran yang menarik pada hari Kamis antara cara Moore dan kakak kelas Michigan berbicara dengan penuh kasih, hampir lembut, tentang usia numerik Underwood-dia akhirnya akan berusia 18 bulan depan-dan penghormatan yang mengosongkan mereka dengan mereka menggambarkan kedewasaannya sebagai seorang atlet, menyamakan kebiasaan dan perselisihannya dengan para veter musim.
Michigan QB Bryce Underwood #19 mempersiapkan untuk menerima bola selama paruh kedua pertandingan Michigan Malize vs Blue Spring Football. (Foto oleh Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
Di satu sisi ruangan adalah Bredeson, seorang senior tahun kelima dan salah satu pemain yang terpenting program, mengatakan kepada wartawan bahwa ia mengambil “sedikit kebanggaan dan tanggung jawab untuk menjadi seperti pria yang lebih tua yang dapat melakukan sepak bola perguruan tinggi yang tenang untuknya,” sementara juga mengakui bahwa tidak ada orang lain di ruang ganti Michigan yang dapat memahami kehidupannya yang di bawah kayu yang saat ini memimpin, dari perhatian Sheer yang dihasilkan oleh orang-orang di Michigan di land-nya dapat memahami kehidupan yang di bawah kayu yang saat ini memimpin. Dari perhatian Sheer yang dihasilkan oleh The Land-nya di Michigan dapat memahami kehidupan di bawah kayu yang saat ini memimpin. Dari perhatian Sheer yang dihasilkan oleh Michigan di land-nya dapat memahami kehidupan di bawah kayu yang saat ini memimpin. Dari perhatian Sheer yang dihasilkan di Michigan di land-nya dapat memahami kehidupan di bawah kayu yang saat ini memimpin. Dari perhatian Sheer yang dihasilkan oleh The Life Life-nya.
Di sisi lain ruangan itu adalah Derrick Moore, mantan perekrutan blue-chip di sebelah kanannya sendiri, mengungkapkan kekaguman yang tulus tentang bagaimana seseorang yang begitu muda dapat menampilkan fokus dan konsentrasi yang tak tergoyahkan seperti itu, sifat-sifat Moore mengatakan dia tidak pernah mendekati pencocokan pada usia itu.
Underwood, yang tumbuh setengah jam dari kampus Michigan, telah mengembangkan reputasi sebagai salah satu yang pertama tiba di Schembechler Hall setiap pagi dan salah satu yang terakhir pergi setiap malam, klise sepak bola klasik yang diberikan kepada pekerja tersulit tim. Dia dikenal karena mengambil lapangan sendiri 20 menit sebelum setiap sesi, headphone melilit telinganya, untuk mempelajari naskah latihan hari itu dan memvisualisasikan latihan dalam benaknya. Dia membangun chemistry dengan penerima lebar dan ujung yang ketat melalui sesi lemparan ekstra yang sering berjalan sampai larut pagi. Dia berkompetisi dengan gila-gilaan di ruang berat dan telah mengemas otot yang cukup ke bingkai 6 kaki-4 untuk mencapai 230 pound. Dia menerima kritik konstruktif dari siapa pun di gedung itu dan melakukan tugas -tugas kasar tanpa sedikit pun bantahan.
“Dia tidak rata-rata berusia 17 tahun,” kata Derrick Moore. “Dengan banyak uang yang masuk, dia sangat rendah hati. Jika dia melakukan kesalahan, dia mengambil pertanggungjawaban penuh untuk itu. Kamu tidak benar -benar mendengar terlalu banyak masalah darinya, kau tahu? Dia melakukan semuanya seperti pro.”
Bahkan jika itu berarti duduk dari bola basket pickup.
Michael Cohen meliput bola basket sepak bola dan perguruan tinggi untuk Fox Sports. Ikuti dia di @Michael_cohen13.
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