PORTAGE, MI – Hoisted on his teammates’ shoulders and gazing out over jubilant sea of Maize and Blue faithful, Eric Mayes repeated a three-word phrase in his mind. “We did it… We did it.” A long and unexpected road took Mayes from Portage Northern High School student to University of Michigan walk-on to captain of a national championship football team, and as his teammates carried him off the field following their 1997 win over Ohio State, it seemed unreal. Like “a movie script that nobody had ever written,” Mayes said. The former Wolverines linebacker spoke with MLive about transferring to Ann Arbor, overcoming adversity there and leading Michigan to the 1997 national championship. Mayes’ collegiate journey began at Xavier University of Louisiana — a small, Catholic HBCU based in New Orleans — but having never spent any time outside of the Midwest, he quickly found himself growing homesick, and after…
Continue Reading: Former Michigan football captain recalls ‘mountain-top’ moment after 1997 win over Ohio State
