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.”