Feature story on Michael Washington

About assuming a leadership role in his senior season, Michael Washington said:
"You really gotta instill that football-ness, that savvy, to people. I use that Sugar Bowl example a lot. I took that (beating) to heart, man. We got embarrassed and everything. That's just shows you a lot. When we go to Florida this year, it's going to be the same thing, if not worse. It starts now. It really starts now." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Members of the team have noticed Washington help fill the void of a crop of departed offensive leaders. For the past few months, the 5-foot-7, 175-pound Washington has been consumed by a hunger to make good on his final year of eligibility. The past three seasons have been an exercise in frustration as he's bided his time on the Aloha Stadium sidelines, waiting for any and every opportunity to get on the field behind former stars Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins, who arrived in the same 2005 season. The highly touted recruit (he turned down scholarships from California, Miami, Penn State and other schools) earned some playing time at wideout his freshman year, but was then buried in the deep slotback position for the next two seasons. With Bess and Grice-Mullins leaving for the NFL a season early after the Warriors' 12-0 regular season and loss in the Sugar Bowl, Washington is in prime position to be a difference-maker in 2008."

About how he's looking forward to the Florida game, Washington said:
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't go to sleep dreaming about the Florida game, dreaming about games during the season. Me, Yoda (slotback Aaron Bain), (quarterback) Tyler (Graunke), we got one year left, so we just gotta ball out. I definitely didn't come here all the way from Pennsylvania for no vacation." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Offensive coordinator Ron Lee, the former receivers coach, knows exactly what Washington can bring to the team -- unparalleled speed and meticulous route-running. It was reaffirmed in the team's recent spring training sessions in March."

About how Washington has his chance to shine this year, Ron Lee said:
"He has been waiting a long time for his chance, and it's here now. He had a great spring, working hard, he's excited. I'm excited that he's going to get the chance. The only thing he hasn't really done -- he knows what we're doing -- is doing it on Saturdays." (HSB)

HSB Note: "When Mike was a fifth-grader in South Carolina living with his parents and three siblings, his mom and dad argued one night. The Washington kids woke up to find them gone. Mike and his older brother scraped and struggled to support their two younger sisters, and after a month and a half of leaning on each other to survive with no food or power, the kids were rescued by their maternal grandparents to live in Aliquippa."

About how his parents left the family when he was a 5th grader, Washington said:
"It was hard to forgive (our parents) for what they did because they blame each other for their actions. Their actions affected all of us. I forgave them, but I didn't tell them that. I put it behind me. Everything that happened back home, that just added fuel to the fire to my ambition and dreams, man." (HSB)

HSB Note: "In his adult life, things haven't been much better. His cousin E.J. -- who he grew up with him in Aliquippa and considered a brother -- was murdered during his freshman year, and old friends and teammates have become casualties of the violent culture of his neighborhood. He recently found out his mother, Gloria, is in jail, and he doesn't keep in contact with his estranged father, Lawrence. He considers his grandparents and the Aliquippa Church of the Round his saviors, and keeps in contact with both weekly. But it is still a struggle, and he often felt out of place during the Warriors' best season of record last year. His lowest point mentally came between his sophomore and junior years, when a summer of hard work went unrewarded with no firm spot on special teams the next season. Washington entertained thoughts of transferring, but decided to stick it out. After all, he'd come so far in learning the run-and-shoot system."

About he and Washington bonded as backups who were waiting their chance to play, Tyler said:
"I love the kid. I can't wait for this year for me and him to shine together. He should have been starting the last three years, but we had an unbelievable athlete in Davone Bess. Now it's Mike Washington's turn, and I know he's going to make the best of it." (HSB)