Football recruit offers valuable dowry to UCLA sports program

  Mayar Zokaei Comments can be sent to
[email protected].

No offensive coordinator, no defensive coordinator, no star wide
receiver. No problem.

I have seen the future of UCLA football and I feel secure. The
daughter I have kept a watchful eye on all my life is about to
marry the wealthy and successful doctor who will take care of
her.

Tyler Ebell has proposed to UCLA.

Tyler Ebell?

Ebell is a modestly listed 5-foot-9 running back, but the only
semblance of modesty detected is in his demeanor.

Tyler, how does it feel breaking the national single-season
rushing record and being considered the greatest high school
running back of all time?

“It’s cool.”

His impact won’t be measured by his height, but by his
heart and will to improve.

Hey Tyler, you just rushed for (a season-low) 200 yards and your
team won by 30 points. How would you gauge your performance?

“Weak.”

He’s the heralded short guy from Ventura High, whose
blazing speed and newly-found strength make him one of the most
intriguing Bruin prospects ever.

But perhaps the biggest thing Tyler Ebell will bring to UCLA is
humility.

He glided past every great running back and collected more
records than a vinyl shop, but he deferred talk of his magnificence
and instead praised his offensive line.

Not everyone will get a chance to learn.

Freddie Mitchell and the Bruins played in the Sun Bowl recently.
He had nine catches, 180 yards and took home the game MVP
award.

To paraphrase Mitchell, “I am the greatest wide receiver
in the game, you can’t hold me down, and as long as I get
three quotes in the paper, I’ll be invited to the Playboy
Mansion.”

The only thing Mitchell forgot to acknowledge was that UCLA lost
to Wisconsin. Again.

While Mitchell was busy hopping around with Bunnies during the
summer and predicting his own stats, Ebell was running sprints in
the sand. Oh, and he was wearing shoes.

Mitchell was knocked by scouts for his focus, so he spent his
summer hanging with actors. Ebell was criticized for his lack of
strength and he developed biceps.

When Mitchell was at a trendy store shopping for a suit for the
press conference where he would announce he was going pro, Ebell
was at Sport Chalet buying ankle braces for basketball season.

As Mitchell was busy embarrassing himself on the Jay Leno show
and incorrectly answering questions, Ebell was busy acing his
SATs.

The most insignificant athlete at UCLA walks with a swagger that
resonates with the message, “Watch out, I’m a hard
athlete and I’m better than you.”

I saw Ebell at a game and he came up to me and started talking
to me like I was one of his best friends, even though the only
connection we had was the word stitched on my sweatshirt.

The short-fused sticks of cockiness and self-promotion
don’t burn inside Tyler Ebell. The virtues of humility and
happiness do.

Every picture of Ebell is replete with a smile. Every mention of
him is accompanied by a respect for him as a person.

The Mighty Mouse tattoo on his left biceps is the only sign of
exuberance on Ebell. Even that is nothing more than inspiration for
the “little man” and a little something to remember his
favorite childhood cartoon character by.

The pattern is familiar in college football: a good athlete from
an unknown area will excel as a receiver or back, but once he gets
to college, he’s smaller than previously thought or not fast
enough and relegated to becoming a defensive back.

Ebell isn’t one to follow the mold. He picked UCLA because
he knew DeShaun Foster, the athlete whose California career
touchdown record he broke, would have one more season at the most,
Jermaine Lewis was graduating and his buddy Manuel White is
here.

While only time will tell if this is a match made in heaven, the
vows have been taken. Only time will tell if the marriage is a
success.

What Ebell lacks in height, he makes up for in determination.
When he can’t use muscles, he draws on his inner strength to
overcome. When there is nothing to say, Ebell knows.

Tyler Ebell needs UCLA. Thank God, Bob Toledo should be
thinking. The Bruins need him more.