He’s arguably the greatest running back to ever don the winged helmet, and his legacy will carry on in Ann Arbor until the end of time.
Legendary Michigan tailback Blake Corum is already beloved by the Maize and Blue faithful, but after an interview with Fox Sports’ talk show host Colin Cowherd on Friday afternoon, that love can only grow. Cowherd asked how quicky Corum knew he wanted to play for then-head coach Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, and the tailback’s answer was definitive.
“I committed on the spot,” Corum said. “I took two official visits. I wanted to commit before my senior year of high school, and I took one to Ohio State and then I took my next one to Michigan and I committed on the spot. I went up to Coach Harbaugh’s office and I said, ‘I’m coming’.”
What made Michigan and Harbaugh the clear choice for Corum?
“It was because of his coaching style, his demeanor for the game, his love for the game, his passion for his players,” he said. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to be a Wolverine.'”
Cowherd noted that while Corum is small in stature, he doesn’t run like a small tailback. The 5-foot-8, 205-pounder was a physical ball-carrier who almost always seemed to fall forward in his final year at Michigan. Running with power, in addition to being low to the ground, shifty and fast made Corum a deadly combination for opposing defenses.
“My whole life everyone always called me a smaller back,” Corum said. “But when it comes to strength-wise or pound-for-pound, there’s not too many guys who can outlift me in the weight room. So, I try to use that to my advantage for sure. Like, there will be linebackers in the game and they’re like, ‘Hey man, I can’t see you until you already hit the hole.’ So, that’s my advantage — just staying patient and then using my speed and agility to hit it at the last second and getting up on them as fast as I can.”
Corum was a workhorse at Michigan. While the Wolverines rotated him with Donovan Edwards throughout the last two seasons, there’s no doubt that Corum was the lead back. Given the sometimes short shelf life of an NFL running back, Cowherd asked Corum if he ever had concerns he was being used too much at Michigan.
“Nah, I never worried about that,” he said. “I was always like, ‘Hey coach, if you need me to run it 40 times, I’ll run it 40 times.’ I think it’s all about a mindset, but I also think it’s about how you take care of your body. Obviously, every running back wants to chase longevity, but not everyone takes care of their body properly. You might not get a couple massages a week, or go in and get treatment. So, I make sure I take care of my body so if a team needs me to carry the ball like Michigan did, you know, 20-plus times a game, I can do it and I can feel good about doing it. It’s not like my body is hurting after every game Saturday. So, it never came to my mind that, yeah I got a lot of touches in college but I still feel like I did my freshman year of college. I feel good, I feel like I’m me.”
Corum’s highlight reel at Michigan is extensive. Whether it was in goal line situations or breaking into the open on a long run, no Wolverine tailback reached the end zone as often as Corum did. Cowherd asked which he enjoyed more, making a defender miss in open space or running him over.
“It depends, Corum said. “At the beginning of the game, I kind of want them to feel me a little bit, just so they know, hey, it’s going to be a long day. But after I get them a little something, there’s no better feeling than catching a safety or a DB or a linebacker one-on-one in open space and they’re just stuck like a deer in headlights. There’s no better feeling than seeing that and just knowing before you even get to them, like, oh yeah I got ’em. I can’t really pick one. I love them both.”
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Publish date : 2024-07-12 18:37:53
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