Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSchonbrun: Brinkley joins pack of running backs going airborne for yardage
By Zach Schonbrun
Posted: 11/11/08, 5:23 AM EST Section: Sports
In early September, on his weekly Sunday conference call, Georgia football coach Mark Richt was a little upset after his team's 56-17 win over Central Michigan. Not because of anything his team did - the ESPN highlights of the game didn't show running back Knowshon Moreno's hurdle of an upright Chippewa safety late in the third quarter.
"They missed the boat or didn't do their homework or whatever," Richt said. "But it's going to make our highlights for a long time."
The play "Sportscenter" missed is on YouTube, where it's received more than 360,000 views. That's dwarfed by the 1.6 million views of Michigan running back Sam McGuffie leaping over a defensive back in high school in Texas, part of a litany of McGuffie mixtapes all across the internet.
For running backs, hang time is hip, defenders a vault in the endless pursuit of making tacklers miss and eyes widen. What's a juke move when you can show off your vert?
Why take bruises when you can go up and over?
Where's the fun in staying grounded? Running backs have imaginations, too. As sports blend with each other and athletes break barriers, it's no shock that the runner has taken highlights to another dimension: the sky.
"That's my fun," SU running back Curtis Brinkley said. "That's how I enjoy it. You've got to enjoy the game somehow."
Brinkley's been hopping since high school, leaping over approaching defenders in the open field, flying head first over the pile near the goal line, hurdling for extra yardage near first-down markers. He said he had never run track or played high school basketball - football was his only sport. Jumping comes as naturally as a side-step or a stutter.
He'd watch Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook over and over, rewinding his touchdown dives and replaying them in slow motion. When it came time for Brinkley to do it, he knew exactly how it was supposed to look.
"I just always enjoyed jumping; it's fun to me," Brinkley said. "I enjoy doing it. I'm happy when I get the opportunity to do it."
"They missed the boat or didn't do their homework or whatever," Richt said. "But it's going to make our highlights for a long time."
The play "Sportscenter" missed is on YouTube, where it's received more than 360,000 views. That's dwarfed by the 1.6 million views of Michigan running back Sam McGuffie leaping over a defensive back in high school in Texas, part of a litany of McGuffie mixtapes all across the internet.
For running backs, hang time is hip, defenders a vault in the endless pursuit of making tacklers miss and eyes widen. What's a juke move when you can show off your vert?
Why take bruises when you can go up and over?
Where's the fun in staying grounded? Running backs have imaginations, too. As sports blend with each other and athletes break barriers, it's no shock that the runner has taken highlights to another dimension: the sky.
"That's my fun," SU running back Curtis Brinkley said. "That's how I enjoy it. You've got to enjoy the game somehow."
Brinkley's been hopping since high school, leaping over approaching defenders in the open field, flying head first over the pile near the goal line, hurdling for extra yardage near first-down markers. He said he had never run track or played high school basketball - football was his only sport. Jumping comes as naturally as a side-step or a stutter.
He'd watch Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook over and over, rewinding his touchdown dives and replaying them in slow motion. When it came time for Brinkley to do it, he knew exactly how it was supposed to look.
"I just always enjoyed jumping; it's fun to me," Brinkley said. "I enjoy doing it. I'm happy when I get the opportunity to do it."
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