I am a college running back. I play for Texas A&M, and I’ve scored four touchdowns this season.
- Mira Levitan
This may be a shock to those who know me as a 5-foot-4 (with my shoes on) shrimp with no coordination to speak of – and to those of you who saw the headshot at the top of this column and correctly assumed that I am a female.
Actually, I was a little surprised myself to hear, when the Texas A&M vs. Virginia Tech game was on the T.V. last Thursday night, the play-by-play guy call my name on a touchdown run.
It turns out that I had not found a way to morph myself into a terrific athlete in Texas and, at the same time, watch television in Ann Arbor. The touchdown belonged to Courtney Lewis of Houston, who’s a redshirt freshman and rising star for the Aggies.
Nobody will be confusing me with Courtney the football player, but it’s not like we don’t have anything in common at all. According to his bio on the Texas A&M football website, his favorite book is “To Kill A Mocking Bird” – also one of my favorites.
Once I thought about it, I realized it makes sense that I have an alter ego on the football field. The Daily has a history of sportswriters with gridiron counterparts – in recent years, Steve Jackson and David Horn could be found both on NCAA teams and in the Student Publications Building. So, I was glad to find that the tradition continues.
I’ve certainly heard of football players named Courtney before – the Hoosiers will bring two with them to Ann Arbor this weekend (Courtney Clency and Cortney Roby) – but the Texas A&M running back takes it to another level.
Courtney in College Station and I are not alone out there, though. A Yahoo! People Search shows that there are at least 51 other Courtney Lewises across the country. But as far as I know, the Aggies’ Lewis is the only one who plays college football. And he seems to be the only one of us who will regularly be found on national television and as the subject of stories in the sports pages.
So, Courtney Lewis, be good to our name. I’m questioning your choice of colleges a little bit here (I’ve always wanted to see my name on the back of a maize-and-blue jersey, and having it echo out of the Big House sound system would have been sweet), but I’ll let that go. Especially since you’re the one who made it to collegiate sports, and I’m the one who writes about them.
And your number, 25, is fine. But we’ve got to do something about your taste in spectator sports. You list track as your favorite thing to watch other than football. Track? We’ll have to work on that.
As far as being famous, keep it on the football field, eh? I don’t want to hear my name circulating around scandals or see it on arrest records. And I’ll do my part in that area, too.
Speaking of being famous, I don’t know how good you’re going to get, but what do you think of making a little deal, here? I’m giving you some pub now, right?
So if you become a household name, maybe we could share some of the benefits, since we share a name and all. Like, I don’t know, a championship ring with my name on it? That’d be pretty cool.
You don’t think that’s fair? Alright, how about you just keep scoring touchdowns? Not that many people get to hear their name called by a college football announcer on Saturday afternoons. Touchdown, Courtney Lewis. I like the sound of that.
And I get to skip the whole part about being slammed to the ground by 300-pound linemen every week.
Courtney Lewis the sports writer can be reached at cmlewis@umich.edu.