The news crawled across the bottom of the TV screen on ESPN: Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had an interview with the Philadelphia Eagles before leaving the country.
Now, imagine being 18 years old, and you graduated early from high school so that you could go to Notre Dame to play for Kelly. Then you see that on ESPN.
What the heck? He wouldn't leave for the NFL, would he? This has to be a ploy to get more money, right?
Maybe you figure he's gone, if he gets the chance. Kelly always has been a climber.
Or maybe you figure there is no way he'll leave, which was the mind-set of Steven Elmer, an offensive lineman who graduated early from Midland High to go to Notre Dame.
"I was surprised," Elmer said last week, "but I'm not too concerned about it."
But he wouldn't say much more. And he didn't have to worry too much about it -- Kelly issued a statement Saturday afternoon that he had decided to stay at Notre Dame.
Elmer's situation was the flip side to all of these college coaches who are being wooed by the NFL. For every coach who flirts with the NFL for a new and better job, there is a bunch of kids who are left drifting in uncertainty.
It had been a wild few days for Elmer. First, Notre Dame was pummeled in the BCS national championship game, then Kelly started talking to the Eagles.
Elmer was supposed to move to South Bend, Ind., today and check into the dorms with six other incoming players. But one, Alex Anzalone, a linebacker from Pennsylvania, has given up on Notre Dame and reportedly will enroll at Florida.
"I'm going to Notre Dame no matter what happens," Elmer said last week.
A personal choice
Elmer has been described as the best lineman to come out of the state of Michigan since Jake Long. He was selected to the Free Press Dream Team two years in a row.
Elmer, 6-feet-6 and 305 pounds, was ranked as the fourth-best offensive tackle in the country by Rivals.com. He recently played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, where he received the Anthony Munoz Lineman of the Year Award, given to the top lineman in the country.
Just about every school in the country recruited him.
So let's get this part out of the way. Why didn't he go to Michigan or Michigan State?
"All the coaches at Michigan and Michigan State are wonderful," Elmer said.
And as he said that, you could almost hear the next word that was coming: But ...
But he is Catholic and fell in love with Notre Dame.
"Coach Kelly and his staff are all fantastic," Elmer said.
Elmer graduated from Midland with a 4.3 grade-point average, and he plans to study engineering in college.
"He's very intellectual, a very hardworking kid," said Midland coach Eric Methner. "He's very respectful. Very grounded. Polite. Humble. Just a super young man. It's not easy being in the spotlight all the time, and he has handled it with a lot of grace and dignity."
Elmer gave a verbal commitment to Notre Dame early in his junior season. But that didn't stop other schools from trying to recruit him. During a dead period when college coaches were barred from calling players, Elmer was getting three letters a day from Alabama coaches.
"We would laugh, amongst the coaching staff, at the amount of postage that these football programs go through," Methner said. "He would get three letters a day from Alabama, the big, large envelops, just packed with stuff. And the next day, he'd get three more. And this was after he committed."
You wonder why Alabama is so good? The coaches don't give up on anybody. It's a mind-set. They expect to get the best players. Period.
No regrets
Now, flash back one week.
Elmer was nervous Monday night before the national championship game, sitting in his family room with a couple of friends and his two, beloved golden retrievers: Bronco, 8, and Charlie, 2.
"I was super nervous," Elmer said.
He was watching Alabama -- a team that wanted him -- crush the school that he picked, Notre Dame, 42-14.
That's like having a girl ask you out, over and over, but you don't acknowledge her advances -- and then she wins Miss Universe, while you sit at home, watching on television.
But Elmer has no regrets about shunning Alabama and picking the Irish. "Everybody around the program knows we aren't even close to where we are going to be in the very near future, once we hit stride," Elmer said.
The bad and the good
Elmer said he planned to move into his dorm today. He will room with wide receiver Corey Robinson, the son of NBA great David Robinson. "We've been good friends for a while," Elmer said.
By enrolling early, Elmer will give up the best time of high school -- the last few months of senior year. He will leave his friends, miss his senior year of track and skip his senior prom. "But I'm not a big partier," he said.
What will he gain?
Sure, he can go through spring football -- but that's only part of it. He wants to get used to college life, living on his own and taking classes. Orientation is Monday. Classes start Tuesday. So does weight lifting with the football team.
Next season already has begun.
"Trust me, it won't be the last time you see Notre Dame in the national championship game," Elmer said, "and it will be different next time."
Contact Jeff Seidel: 313-223-4558 or
jseidel@freepress.com.
More Details: Meet Steven Elmer
Age: 18.
High school: Midland.
Vitals: 6-feet-6, 305 pounds.
Position: Offensive tackle.
Committed to: Notre Dame.
Noteworthy: Associated Press Michigan high school football player of the year for Divisions 1 and 2. Detroit Free Press Dream Team selection as a junior and a senior. Won the Anthony Munoz Lineman of the Year Award at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan.?5. Rated No. 4 lineman in 2013 class by Rivals.com.
