The Wolverine

December 2012

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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CONFIDENCE IS rude. The words just refused to find release. His line coach assured that all was well. "He at times couldn't get out the word 'Hello,'" Mont- gomery recalled. "You'd feel for him, and try to talk to him and just let him know, 'Hey, I know you know. We'll see you later.'" A lifelong battle with stuttering and halting speech didn't M Quinton Washington Speaks With Assurance About The Future HIGH BY JOHN BORTON The now redshirt junior defensive tackle wasn't being ichigan assistant coach Jerry Montgomery placed the calls, contacting his defensive line- men about an upcoming meeting. When silence greeted him upon Quinton Washington picking up the phone, Montgomery understood. magically disappear when Washington arrived on campus at the University of Michigan. But coming to Ann Arbor even- tually made an impact beyond anything Washington could have imagined. He's answering the call now, on many levels. SENSITIVE AND SILENT 300-pound Washington ever de- scribed as "tiny." Lucille Washington insists her son came onto the planet that way, at barely more than six and a half pounds. He changed dramatically over the It's hard to imagine the 6-4, years, but two facets of his personal- ity remained the same. "He was always a compassionate would actually walk back with her to her house. I said, 'Quinton, why do you do that?' He said, 'Mama, because she's a little girl. I don't want her to get hurt.' He was only a little older than she was, but he wanted to protect her." It wasn't always easy to protect "They passed her stop, and he and caring person," she noted. "I re- member when he was only 6, and the little girl down the street was 4. They rode the same bus, but we live on a dirt road and she lived on the highway. Washington started eight of U-M's 12 regular- season games in 2012, compiling 29 stops, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL him, given the difficult stretches of si- lence that marked his conversations. He'd stutter, grasp for a word in ago- nized hesitation, and sometimes un- lock it. ton admitted. "The people from my community were my friends, but it was still hard. People teased me. I didn't see it as joking at the time. I thought of it as just being mean. Sometimes. "It made it really hard," Washing- It was hard. It made me feel like I couldn't fit in. Everybody else could speak, and I couldn't." St. Stephen, S.C., isn't much more than a tiny dot on the map, featuring a single convenience store in a rural setting. It's just that kind of place, Washington recalled. Everybody knows everybody. Every- body is family. Washington's immediate family understood and soothed the hurts. His two brothers also experienced speech difficulties, and they empa- thized. And when Washington himself ventured out into the brilliant South Carolina sunshine with his dad, Ar- thur, nothing needed to be verbal- ized. "We're really close," Washington said. "He likes working on things outside. I'm more of a hands-on type of person. He'd go work on a lawn- mower. He'd go build a grill. I'd go and help him, and we'd just talk. "Sometimes we would just be out- side, relaxing. I'd go sit out there with him. We didn't even have to talk. We would just sit there and know each other is there." One of the most poignant memo- ries springs from Arthur Washing- ton's acquisition of a large field trac- tor, one he used on a one-acre tract of land behind the family home. "We just went in the field and rode around for a long time," Washington recalled, with a wistful smile. "That is something I will always remember. He got a new toy." Arthur Washington quietly revels in those moments. "We always had a close relation- ship, from his babyhood up to now," he said. "He always wanted to be in my presence, and I always wanted to be in his presence." silence Washington's budding physi- cal abilities. He eventually became regarded as the best lineman in the state of South Carolina, bringing in all the attention both welcomed and daunting. The chance to play college football A lack of loquaciousness couldn't NEW DOORS OPEN was a dream. Talking about it, and talking to those who desired his tal- ents, felt like a bad dream. Timberland High School coach Art Craig stepped in to speak for Wash- DECEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 25

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