Nice longform piece from ESPN on Blake Corum - even more impressed with the kid
When Michigan running back Blake Corum went outside as a kid, he never wore shoes.
Barefoot Blake would grab charcoal briquettes from the family grill, mix them in a bowl of water and then paint on trees in and around Marshall, Virginia, his one stoplight hometown, about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C. He loved building things, mostly forts and teepees.
Last week, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh called Corum the best college running back he ever coached and the second best ever behind future Hall of Famer Frank Gore. Others around the program describe a uniquely impactful player who combines attributes from some of the game's all-time great runners, and an unabated will to work.
Mike Hart doesn't hold back in assessing Corum: "One of the best backs to ever play here."
"We're really similar, he's just faster," said Hart...
Even Mike Hart thinks he's Mike Hart, but fast.
Also...
November 17th, 2022 at 11:42 AM ^
The young man is special! He's going to be making bank on Sunday's here soon. Appreciate him for his efforts on and off the field. I'm excited to see how he ends his career here over the next five games!
November 17th, 2022 at 12:43 PM ^
I see what you did there. <wink>
November 17th, 2022 at 11:43 AM ^
Saw the Deion tweet posted here already, and don't mind one bit seeing it again. Wonder if they manage to pull him as an honorary captain.
November 17th, 2022 at 11:51 AM ^
What is the Deion tweet?
I just embedded the Barry Sanders tweet because it was referenced in the article.
November 17th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
It’s funny because Deion and Barry are literally polar opposites. Whether it’s their personality/demeanor, playing style, positions on the field, or even the side of the ball they played on.
November 17th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
Deion, Barry, same person. Looks like I need a few more pots of coffee today.
November 17th, 2022 at 12:20 PM ^
Good thing it's Friday, right?
November 17th, 2022 at 12:29 PM ^
I see you Jim
November 17th, 2022 at 4:45 PM ^
that's not jim. that's stalin. stalin in a rose garden. watch him closely.
November 17th, 2022 at 1:29 PM ^
When I was little I had a football action figure I named Neon Sanders. He combined the best attributes of both players. No, I didn't.
November 17th, 2022 at 11:54 AM ^
The fact that Blake cites Brian Dawkins, a HOF safety, as a source of inspiration is striking to me. This screams of someone who is obsessed with all things football. Looking back over the past few recruiting cycles, it seems like our program places a growing premium on football-obsessed prospects. Just a theory, but maybe this is why our recruits lately have consistently outperformed their rankings.
November 17th, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
Even Mike Hart thinks he's Mike Hart, but fast.
Great stuff OA!
November 17th, 2022 at 12:30 PM ^
Great read! Can't say that too often about ESPN. So excited to see what the future has in store for this young man. Just a quality person all the way around. Bright future in and out of football.
November 17th, 2022 at 3:26 PM ^
ESPN has been the only Leading Heisman Contenders source to ignore Blake as a candidate. Only their most recent list this week added Corum as 5th despite his vegas odds being consistently in 3rd place.
November 17th, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
Mike Hart was my all time favorite Michigan player, one that built my love for hard-running Big Ten football and cemented my Michigan fandom. Then last year Aidan Hutchinson put the entire fanbase and program on his back, breaking all of the narratives by force of sheer will. Even still, Blake Corum may be my favorite player and human being to ever don the winged helmet. He’s exciting but gritty, confident but humble, lightning and thunder, superstar and pillar of the community.
That he and Hutchinson have been our program ambassadors in back-to-back years is no fluke. I cannot applaud Harbaugh enough for building a team of exemplary men. People may knock him for the “transformational instead of transactional”, but damn if his team doesn’t make me proud as a fan and alum.
November 17th, 2022 at 1:22 PM ^
Amen, brother.
November 17th, 2022 at 8:13 PM ^
^^^^^^
This, all day... everyday 👍
November 17th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^
Thanks for posting.
I attended UM, so does Corum. I volunteered off campus with kid, so does Corum. It's uncanny how much he and I are alike. Virtually twins.
November 17th, 2022 at 1:48 PM ^
Have any eligibility left?
November 17th, 2022 at 3:04 PM ^
Absolutely. All 4 years. In high school basketball, I scored a point a minute! Played 4 minutes total over the season but I scored 4 points.
(Playing on NYC city courts, including the famous West 4th Street court, I got better. "Better" of course being a vague designation.)
November 17th, 2022 at 3:12 PM ^
Blake is like Blue Vet, but fast.
November 17th, 2022 at 5:48 PM ^
... but fast. And athletic. And charismatic. And . . .
November 17th, 2022 at 1:00 PM ^
And he's still underrated by people like Bill Connelly (whom I otherwise like) and lesser pundits (see the tweet below) who think any decent RB would be great with Michigan's line. What they don't seem to understand, if they watch the games at all, is that Michigan's entire gameplan is built around Corum's ability to turn 2-3 yard runs into 4-6 yard runs, stay on schedule, move the chains, and control the game script.
Also quite relevant for any Maye/Corum comparisons: Big 10 has the two best divisions for defense. ACC Coastal has worst P5 defense by far and overall is worse than the Sun Belt East
November 17th, 2022 at 3:16 PM ^
I don’t know what Kanell’s point was, but if it’s about the Heisman, it’s not called MVP. And most people don’t really put that much emphasis on the “valuable” part and generally look for the best player.
November 17th, 2022 at 5:08 PM ^
Kanell may not know what point he's making at any given time, but in this tweet he seems to be saying it should be the "Player With the Worst Backup" Award
November 17th, 2022 at 6:27 PM ^
Whenever there is a national debate, you can be assured Kanell will be feverishly fighting for any ACC team involved. This time it's Drake Maye and UNC.
It's gotten kind of weird. I used to like the guy, but the shilling is getting old.
November 17th, 2022 at 8:53 PM ^
Without Blake Corum: Mich would be 10-0
Speaking only for myself, I'd prefer not to consider the outcome of the Maryland game without the contribution of Blake's 243 yards.
November 17th, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^
This was a really good article that I highly recommend every Michigan fan reads. Adam Rittenberg usually just posts superficial tidbits, but this is a feature-length story that's well written and researched.
Thanks for posting, OA!!
November 17th, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^
Beat OSU
Run for 200 and 4 TDs
Win Heisman
November 17th, 2022 at 9:18 PM ^
You mistyped "Run for 400 and 8 TDs."
November 17th, 2022 at 4:41 PM ^
Also, in addition to his innumerable personal and performance-based accolades, I'd <3 Blake Corum forever for the utterly casual contempt he showed in his comments about Sharty's gang assault:
"I know as a man, I wouldn’t have felt good ganging up on a couple players. That’s not how I roll. But to each his own.”
November 17th, 2022 at 4:47 PM ^
'sick burn' gif goes here
November 17th, 2022 at 4:51 PM ^
Blake is from the same county and area I did much of my childhood growing up in (born in Warrenton, near Marshall, grandparents had an 80 acre farm in Sumerduck, all in Faquier County, I lived as a child in nearby Stafford County/Hartwood/Fredericksburg)
so I just love reading this as it makes me think of home and just love that someone from that area is now a Michigan legend.
My mother is also a graduate of Faquier High like James, although much older, and fun fact: Faquier county is literally pronounced “Fock-yer/year” county. Great when telling people where you are from.
And, end my 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon to Blake Corum.
November 17th, 2022 at 9:21 PM ^
I live in the DC area. I once saw a t-shirt that said: "My county? Faquier county!"
November 17th, 2022 at 9:55 PM ^
you know who lives in faquier county?
the arch nemesis of the koala
yep:
November 17th, 2022 at 11:10 PM ^
I need that shirt….34 years later I still have my baby bib from the hospital that says “I was born in Faquier County Hospital” across it. What’s funny, it wasn’t until we moved out to KY and I was a teenager that I even noticed there was anything wrong with the name. Familiarity breeds blindness, lol.
November 17th, 2022 at 11:15 PM ^
All jokes aside though, it’s truly a beautiful place, mostly still untouched by the DC metro explosion, pristine farmland everywhere. Culpeper where my parent’s now live is much the same. Can’t say the same thing for southern Stafford county where I actually lived though, unrecognizable almost from my childhood.
November 17th, 2022 at 6:29 PM ^
"Even Mike Hart thinks he's Mike Hart, but fast."
Happy to see this trope come full circle.
November 17th, 2022 at 6:48 PM ^
Dammit, who keeps chopping all these onions in here?
I gotta jurdle whoever that is.
November 17th, 2022 at 8:10 PM ^
Read this before turning in last night. Normally not one for ESPN write-ups anymore, but this was a phenomenal read.
I can’t help but applaud Corum’s maniacal dedication to his craft and willingness to get up at 3am, as a high school kid no less, drive two hours each way every day, get maybe a few hours of sleep, wake up the next day and do it all over again. That is not something many kids that age would be willing to do to achieve their goals. I sure as hell wouldn’t have at his age. He has an unrelenting drive to be great and you can’t help but admire it.
He’s a special player. Sure hope we can get five more games out of him before he goes on to make some serious money at the next level.
November 17th, 2022 at 8:19 PM ^
He has been driven to be a Leaders and Best from a very early age.
November 17th, 2022 at 10:27 PM ^
on 97.1 this morning with Jansen. talked about distributing 100 more turkeys than last year’s give away of 200. what Heisman talk has meant to him and the trip to NYC. of course talk about his Oline, this season and the Illinois game.