|
|
Post by smiteedawgwv on Apr 12, 2008 15:21:12 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by WVUMntneerJim on Apr 12, 2008 15:23:45 GMT -5
THat... is... AWESOME!!!   |
|
|
|
Post by rainman on Apr 12, 2008 16:49:03 GMT -5
that is so wonderful for Brandon and you - what a great experience!!!
also thank your wife for taking such beautiful pictures to share, she captured the happiness and awe of the moment and Owen's sincerity.
|
|
|
|
Post by kayjay on Apr 12, 2008 17:46:42 GMT -5
MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didnt know he was down this way or I would have went and saw him...
Great pictures though~
|
|
|
|
Post by wvumaryjane on Apr 13, 2008 7:24:59 GMT -5
How totally cool...
What a Great day for you and Brandon!
|
|
|
|
Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Apr 13, 2008 15:17:03 GMT -5
I'm SO jealous! Thanks for sharing the pics!
|
|
|
|
Post by smiteedawgwv on Apr 13, 2008 15:50:41 GMT -5
Thanks everybody. Yes it was totally cool!! Here's the article that was in the paper this morning.
Fans flock to meet former WVU star
By Dave Morrison
Sports Editor
On a team with Heisman Trophy candidates (Steve Slaton and Patrick White), a consensus All-American (Dan Mozes in 2006) and a freshman phenom (Noel Devine), it was a former walk-on who overshadowed them all.
At least in terms of fan appeal.
“I don’t know if I was the most popular,” former West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt said Saturday as he prepared to meet, greet and sign autographs for about 400 Mountaineer fans who waited patiently in line.
When told that Chad Rogers of Collectibles Etc., who sponsored the event with Garfield’s Restaurant and Suddenlink Communications, had said he was the most popular West Virginia player since Major Harris in the late 1980s, Schmitt just smiled.
“Ah, he’s in marketing; he has to say that.”
That typical self-effacing attitude is one of the things that endeared him to WVU fans. That and his no-holds-barred attitude that saw him break 10 facemasks in his career.
“Ten, I think that’s the number,” said Schmitt, a one-time cover boy on Sports Illustrated (with Slaton and White), a guy who had his story animated in ESPN The Magazine and who once hit himself on his mohawked head with his helmet on national TV.
And he played for three teams that won bowl games on or after New Year’s Day, including two BCS games.
Not bad for a guy who showed up at the Puskar Center during the 2005 Christmas break knowing next to nothing about WVU.
“I had a buddy who went to school here,” Schmitt said. “I had no idea about West Virginia. I didn’t know anything except I told my buddy I’d stay with him if I ended up here. So my mom and I, we drove down here, I dropped off the tape and they asked me to walk on.”
The rest is history. And the makings of a great movie, although the recent story about him and his mom living in their car wasn’t true, he said.
Schmitt not only went on to make the team, he earned a scholarship and will be taken (probably in the third or fourth round) in the NFL draft April 26-27.
You can’t make up stuff like Schmitt’s rise to fame. Even he is startled by the success he’s seen.
“I’m just going along for the ride,” Schmitt, who transferred to WVU from Division III Wisconsin-River Falls, said. “I just wanted to play football. I thought I could play at this level. To have this amount of success, I never thought about that. I just wanted to make the team.”
He went from making the team to rushing for 1,003 yards and 13 touchdowns in three seasons as a fullback.
Schmitt said he was making his fourth stop in a tour of the state.
“It’s a great way to see the state,” said Schmitt, who brought along his former WVU roommate, Andrew Starsick, who now lives in Beckley. “This is a great way to meet and greet fans, some who weren’t fortunate enough to go to any games. It’s just a nice way to get together for something that we all have in common: West Virginia University football.”
Schmitt said he is anxious about the upcoming draft but has no favorite among the NFL teams.
“Whoever is unfortunate enough to pick me, I’ll be grateful,” he said with more self-deprecating humor. “I just want to play football. To have that chance will be great. And I want to make the most of it.”
|
|
|
|
Post by wvumaryjane on Apr 13, 2008 16:21:26 GMT -5
That just makes me love him even more..
He's the poster child of WVU football
|
|
|
|
Post by dehayes35 on Apr 14, 2008 8:56:48 GMT -5
No doubt MJ. I got a few goosebumps reading this thread and seeing those pictures.
|
|
|
|
Post by wvfiredawg on Apr 14, 2008 12:55:49 GMT -5
Very cool. I hate that I missed it  I'm in the process of moving out of my house and just don't have any spare time at the moment. Looks like I'll be missing the game Saturday too.  Very nice photos! Schmitt is a big boy, huh? |
|
|
|
Post by smiteedawgwv on Apr 14, 2008 13:21:58 GMT -5
Very nice photos! Schmitt is a big boy, huh? Ummm, yea he is!!!! But he was very soft spoken and humble. It seemed to me like he couldn't believe that all those people were there to meet him, when in fact it was more like we couldn't believe he was there. It was a day we'll remember forever. |
|
|
|
Post by red518irish on Apr 15, 2008 9:08:11 GMT -5
That is awesome. Every athlete in all sports both professional and collegiete could take a page out of Owen's book.
|
|
|
|
Post by bobsowv on Apr 15, 2008 19:59:39 GMT -5
Holy Schmitz!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Billy, Brandon, and Owen..something special, Uncle Bob wishes he was there, but I'm freezing my ass off in Daytona Beach 48 and dropping. When I get back you can fill me in. I hope Brandon enjoyed it, I'm sure you did. Finally got my internet working and thought I would check the site. Tell Brandon Uncle Bob wants to hear all about.
|
|
