The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/70101
2012 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Amara Darboh Develops Into A Football Phenom Civil War Survivor bring up the 1860s. For Amara Darboh, however, there is a much more recent — and much more real — ex- ample. Long before he was a standout football player at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, he was a survivor of a civil war in Sierra Leone. In 1991, the Revolutionary United Front began an at- Ask most Americans about a civil war, and they'll tempt to overthrow the government of Sierra Leone, led by General Joseph Momoh. By the time Darboh was born in 1994, Momoh had been usurped, but Sierra Le- one was not any more peaceful. The country was in a state of full civil warfare. Darboh's biological parents were killed during the fighting, and at the age of 7 he emigrated from Si- erra Leone. Eventually, he would end up in West Des Moines. Although he wasn't familiar with the sport of football when he arrived in the Hawkeye State, it ended up being his ticket to the University of Michigan. "When I lived in Sierra Leone we played soccer, reign as a member of the Des Moines Register's all-state teams, Darboh didn't even take up football until later in his life. Instead, he was a baseball and basketball player. His love affair with football started in the sixth grade, when baseball teammate Max Schaefer intro- duced him to the sport. "I became friends with Max through baseball, and which we called football, but obviously that's not the same thing," Darboh said. Although it may seem unlikely, given his multi-year Darboh, a native of Sierra Leone who did not play football until he was in the sixth grade, caught 122 passes for 1,782 yards and 18 touchdowns during his high school career. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM then he also played football," he said. "I gave it a shot, too, just because we were friends." A receiver in high school (and soon to be one in col- lege), Darboh started out on the defensive line as a sixth grader. He also put his soccer talents to good use, serving as the punter and kicker for his team. He origi- nally didn't take too well to football and didn't play as a seventh-grader. However, he hit the field once more in the eighth grade, and the rest, as they say, is history. Since he's only been playing football for a brief time with the program, with the school, with the academic portion of it," Wilson said. "At the end of the day, he knew he was going to get my support wherever he went. I'm extremely comfortable with what he chose and fully support that. I feel great about him going to Michigan." Darboh is willing to work as hard as possible to get "I wanted him to feel comfortable with the place, — in contrast to many children who grow up with a pigskin in their hands — Darboh has only scratched the surface of his potential. "Although he was a three-year starter for us, he only played two years of football prior to that," Dowl- ing Catholic head coach Tom Wilson explained. "That makes him relatively young as a football player. I think there's going to be a learning curve there that makes it difficult, but he's got the talent." If Darboh's high school career — in which he caught on the field at Michigan. That's something Wilson has seen during the young prospect's time in high school, when he went from an inexperienced but talented ath- lete to one of the state's best wide receivers. "I think Amara will just come in with the mindset that, 'I'll work as hard as I possibly can and learn as much as I can,' and if that equals any playing time right away, then it does," Wilson said. "That's something he's really used to in all the sports that he's played." That's not to say there won't be setbacks. Darboh 122 passes for 1,782 yards and 18 touchdowns — is any indication, his physical talents have been more than enough to help him see success on the football field. Now, it's about harnessing those natural gifts into the type of polished product that allows him to see success in college and, if all goes well, even in the NFL. Both coach and player know that Michigan's coach- ing staff is the one that can help him reach his potential. 46 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2012 separated his left shoulder during the 2011 season, and it required surgery in December in order to heal in time for his arrival at Michigan. Fortunately, rehab is go- ing well and everything is on track to be ready for fall camp. "I'm supposed to be fully healthy well before the summer," Darboh said. "I'm out of a sling and I'm do- ing more stuff for rehab. It's going really well." When you've experienced some of the adversity Dar- boh has gone through, a little shoulder surgery doesn't seem like much to overcome. — Tim Sullivan