Mighty with ball and pen
U-M's Breaston can return kicks and write with soul
October 21, 2005
BY MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
In his 11 seasons as Michigan football coach, Lloyd Carr has tried to develop personal relationships with his players.
So he wasn't surprised by the class paper Steve Breaston dropped on his desk last spring.
Carr took it home, where it sat for a few days until his wife, Laurie, read it and brought it to his attention.
"She said, 'It's wonderful,' " Carr recounted earlier this fall. "It was about his father. Not only was it extremely well-written, but the way he structured it, you didn't know where he was going."
That's what many would say about Breaston on the football field. As a wide receiver and kick returner, he's a slippery dynamo with the ball in his hands, able to escape tackles and squeeze through the tiniest openings.
His 41-yard kickoff return led to Michigan's winning touchdown in Saturday's 27-25 victory over Penn State, and he set a Rose Bowl record last season with 315 all-purpose yards.
But in Breaston's writing, the heroics were reserved for his father, Michael.
"I grew up reading comic books and was talking about why can't my dad be a superhero," said Breaston, who wore superhero T-shirts under his uniform at Woodland Hills High in suburban Pittsburgh.
In the paper, Breaston discussed numerous superheroes and how his father outdid them. He talked about the Flash, who had speed, but was nothing compared to Michael Breaston, a high school track star. Then there was Batman, who accepted Robin the same way his father took in Steve's older brothers, who are not Michael's biological children.
Finally, Breaston moved on to Superman, recalling when Michael saved his life, pulling him from a river after he had refused to heed warnings and fell in.
"I explained my dad doesn't wear a cape, he wears a uniform, a brown-and-tan uniform that says 'Mike' on it," Breaston said. "When you ask the question, 'Why do you think your dad's a superhero? He doesn't move mountains,' I say, 'I know he doesn't move mountains. He moves my soul.' "
The soul that deeply touched Laurie and Lloyd Carr is beginning to emerge.
"Steve does tend to put a lot of emotion around what he does write," said Breaston's brother David, who read the paper this summer. "Everybody views Steve as a one-dimensional person, as a football player, but we have an opportunity to see the depth of him, and he's very much a normal kid. We don't talk about football much at home."
Everyone else talks enough. Breaston, a 6-foot-1, 178-pound junior, has battled hamstring and shoulder problems this season, but he is starting to reemerge as a big-play performer.
Yet the big plays have not come on offense, where wide receivers Jason Avant and Mario Manningham have been far more productive. Breaston is making an impact as a kick returner, where he's changing games.
"He's one step away from a touchdown," Carr said. "He has the ability to make a defender miss, and I think anybody that's seen him return punts knows he isn't down until he's on the ground. I've seen him get out of a lot of situations where no one else would escape. He has a very special ability."
Against Minnesota, Breaston returned a kickoff a career-long 95 yards for a touchdown, hinting that he was feeling better. Then he compiled 156 return yards last week against Penn State and climbed into the stands after the last-second victory over his home-state school.
"I've been waiting four years for this," Breaston screamed, dancing around on the field.
After the game, Breaston only wanted to talk about Manningham, a freshman who has taken over much of his role as a receiver. Breaston, who has six pins in his left hand and a screw in his right foot from last year's injuries, is listed as a starting receiver, although he has only 10 catches for 98 yards.
"He was a quiet guy when he first got here and he didn't talk a lot," said tight end Tim Massaquoi, an early confidant as a fellow Pennsylvanian. "Now he's more outspoken and a verbal kind of player."
His talking comes on the field, where Breaston is changing games and, some might say, playing the hero. Makes sense. After all, his father is straight out of DC Comics.
Contact MARK SNYDER at 248-351-3688 or
[email protected].
