The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1310365
DECEMBER 2020 THE WOLVERINE 69 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? the facemask got turned back into my face. It just shattered my jaw. "There were pieces hanging in my mouth, like a bag of rocks. People are like, 'You still wanted to play! You told Mo [head coach Gary Moeller] you wanted to play!' I'm like, I don't know that I told him I wanted to play. There was no chance I could have. That had nothing to do with reality." Reality became getting prepped for surgery … in Everitt's own timing. Meanwhile, there was an amazing touchdown catch to celebrate. "I remember that play," he assured. "I actually got an IV ripped out of my arm, because I was watching it at the hospital. They were trying to sedate me for surgery. "I was like, 'Wait until this [bleep- ing] game is over! Nothing is hap- pening until this game is over!' "When that play happened, I jumped up, and the IV ripped out of my arm, and blood was squirting all over the hospital. I was scream- ing, and blood's coming out of my mouth. I was screaming, but hurting. I was high-fiving all these nurses. It was crazy!" Th e Wolv erin es destroyed a No. 4-ranked Ohio State team that year in Michigan Stadium, 31-3. "I think they were like that every year, when we played them," Everitt pointed out. "We ruined their sea- son every year. I never lost to Ohio State." The Wolverines lost big to Wash- ington in the Rose Bowl while he sat out with yet another injury. But they went through Everitt's fifth-year se- nior season undefeated (9-0-3) with a 38-31 shootout win over the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. "It was great going out that way, after having those ties," he said. "You have that sick tie feeling, and to get some closure, get some revenge on Washington — that was definitely fun." Nothing in his eight all-business NFL seasons — with Cleveland, Bal- timore, Philadelphia and St. Louis — could match the feeling at Michi- gan, he acknowledged. And very few experiences can compare with a visit to the Keys by Schembechler in 2004. The coach arrived for a sailfishing tournament, but bad weather put a damper on things. Not for Everitt, informed that his coach was trying to reach him. The two eventually connected, and Everitt invited Schembechler to his home, a half hour from Key West. Everitt expected a polite turn down, but received a surprise. "He was like, yeah, sure, what the hell?" Everitt recalled. "And I was like, 'Holy crap! … Give me a minute!'" He raced to his Ford Bronco, de- void of back seats, taken out in fa- vor of his two mammoth English Mastiffs. His fiancée (and now wife, Amy) toughed this one out. "We go over to the car, and she has to ride in the back with no seats, like dog style," Everitt noted. "I open my door to let Bo get in, and a couple of beer cans fall out of the passenger seat, and he's just shaking his head, looking at me like, what the hell did I get into here? "It was one of the best days of my life. We drove up to my house, and spent the whole day there. He was walking around with my wife, and she was showing him her garden. It was not like I'd picture Bo, back in the day. "He was walking around my yard, interested in stuff like that. It was so cool. I've got pictures from that day that are my most prized possessions. We sat down in my man cave, and watched football games and videos. Just one of the best days of my life." There have been tougher ones, for sure. Everitt has weathered a cou- ple of major hurricanes. But pass- ing through Schembechler 's storm prepped him and many others for anything on the horizon. ❑ The Steve Everitt File M i c h i g a n Acco m p l i s h m e nt s: Performed on five Big Ten champi- onship teams, including four Rose Bowl squads … Earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior … Everitt's teams went 47-9-4 and never suffered a loss to Ohio State. Professional Accomplishments: Played eight years in the NFL, cover- ing 103 games with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Philadel- phia Eagles and St. Louis Rams. Michigan Memory: "I remember being up for a game with my wife and my daughter on the field in the pregame. My daughter was maybe 4. I have a video of it — filming her, on the field, at The Big House, with 115,000 people, her singing the na- tional anthem, along with the an- them singer singing it. I could watch it 100 times, and cry every time. It's just so beautiful. It goes right into that hype tape they play. You just can't fake that kind of energy." Family: Married to wife Amy, and the two have an 11-year-old daugh- ter, Jamie. Everitt called the time that legendary head coach Bo Schembechler visited his house in the Florida Keys "one of the best days of my life." PHOTO COURTESY STEVE EVERITT