Christian’s nephew, D.J., had 
played football there, so she 
and Karan often went to see his 
games. Karan was just 13 years 
old when Riverview coach 
John Sprague approached him 
and Christian to talk about his 
future.

Sprague 
had 
followed 

Karan through Pop Warner, 
and wanted him to come join 
the Rams.

“Send him to Riverview, 

Sam,” Sprague had said. “We’ll 
take good care of him.”

Riverview always had a 

great football program, and 
its coaches knew how to 
get their players ready for 
the next level. They helped 
players put together film for 
recruiting and did everything 
in their power to get players 
recognized by colleges.

Karan was the kind of 

running 
back 
Riverview 

needed, and Riverview was 
the kind of school where he 
could thrive. The coaches 
there, as Christian learned, 
cared more about their players 
than just their football talent.

“Everyone in the community 

knew, if you wanted your child 
to get a football scholarship, 
you need to send your child 
to Riverview High School,” 
Christian said.

Despite 
being 
pursued 

by almost every school in 
the area, Karan enrolled at 
Riverview.

The other schools didn’t 

stand a chance. They didn’t 
know 
Karan. 
They 
just 

knew 
him 
as 
a 
football 

player, and that’s all they 
cared about. Manatee High 
School, which won the 2011 
State Championship, heavily 
recruited him. It seemed like 
all the aspiring football players 
wanted to go to Manatee, and 
Karan had the offer waiting.

But he wasn’t interested, 

according 
to 
his 
mother, 

because what Manatee cared 
about 
most 
was 
putting 

another kid on a roster to 
try and win a championship. 
Karan’s academic and career 
goals couldn’t take a back 
seat. His dreams of being an 
orthopedic 
surgeon 
would 

get blanketed by all the 
pressure to put football first. 
That wasn’t what Karan 
wanted — Karan wanted to 
prioritize his education.

At Riverview, Karan and 

Christian knew they had 
that opportunity.

Even 
when 
Sprague 

retired from his longtime 
head-coaching job, where he 
had been for three decades, 
the plans never changed.

Sprague stepped down 

in March of Karan’s eighth 
grade year. He wouldn’t 
be 
on 
the 
sideline 
to 

coach Karan through high 
school, like he had done 
successfully for so many 
players, but Christian knew 
their decision was still 
the right one. Sprague’s 
replacement, 
after 
all, 

wanted the same thing for 
Karan as she did.

***

Over that span, as Karan 

moved 
through 
middle 

school, Todd Johnson was 
finishing up his NFL career. 
After his fourth season 
with the Bears, he signed 
a four-year contract with 
the St. Louis Rams. He had 
29 tackles in 2007, and 23 
the next season as a backup 
safety. The Rams waived 
him from the roster in 2009 
and, after a short stint in 
Buffalo, he returned home 
permanently to Sarasota.

Moving 
back 
meant 

Johnson would be much 
closer to Riverview High 
School, where he graduated 
from in 1998. As a kid, he 
dreamed of playing for the 
Riverview Rams, so when 
he went away to college 
and the NFL, he always 
made sure to come back to 
his roots. He’d work out 
with Riverview players in 
his offseasons and stayed 
connected with his former 
coach, Sprague, who had 
been with the school since 
1981.

Unfortunately, 
Johnson 

saw the same challenges 
that Samantha Christian 
had seen. He noticed them 
before he left Sarasota. He 
noticed them when he came 
back.

“I saw a ton of kids that 

were talented and gifted 
that could go on and do 
great things but didn’t make 
good decisions, made poor 
choices and therefore lost 
out on moving on,” Johnson 
said.

Whether it was falling 

behind in grades or getting 

in 
trouble 
with 
the 
law, 

it seemed that every year 
another great football player 
could do everything on the 
field, but did something wrong 
off it.

So when the opportunity 

opened up to get more involved 
at Riverview, Johnson threw 
his hat in the ring.

And 
in 
April 
of 
2011, 

Riverview named Johnson its 
new head coach. Johnson’s 
NFL career hadn’t been over 
for even two years before 
he was right back in the 
mix at the place where it all 
started for him. In his first 
press conference, he spoke 
about how important it was 
to mentor every individual, 
giving 
them 

the 
positive 

environment 
they needed 
to 
be 

successful.

He wasn’t 

taking 
this 

job 
just 
to 

win football 
games on his 
old stomping 
ground. 
He 

took 
it 
for 

the chance to 
give back.

As 
the 

summer went on and Johnson 
transitioned 
into 
his 
new 

job, more schools continued 
pursuing Karan. He was a 
popular, likeable and sought-
after football player, and the 
cutthroat Florida high school 
competition wanted to seize 
him up.

Eventually 
Johnson 

approached Karan. Rumors 
of more schools’ interests 
had circulated around, and 
Johnson wanted to check in, 
so he asked Karan what was 

going on.

“Coach, I’m a Ram from 

now until forever,” Higdon 
told him. “I will never leave 
here. I started here, and this is 
where I’m gonna finish.

“I told you that I’d be here 

for four years, and that’s not 
going to change no matter 
what.”

Nothing 
waivered 
for 

Karan. When other schools 
wanted to talk, Karan had 
none of it. He had given his 
coach his word, and stuck by 
his decision.

So Karan was committed, 

Pee Wee football was long gone 
and Pop Warner had passed. 
He was the star in those 
leagues, but if Karan wanted 

to succeed — 
which 
he 
so 

badly did — he’d 
have to be the 
star 
in 
high 

school.

“Listen 

here, 
son,” 

Christian once 
told him. “You 
are 
going 
to 

have a hundred 
Karan Higdons 
in high school. 
The 
level 
of 

competition, 
that 
bar 
has 

been raised now. You are really 
going to have to fight and show 
what you can do.”

Just as she predicted, high 

school brought about new 
challenges. Karan hadn’t been 
big on weightlifting, but in 
middle school football, that 
didn’t matter. He was so fast 
and naturally big that he could 
bulldoze through everyone 
he played against. But against 
bigger 
and 
stronger 
high 

school players, that wouldn’t 
be the case.

His 
natural 
talent 
was 

enough to put him on varsity, 
but it was in the weight room 
where he began to really learn.

“There comes a point where 

you got to grow,” Karan said. 
“You’ve got to learn how to 
perfect your craft, and I knew 
that there was going to come a 
point in time where some guys 
I’m going to have to make miss 
and some guys I’m going to 
have to run through.”

High school was that point 

for him. Johnson and the rest 
of Riverview’s staff worked on 
everything with Karan, and he 
ate it all up. They taught him 
how to juke his opponents, 
how to lift right and how to be 
more explosive.

Sometimes he’d use less 

weight 
when 
he 
bench-

pressed, bring the weight 
down slow, and then explode 
up. For squats and leg presses, 
he did the same thing.

While other kids were out 

elsewhere, Karan was in the 
weight room. When he wasn’t 
there, he was on the football 
field. If he wasn’t there, he was 
studying. He was doing it all, 
and doing all of it really, really 
well. 

By the time his first varsity 

game came around, Karan, 
Christian and Johnson all 
knew that he was ready for 
this next step.

Everybody 
else 
quickly 

found out.

In 
a 
game 
between 

Riverview and Booker High 
School, the coaches called a 
run play for him.

Karan took the ball and 

darted 
forward 
before 

lowering his shoulder to truck 
through 
Booker 
defensive 

back Ricky Jones Jr.

5
TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com

COURTESY OF SAMANTHA CHRISTIAN

Higdon played high school football at Riverview High School.

See HIGDON, Page 6

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Karan Higdon has become the Wolverines’ leading rusher this season, racking up 604 yards on the ground.

I will never 
leave here. I 
started here, 
and this is 
where I’m 

gonna finish.