If you ask some of Brian Cole's friends and family, they would tell you they think Cole has a chance to be the best football player to come out of Saginaw. That’s saying a lot since the Michigan city is home to some big-name football players, including current NFL player LaMarr Woodley among others.
Cole has ties to many of the former players from his hometown, including Michigan State receiver DeAnthony Arnett and former NFL player Stuart Schweigert. Cole doesn’t know Woodley personally, but he did get the opportunity to speak with him at an arena football game earlier in the year.
“LaMarr was teaching me about life and football,” he said. “We talked for a little while about everything. It was before I was committed to Michigan, so we didn’t talk about Michigan really.”
The ESPN 300 prospect was presented with his Under Armour All-America jersey on Wednesday and is the first from his hometown to play in the prestigious game.
“It’s just a blessing,” he said. “It’s real exciting and I’m just really thankful for this opportunity.”
#ESPN300 Michigan commit Brian Cole accepting his Under Armour All America jersey https://t.co/LEDNN0A0A1
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) September 17, 2014If you could start a team with any player in your class, who would it be? I don’t really pay attention to recruiting that much. I would pick Alex Malzone; I'm the closest with him. I need that go-to guy at quarterback so I’d go with him.
What is your first football memory? My first Lions game, running on the field. I got selected for the halftime show. I was about five and I won, we had to do a relay race, put different clothes on and the big shoes. I was a size four an they were a size 13. Me and my dad walked in and some big, tall guy asked us if we wanted to be in the halftime show, I didn’t know what was going on but I was excited.
What football player did you idolize growing up? Barry Sanders. He was good, he could do it all. Watching his highlights he was unstoppable, he could make you miss and he could do anything.
If you could take on one athlete in any sport, who would it be? I like hockey. I would take on Zdeno Chara. We play NHL video games and Chara always wins the fights in that game so that would be funny, because he's so big.
What number do you wear and why? I wear No. 1 because God is No. 1 and that’s my favorite number. I’ve talked to the Michigan coaches about the No. 1 at Michigan. I’m going to get it. I’m going to earn it, you have to earn it, but that’s my goal. I haven’t talked to Devin Funchess about it yet, but I saw that he has it.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I’m humble. Most people really don’t know me, so they don’t know. I don’t really talk about sports, either, unless people ask me. I like hockey, too. I was always an active kid and all my friends had ice rinks in their backyards so I learned how to ice skate at a young age and I would always rollerblade and play hockey. I wish I knew how to play hockey.
Michigan commit and #ESPN300 prospect Brian Cole was just presented with his Under Armour @AllAmericaGame jersey pic.twitter.com/aacS1SLnd4
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) September 17, 2014