100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

September 05, 2017 - Image 18

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

6B — Tuesday, September 5, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Marine whose inspiration Harbaugh found letter-perfect

On Monday, Anthony Riddle

still couldn’t believe what Jim
Harbaugh did with his letter.

After all, a 15-minute press

conference
after
Michigan

beat Florida — during which
Harbaugh
explained
that

Riddle’s
letter
became
his

pregame speech — turned him
into a celebrity.

His Facebook blew up with

requests from journalists and
everyday
individuals
alike,

all looking to talk to the man
that
inspired
Harbaugh’s

Wolverines. But before that, it
started with his sister, Shelle.

“My sister ended up giving

me a call,” Riddle said in a
phone
interview
with
the

Daily. “And she’s like, ‘Hey,
my boyfriend just got an ESPN
alert that Jim Harbaugh just
read some Marine’s letter. Was
that you?’ ”

Yes, it was.

***

Before the letter, there was a

speech.

Riddle
was
tasked
with

writing about his friend, who
is set to receive an award in the
coming month.

And for the entire offseason,

Riddle had heard a collection
of analysts say that Michigan
was too inexperienced to have
success in 2017. Finally, while
writing the speech for his
friend with ESPN and Big Ten
Network on in the background,
he decided he needed a break.

So nine days ago, on the

Sunday
before
Michigan’s

season
opener,
instead
of

finishing his speech, he started
writing the letter.

He proofread it.
He Googled Jim Harbaugh’s

email address, picking the only
one he could find.

He clicked send.
Riddle
never
expected

Harbaugh would read it, let
alone reply. He sent the email

thinking to himself, “What’s
the worst that could happen?”

A half day later, a response

from Michigan’s coach arrived
in his inbox.

“I’m sitting at work, and it

says Jim Harbaugh,” Riddle
said. “My hands started shaking
and I’m like, ‘No way.’ ”

Harbaugh told Riddle that

he had put the irrelevance of
youth in better perspective
than he could have himself, and
he admitted as much during
his press conference Saturday
night.

And he said that he would

be sharing the letter with the
team. But Riddle expected it
to surface in practice and fade
away quietly.

But now you know what

really happened.

The thing is, it doesn’t stop

there.

In
his
original
reply,

Harbaugh invited Riddle to
Ann Arbor, asking to meet the
Jackson, Mich. native and draw
on his experiences. On Monday,
Harbaugh took
it a step further

telling

Riddle that he
is welcome to
be on the field
for a game of
his choosing.

“It’s
hard

because
I

want to be as
respectful
to

him
and
not

take up any unneeded time,”
Riddle said. “I think overall
it just speaks volumes for
what type of a person he is.
He could’ve just looked at that

letter and said, ‘Oh, I get 50,000
of these a day.’”

***

Riddle’s path to the Marines

began with a dream that would
be familiar to most, but real

to
him

he

wanted to be an
astronaut.

In sixth grade,

his
father
told

him that if he
worked hard, he
would
be
able

to get there, but
added a word of
caution: The men
who go to space
are some of the

smartest people in the world.

Three years later, Riddle

entered
high
school
and

realized
his
dream
needed

some tinkering.

“Going into high school,

I didn’t have the greatest
grades,” Riddle said. “I didn’t
have the worst, I wasn’t dumb
by any means. But I obviously
didn’t have the grades to be
like, ‘All right, I’m going to be
an astronaut one day.’ ”

So he set out on a new path.

He knew that most astronauts
were former pilots and figured
that, if he became a good
enough pilot, his dream might
be attainable after all.

But after evaluating his options

for service school, he found
himself visiting his brother’s best
friend at boot camp in 1996. Then
came the revelation.

“From that day on,” Riddle

explained, “I said, ‘That’s what
I’m doing.’ ”

Just after his high school

graduation,
he
joined
the

Marines.
But
two
weeks

into boot camp, he broke his
collarbone.

Riddle
was
forced
into

medical rehab, all the while
watching everyone else around
him move on and graduate.
Eventually, he’d had enough.

“It (was) very depressing

being in this medical rehab
platoon,” Riddle said. “So I was
there for about a week and I
went back down to the doctor’s
office and said, ‘Look, I’m
not gonna sit here and watch
everyone else move on and
train, and I’m not gonna sit here
for the next six weeks.’

“And she told me, ‘Well in

order for you to get back into a
platoon, you have to get down
and do push-ups … and then
you have to do a physical fitness
test.’ ”

He did the push-ups. Then he

beat everyone in the physical
fitness test. He ran three miles
in 17:10, and did 28 pull-ups and
175 sit-ups in two minutes. He
still had a broken collarbone.

He graduated boot camp in

October of 2000, and became a
platoon sergeant as a corporal
— a position typically reserved
for military members in their
early 30s — roughly two years
later.

He then led 52 Marines, all

under the age of 20, into Iraq.
The video of Sadam Hussein’s
statue being torn down was
filmed from his vehicle.

He did that all before his

22nd birthday. And that’s what
he told Jim Harbaugh in his
letter.

Now he has a blank check to

cash. And he’s spending it the
way he wants to.

“(My sister) is a Spartans

fan,”
Riddle
said.
“She

graduated
from
(Michigan

State), so she’s like, ‘If he offers
you to come to a game, that’s
the one I want to go to.’

“I said, ‘No, if he offers me

to come to a game it’s gonna be
against Ohio.’ ”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh read the Michigan football team a letter from Anthony Riddle the night before the Wolverines opened the year by beating Florida.

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

“I’m sitting
at work, and
it says Jim
Harbaugh.”

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan