The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/262939
Imagine a 6-1, 255-pound bulldog of a man doing backflips in his living room. Brady Pallante wasn't doing lit- eral backflips, but he felt like he could following an early morning call in late November from Michigan head coach Brady Hoke. Pallante originally received an offer last February, but it came with condi- tions — he would not enroll in June with the 2014 class, but in January 2015. He would be a 'greyshirt.' A sta- tus rarely used by the Maize and Blue. Though he was disappointed some that his offer wouldn't lead to the same starting point as everyone else in the class of 2014, he accepted the terms in April. "Back in February, when I got the of- fer, Coach Mattison told me: 'It's going to be a greyshirt,' and I felt blessed to have a scholarship from the University of Michigan, greyshirt or not," he said. "Anyone that gets a scholarship, in any sport, on any level is a blessing." Still, his situation was difficult to ac- cept some days. "I didn't like it the more I thought about it because I wasn't even going to come in with all the other guys in my class," he said. "I was going to get pushed back and I didn't know if I'd ever feel like one of them because of all the experiences I'd miss out on. "In the summer, Coach Hoke told me that my scholarship situation could change. 'Injuries happen, kids quit, scholarships open up and that hap- pens every year.' He said, 'You never know.' He told me to sit on it and wait, and let time do its thing." Pallante's father, Dan, who also dou- bles as the head coach at Barron Collier High School, weighed the good and bad of greyshirting, but hoped his son would not have to wait until January. "We heard from several people, and the biggest downside was that he'd be out of football for so long, and that BRADY PALLANTE RELISHES OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN CLASSMATES IN SEPTEMBER Pallante recorded 83 tackles, four sacks and one fumble recovery as a senior at Naples (Fla.) Barron Collier. PHOTO BY TIM SULLIVAN