Page 26 - Florida Sentinel 4-27-18

Sports
After Long Journey To Get To This Point, USF Standout Mike Love Excited About NFL Draft This Weekend
Seminole Central: Jameis Winston Teaches Middle School Class
Kenya Woodard Sentinel Feature Writer
Tampa native, Mike Love is among the many college ath- lete hopefuls waiting in antici- pation for the 2018 NFL Draft.
Love is projected to be drafted in the seventh and final round of the draft on Sat- urday. While making the ros- ter for the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be ideal, the University of South Florida alum said he has no preference for any team.
He just wants to play.
"Any team that chooses you, they see you fitting in," he said. "They know you can play a particular scheme that they have. Whatever team picks me up, I'm packing a bag and
moving."
Preparation for the draft has
required Love to juggle months of intense training during the day, while taking a full schedule of graduate school classes at night.
Love, who is studying for a master's in entrepreneurship at USF, said a strong desire to achieve his dream kept him fo- cused.
"I had to work," he said. "I had to get myth strength. That was the biggest off-season training I had done."
The biggest payoff, of course, would be the ultimate victory for Love, who shined at USF as a star defensive end.
In his last year on the team, Love, 6-4, 252 lbs., played his best ever season with a total of 27 tackles - 17 of them solo - and a career high of 11 tackles for losses and 5 sacks. Addi- tionally, he was named an ‘All Star ‘player.
Mike Love with his head coach at USF, Charlie Strong. Love during a game against Florida State.
It's the kind of performance that Love could not imagine just 12 years ago, when he quit the middle school team in Clearwater in favor of hanging with the wrong crowd.
"I didn't like it," he said. "I was trying to be with my friends."
Love said he wasn't fo- cused on school and took to running the streets with his friends. His mother, wanting better for her son, sent him to live with an aunt in Pasco County.
The move did not change Love 's behavior and by eighth grade he was attending an alternative school.
Love, one of four boys, said his mother cautioned that he was going down a slippery path from which it would be hard to recover.
Unfortunately her warnings fell on deaf ears and Love con- tinued to find himself in trou- ble.
Then one day, the light came on for Love, and he re- alized his mother was right. He knew, though, that the path to success would require a strong-hand to help guide him along. Love's father was not active in his life, and his mother did the best she could while raising three other sons.
Although young, Love knew the best place to get the disci- pline he needed was from his best friend's father. With his mother's blessing, Love moved in with the family.
The turnaround in Love's behavior and academic per- formance was almost instant. He also had a renewed interest in the sport he had abandoned.
"That's when I started t a k ing things more seriously, both grades and football," he said. "I had a more clear path."
During his sophomore year at Countryside High School, Love joined the football team. His coaches there saw his po- tential, and encouraged Love to give his best.
He didn't disappoint. Love stood out at practices and stayed in the weight training room. His commitment was rewarded with a move from re- ceiver to defensive end and a spot on the varsity team.
"I fell in love with the game," he said. "I took the fu- ture more seriously."
Love's work on the field caught the eye of USF’s defen- sive coordinator. After meet- ing with him, Love realized he would be a good fit for the team.
"I had a good vibe for it and it was close to home," he said.
"I wanted to stay home and play in my backyard."
But Love said he wasn't 100 percent sold on USF until he met with then head coach Willie Taggert.
"I talked with him and I committed on the spot after meeting with him," he said.
Love carried the same work ethic he developed in high school with him to USF. While making stellar moves at Raymond James Sta- dium, Love also kept up his grades. He graduated in 2016 with a degree in criminology.
All the while, Love kept his eye on going pro, but took it one step at time with some en- couragement from current USF head coach, Charlie Strong.
His first goal was to train well for the March pro day, an event when professional scouts and coaches observe senior players in action. That same month, Love was invited to participate in the NFL Com- bine, a week-long showcase of players performing physical drills for coaches and scouts.
After getting good feed back, Love now waits to see if he'll hear his name among the others in the 2018 draft class.
"I'm excited," he said. "It's been a long journey.'
Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback Jameis Winston is pretty good at this football thing, but if it doesn't work out for him in the future, he may have found his calling as a school teacher. Winston was in Tallahassee recently at Semi- nole Central Middle school teaching a class. Teachers and students were impressed with Winston skills. Winston was an A student in high school and college.
Twitter Goes Nuts Over Buccaneers Using Parrot To Deliver Draft Picks
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Monday that their day three draft picks will be delivered by a parrot, and Twitter reacted as you would have expected it to.
The Buccaneers will have an announcer stationed on the in- famous Raymond James Sta- dium pirate ship, and a pirate will be delivering the picks to them. Naturally, this gimmick was roasted on Twitter, with various tweets pointing out how silly and superfluous it was.
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