Ryan Tannehill doesn’t need tattoos.
He doesn’t go to bars late at night and assault anybody. He doesn’t accept money from shady agents.
In an era of college football that feels like more teams are being sanctioned than going to bowl games, it is difficult to get behind a player for fear that by midseason there will be a scandal waiting to tarnish his legacy. The same cannot be said for Texas A&M’s signal caller.
Coming out of high school, Tannehill was a highly sought after recruit. As the No. 21 dual-threat quarterback in the nation, he received offers from big-name schools such as Houston, TCU and Texas Tech (His parent’s alma mater). However, Tannehill had his heart set on playing for the Aggies and refused to settle for less. He passed out more rejections than a season of The Bachelor and made his way to College Station with hopes of walking on.
After making the team and redshirting his freshman year, Tannehill found himself in a three-way battle for the quarterback spot with Stephen McGee and Jerrod Johnson. In the Olympics, third place gets a medal—for Tannehill, he got a move to wide receiver.
While transitioning positions at a Division 1-A level is about as simple as translating an instruction manual from Ikea, Tannehill flourished in his new spot. He hauled in 55 passes for 844 yards (11 shy of the school record) en route to being named the team’s offensive MVP. Despite his success, Tannehill held onto his dream of being the Aggies' quarterback.
He competed against Johnson the next year and, again, he fell short. He was relocated back to wideout where he led the team in receiving. Still, he held onto his dream.
It was midway through his junior year when Tannehill finally got his chance. The Aggies were 3-3 and Johnson was struggling more than Snooki taking the bar exam. It was at A&M’s game with Kansas that Coach Mike Sherman finally gave the “wide receiver” his shot.
Prior to that day, Tannehill had only thrown nine passes as an Aggie. The inexperience would have caused a lesser man to fall apart quicker than the XFL—but not Tannehill. It didn’t matter that he was expected to turn around the whole season. It didn’t matter that the winds in Memorial Stadium were gusting at 25 miles per hour. It didn’t even matter that he hadn’t truly played quarterback for three years. This was his time—and he owned it.
Tannehill passed for 155 yards and three touchdowns that game. Immediately after, he was named Texas A&M’s starting quarterback. In his first start, he put up numbers crazier than Glenn Beck. Tannehill passed for a school record 449 yards and four touchdowns while leading A&M to a victory over Texas Tech.
After his legendary debut, Tannehill faced a schedule scarier than Lady Gaga’s closet. However, that didn’t stop the junior from Big Spring, Texas. He carried the team to four more wins against No. 11 Oklahoma, Baylor, No. 9 Nebraska and rival Texas. The Aggies were then invited to the Cotton Bowl Classic where they suffered their first loss with Tannehill under center to LSU.
Tannehill is the ultimate jack-of-all-trades. He has ten touchdowns through the air, one more on the ground and another ten as a receiver. Heck, he’s even punted three times in his career. Tannehill is full of more tricks than a cartoon rabbit’s cereal, but the amazing thing is that most of them are off the football field.
A&M’s field general is the kind of guy that coaches would kill to have in their locker room. Not only does Tannehill love the game; he also loves his teammates and credits them at every opportunity.
Take Jerrod Johnson for example. When Tannehill took over the starting position after the Kansas game, he wasted no time in praising the man standing in front of his dream for three years in a row. Prior to the Nebraska game, Tannehill remarked, “Just because he’s [Johnson] not playing, doesn’t mean he's not a leader anymore.” In a time where position battles can cause feuds that make athletes look like the cast of The Real Housewives, both Tannehill and Johnson displayed the utmost class.
Then there is the fact that Tannehill is the ultimate student-athlete. When not tearing it up on the field, he is tearing up the classroom. For the past three years, the biology major has been named to the First Team Academic All Big-12 and was named to the 2010 ESPN Academic All-District Team. He’s posted a 3.66 grade point average, which, if you’re keeping score, is higher than that of Stanford’s local genius Andrew Luck. Post-football, he plans to make a career as an orthopedic surgeon.
Every year, the Heisman Trophy is awarded to the “most outstanding college football player in the United States”. They don’t get much more outstanding than Ryan Tannehill.
After all, would you trust Marcus Lattimore with your hip replacement surgery?
Eli Whiteside Mike Fontenot Brett Pill Pat Burrell Jhan Marinez Anibal Sanchez
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