Content provided in partnership with
Bracing for Breaston: a week inside a seemingly overmatched MAC cornerback's preparation to take on a Mac Daddy receiver
Sporting News, The, Sept 30, 2005 by Tom Dienhart
It's Friday in Ypsilanti--"Ypsi" to the natives--and Bracey feels good. In fact, he says he's sleeping well. No thrashing in the sheets. No screaming in the night. No giant No. 15s eating him alive. But how can that be? Doesn't Bracey know what's about to go down in The Big House? Doesn't he know about the 100,000 people? The TV cameras? The winged helmets? "Hail to the Victors" and all that Big Blue hullabaloo? Worse yet, doesn't he know he's in peril of quickly morphing into a Saturday night highlight? Imagine the exchanges on couches around the country.
Potato 1: Wow, did you see that? Breaston went long and jumped a mile in the air to catch that TD pass! What a play!
- Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »
Potato 2: Incredible! Boy, I sure wouldn't want to be that poor schlub for Eastern Michigan who was trying to cover him. Look at him! Ha! Ha!
This thought makes Bracey chuckle. He's a good guy and a good sport. "No, I visualize myself making a play," he says. "I see myself making the highlights."
Hmmm. Guess we'll mark "10" next to the Confidence box on his resume.
But why not? What does Bracey have to lose? He's at Eastern Michigan for a reason. Coming out of Murray Wright High in Detroit, Bracey had offers from EMU, Cincinnati and Indiana--not the schools kids dream of while playing backyard football. Michigan never called, never sent a letter. National powers pass on 5-9, 187-pound wide receivers who play on what essentially are dirt fields in the Detroit Public School League.
Two buses carrying the Eastern Michigan team chug along Washtenaw Avenue. Past the Ypsi-Arbor bowling alley, past the Pita Hut. Cars zoom by with no idea of the cargo making the short drive from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor for EMU's Friday walk-through. Bracey naps in his seat on the lead bus. And then, there it is: The Big House.
Bracey seems unmoved as he walks under a "Go Blue" sign and down a ramp that spills onto the field. Decked out in a shiny green Adidas Eastern Michigan sweatsuit with an EMU green cap flipped in reverse, Bracey meanders toward midfield, squats and feels the turf. He stands and soaks in the vast emptiness that surrounds him. It's quiet, except for the sound of the Michigan band practicing somewhere nearby.
"Now's the time to be spectators, men!" coach Jeff Genyk shouts. "Check it out! Get it over with!"
Bracey swivels around. He never has buckled up his chin strap in Michigan Stadium. He has played at Ford Field. He has played at the Silverdome. But not here. Bracey jams his hands into his pockets and continues his self-guided tour. Game time can't get here soon enough. Classmates jabbed him with questions this morning: "You going to win tomorrow?" Bracey even got a call from a coach from his youth days: "Are you still 'Big Play' Bracey?"
"I thought about football a lot today during classes," he says. "More than usual. I thought about making plays, taking the ball from Breaston."
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Autos
Most Popular Articles in Sports
- The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...
- The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...
- Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...
- Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association
- The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking
- More »