Miami Hurricanes Football

The Miami Hurricanes cruised to a 47-10 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Thursday night.

Miami entered the game with a quarterback competition, and redshirt freshman N'Kosi Perry earned the start over senior Malik Rosier. Although Perry didn't have a flawless night, he showed Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt a glimpse of what he can do.

It didn't hurt that the Turnover Chain was out in full force, either. 

                

Perry Shows Promise in First Career Start

Richt made it clear earlier this week he was looking for Perry, among others, to show he was ready for the No. 1 spot. 

"I am not going to put you in position of leadership until you prove you can be a leader," Richt said Wednesday, according to the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson.

The freshman signal-caller came out looking like he was ready to end the competition.

Perry, rated as a 4-star recruit by 247Sports, did not have an incomplete pass until the final minute of the first quarter. He started the game 5-of-5 for 74 yards, which helped set the offensive tone.

There's no denying the Perry-led attack had juice, and he showed off his arm by squeezing a pass into a tight spot to Darrell Langham on a third down for a late second-quarter score. 

The Hurricanes put up 33 first-half points, with 19 coming from the offense. But coming out of the break, Perry may have opened the door for Rosier to stay in the mix. Perry turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions (fumble and interception) to start the second half. Even though Miami had a 23-point lead at the time and the turnovers led to zero points, the turnovers showed growing pains.

Overall, though, Perry had a solid performance, completing eight of 12 pass attempts for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He added 26 rushing yards on six carries. 

Given the running attack (229 yards and two touchdowns) and the Miami defense were on top of their games, Perry wasn't asked to do too much. The freshman likely did enough to hold the job, but he will have to continue to show improvement.

              

Turnover Chain Key to Miami's Success

While all eyes were on Perry, the Hurricanes defense stole the spotlight.

Miami forced six turnovers, taking three to the house. A 42-yard pick-six by defensive lineman Joe Jackson early in the second quarter put Miami in full control.

The Hurricanes defense found the end zone more times than the Tar Heels offense (once):

Not 1⃣,
Not 2⃣,
But 3⃣!!!!!@CanesFootball was dominant and scored 🏈🏈🏈 defensive TDs vs #UNC#ItsAllAboutTheU #turnoverchain (@RomeoFinley1) pic.twitter.com/CySCscAZ7o

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) September 28, 2018

Ironically, the turnover-generated touchdowns had the potential to wear down the defense, as the unit was constantly on the field. However, even though the Tar Heels held possession for 33 minutes and 12 seconds, the Hurricanes stayed strong and allowed just 10 points.

It was only fitting that North Carolina's final possession ended in a turnover.

North Carolina backup quarterback Chazz Surratt had an unusual stat line in extended action Thursday, "completing" seven of his 10 pass attempts—four to Tar Heels players and three to the Hurricanes.

Miami forced four turnovers in a 77-0 Week 2 victory over Savannah State, but in the other three contests combined, the defense had created two turnovers.

If Miami is to make noise in the ACC and reach the College Football Playoff, the defense will have to continue to make game-changing plays. That's the best way to support a young, inexperienced quarterback.

         

Miami Establishes Itself as ACC Coastal Favorite to Start Conference Play

Miami was ranked in the preseason AP Top 10, but an ugly blowout loss to the LSU Tigers in the season opener dealt damage to the Hurricanes' CFP hopes. They responded by rattling off three straight victories over non-Power Five teams.

North Carolina may not be the most talented squad, but it was important for Miami to get off to a strong start in conference play.

And that's exactly what it did.

The Tar Heels entered the contest as one of three teams in the Coastal Division with a 1-0 conference record. That meant a win would move the Hurricanes one step closer to controlling their destiny down the stretch.

Miami moved into a tie with Virginia and Virginia Tech atop the Coastal, and Duke is set to open ACC play this weekend. Four of the Hurricanes' final seven games may be on the road, but their toughest remaining contest will be played at home on Nov. 3 against the No. 22 Blue Devils.

Duke is the only ranked team on Miami's remaining schedule, although Virginia Tech—which suffered an upset loss to Old Dominion last week—received votes in this week's AP poll. The Hokies host the Hurricanes on Nov. 17 in a showdown that could go a long way in deciding the Coastal champ.

It'd be foolish for Miami to overlook any opponent, but its games against Duke and Virginia Tech have to be circled. It's clear the Hurricanes didn't look past the Tar Heels, and they can move on to their next opponent, Florida State, as they work their way toward a second consecutive Coastal title.

The Miami Hurricanes grabbed everyone's attention last year by using what would become the iconic Turnover Chain.

New year, new chain.

On Saturday against the Savannah State Tigers, Miami debuted the Turnover Chain 2.0:

IT'S BBBAAAAACCCCKKKK....

Just a little different. pic.twitter.com/Sc1q1usDTx

— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) September 8, 2018

It didn't take long for the chain to make an appearance on the sideline, as Hurricanes defensive back Trajan Bandy recovered a Tigers fumble early in the second quarter:

Straight from @MalekYoung to @BandyTrajan.

Turnover Chain Turnover Chain Turnover Chain pic.twitter.com/0UWRpsNoCz

— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) September 8, 2018

According to Bleacher Report's Master Tesfatsion, the new chain features more than 4,000 stones and weighs 6.6 pounds. That's an increase from 900 stones and 4.4 pounds for the original chain.     

These college football players are teaming up to tackle hunger. Vanderbilt quarterback Mo Hasan started Second Spoon, a nonprofit that distributes unused food from local restaurants to the hungry.

Hasan raised $15,000 to convert a FedEx van into a food truck with the help of former high school teammate and Miami running back Robert Burns. Now, each Saturday, volunteers from UM deliver donated food all over Miami.

For more information watch the video above or check out Second Spoon.

           

Connect to the stories, teams, athletes, and highlights that make the game more than a game. Download the free Bleacher Report app to catch all the moments that matter in one place. Get the app to get the game.

The Miami Hurricanes will likely be without a major offensive weapon for much of the 2018 season, as tight end Michael Irvin II is reportedly set to undergo knee surgery.

According to Brett McMurphy, the surgery will repair an MCL injury in Irvin's right knee and is expected to keep him out for four months.

After registering nine receptions for 78 yards last season, Irvin was expected to play a bigger role in the Miami offense as a junior in 2018.

Among tight ends, Irvin is the top returning player on the roster, as Chris Herndon made the leap to the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the New York Jets.

Herndon finished with 40 grabs for 477 yards and four touchdowns last season, meaning there was a strong possibility Irvin could fill that gap.

Irvin is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, who was a star at the University of Miami and for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

With Irvin on the shelf, freshman Brevin Jordan and sophomore Brian Polendey are the top candidates to receive the bulk of the tight end snaps for the Canes.

Head coach Mark Richt has been rewarded with a contract extension at the University of Miami.  

According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, the revised deal will run through 2023.

After being fired by Georgia following the 2015 season, Richt was hired to take over as head coach at Miami. The 58-year-old was a quarterback for the Hurricanes from 1979-82, primarily serving as a backup to Jim Kelly. 

Speaking to ESPN.com's Chris Low in March about taking the job at Miami, Richt noted he wanted to coach the program because it's a place to compete for a national championship every year:

“I keep telling people that I didn’t come here just because it was my alma mater. I came here because you can win. If you do things right and get the support you need, you can win. It’s been proven. The players have always been here. You just have to make sure you get the right ones, and a lot of the other things they used to ding us on, our facilities and things like that, they’re not going to be able to do that anymore with this brand-new building and the improvements to Hard Rock Stadium.”

Richt led an immediate turnaround at Miami with nine wins and a victory over West Virginia in the Russell Athletic Bowl in his first season. It was the school's first postseason win since 2006. 

The Hurricanes continued to take steps forward in 2017. They climbed as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after a 10-0 start. It was the program's highest ranking in the AP poll since the 2003 season. 

Richt was named the ACC Coach of the Year and Walter Camp Coach of the Year for his efforts in 2017.

In addition to his success on the field, Richt's recruiting skills have also been strong for the Hurricanes. Their 2018 freshman class was ranked No. 8 overall by 247Sports. It was their first time in the top 10 since 2012. 

With Richt locked in as Miami's head coach for several years to come, the program is set up to challenge Clemson atop the ACC and compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff after just missing out last season. 

Go ahead and pretend otherwise, but at some point in your life, I know professional wrestling mattered to you.          

Whether it was Bruno Sammartino in the '60s, the generation of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant or the WWE's fabled Attitude Era, Vince McMahon and his programming left a mark on you—likely during your formative years—for better or worse (cue me as a 12-year-old F-5'ing my younger sibling onto my childhood bed and my mom walking in and freaking the eff out).

Maybe your attention slipped away from it in your early teenage years, upon discovering the fighting is "fake" and determining the soap-opera storylines are too, well, soap opera-y (I do not belong to this group and still love wrestling for all its ridiculousness and quirks). But it's still weaved into the fabric of your being—a part of you that comes out when certain names are mentioned.

Maybe none more so than Dwayne Johnson.

As the wrestling megastar "The Rock," Johnson was a cornerstone of the Attitude Era in the WWE (which we called the WWF back then). He seared his way into the public consciousness as, before our very eyes, he transformed from the unintentionally detestable Rocky Maivia to the most electrifying man in sports-entertainment as The Rock and finally to the second-highest-paid actor in Hollywood. Amazingly, he may even be the Democrats' greatest hope in 2020.

But part of the unforgettable journey that's often forgotten (or lesser known) was his football career, both with the University of Miami and the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL.

And while the Ballers star never realized his NFL dreams, his days on the gridiron are nonetheless a large part of his legacy. Indeed, as I found through interviews with former teammates, coaches and WWE employees, Johnson's football career can be seen as a necessary prerequisite to his gradually evolving into one of the greatest wrestlers of all time—and into the global icon who proves the WWE matters more than you might admit.

To understand why, let's start with a simple question.

   

Was The Rock good at football? (Part I)

OK, for context, let's immediately turn to another question: Was Kwame Brown good at basketball? Yes, he was tremendous. In fact, he was so good he was selected first in the 2001 NBA draft and played 12 seasons in the greatest professional basketball league in the world. Contrary to Stephen A. Smith's opinions, Kwame could play. He may be remembered more for his small hands or for being a "bust" based on the standard of a top overall pick, but there's a difference between that and being a scrub.

When you think of Dwayne Johnson's football career, think of Kwame Brown's basketball career.

"Dewey," as his teammates in college called him, attended the University of Miami from 1991 to 1994, back when the school's football program was at its peak. The U won three national titles in five years (1987, 1989, 1991) and was such a force that ESPN produced a 30 for 30 film about the late '80s and early '90s squads (so you know it's real).

"Competition to play in Miami was just unreal," remembers former Hurricanes head coach Dennis Erickson. "It wasn't like any other program I've been a part of. ... It was a freakin' war."

Among those fighting for playing time in that war was Johnson, a high school All-American out of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He finished his career with 77 tackles and 4.25 sacks, the coolest play of his tenure being his sack of Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward (which is featured in the Ballers intro).

He wasn't the most electrifying man on the field, but if you thought his football career was a complete nothing, the defensive tackle-turned-end's stats should be eyebrow-raising.

"As a football player, on a scale of 1 to 10, Dewey was a 6," former teammate and NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp says.

Sapp—whose outspoken, no-bulls--t personality would make for a tremendous wrestling character—was recruited to play at Miami as a tight end but moved to the defensive line after arriving for his freshman season weighing in at 300 pounds.

"I went down and sat in the D-lineman room," Sapp recalls, "and Dewey walks in and says, 'What are you doing here?' I looked at him and said, 'I'm here for your job, b---h.'"

Not only that, but he eventually took it. That was the culture at The U. And that was who Johnson competed with.

Remember: It was the Miami defenses that made those '80s and '90s teams so unstoppable. Over a span of four years, Johnson played with nine future NFLers, two All-Americans and one future Hall of Famer...on the defensive line alone. (So, for example, Ray Lewis, another teammate of his, is not included on that list.)

A slew of injuries over the course of his tenure didn't help Johnson either, and it led to what he's referred to as a "dismal" senior season.

Leon Searcy, who played offensive tackle at Miami from 1987 to 1991 and later enjoyed a 10-year NFL career, adds a caveat to Sapp's harsh assessment.

"I can understand the 6-out-of-10 rating, because the standards at the University of Miami were so high. You have to remember Sapp was unblockable his senior year. So Rock had some amazing talent around him that he had to live up to."

Searcy lined up against Johnson in one-on-one drills and recalls well his effort and skill on the gridiron.

"Dewey was relentless. You couldn't slow him down. Every damn practice, he went fast—100 mph, which the coaches loved. I thought he was crazy. But he was an amazing talent.

"Nobody on our offensive line could block him. He was that strong."

Searcy, an All-American and veteran on the squad, studied Johnson (a freshman at the time) closely and eventually did figure out how to stop him—by doing something very few people in the wrestling ring could do to The Rock.

"I saw [Johnson] come with the bull rush, so I hit him with a jab to the chest and to the hip, so he couldn't lift up his rip move," Searcy describes fondly. "When he came with a countermove, I hit him again in the chest and dropped him. He will never admit it to this day, but I dropped him. And that was the last time I saw him in a one-on-one pass rush."

Despite taking immense pleasure in laying the smacketh down on the Great One, Searcy parts with an interesting comment.

"I think if The Rock had went to any other university other than the University of Miami at that particular time, he'd probably be a first-round pick [in the NFL draft]."

A first-round pick! So the all-world talent around Johnson limited his playing time, but maybe if he'd attended a Penn State or Clemson (two other programs that offered him scholarships), we'd remember him differently.

Erickson summarizes Johnson's tenure at The U in the following way:

"He was a guy we needed. He helped us win a championship. Was he an NFL player? No, he wasn't. But he played at Miami. When you can say you were a player at Miami, that means you must have been pretty good."

   

Was The Rock good at football? (Part II)

Like Part I, I will preface the section by saying this: Dwayne Johnson made a CFL roster. He was good at football. Relative to the rest of the CFL, though? Welcome to Part II.

After going undrafted by the NFL in 1994, Johnson joined the CFL's Stampeders—another powerhouse in their own right.

"We didn't lose much," recalls former defensive lineman and Stampeders teammate Will Johnson, who played for the team from 1989 to '96. "We won one Grey Cup. We should have won five."

When Dwayne Johnson joined the Stampeders in 1995, his teammates included Doug Flutie, widely considered the greatest CFL player of all time, and Jeff Garcia, a name that makes New York Giants fans cringe to this day.

On the defensive line, dudes like Will Johnson and Kenny Walker (the first deaf player to take the CFL field) had enjoyed careers in both the NFL and CFL by the time Rock arrived. Will Johnson compared the squad to the Mike Ditka-led Chicago Bears of the '80s. And it had the greatest CFL football coach of all time, Wally Buono, at the helm.

"You come in as a rookie, you have three weeks to unseat a guy like Will, who's played 150 professional games and has been with you eight years. Knows what he's doing, knows the game. That's the competition Rock came up against," says Buono, whom Rock has warmly referred to on social media as Uncle Wally.

Dwayne Johnson was on Stamps practice roster in 1995. He later gained fame as a wrestler and actor @TheRock #TBT pic.twitter.com/v704KgwrLq

— Calgary Stampeders (@calstampeders) September 25, 2014

@calstampeders $7 bucks in my pocket when Wally released me. Defining low point, but motivated me to do more. #Grateful #Grind #UncleWally

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) September 25, 2014

And it wasn't just the talent Johnson faced. CFL football is a much different game than NFL and NCAA football. In the CFL, linemen like Johnson play more than a yard off the ball when it's snapped, meaning defensive schemes and motions aren't the same. So, Johnson essentially had to learn a new game and get really good at it in less than a month if he wanted to see the field.

But the biggest obstacle standing in the way of his getting playing time wasn't a style of play or even necessarily the talent he competed against. It was a CFL rule. General managers are required to field a certain number of national and international players (or, as they were called back in the day, non-imports and imports). Now, the ratio is 21:20:3, or 21 national players, 20 international and three quarterbacks.

"You keep players based on citizenship as much as their abilities," Buono says. "Americans compete with Americans. Canadians compete with Canadians. And very seldom does an American beat out a Canadian."

Unfortunately for Johnson, an American playing defensive tackle, the Stampeders' interior D-line was loaded with Canadian talent, like Stu Laird, Srecko and Lubo Zizakovic and more—all seasoned vets. Johnson hardly stood a chance.

He remained on the practice squad for a few months, getting paid $250-300 Canadian a week. He crammed into a two-bedroom apartment with three of his CFL teammates and apparently slept on a mattress he found on the street. Worst of all, Rock hardly saw any time on the gridiron.

A couple of months into Johnson's tenure with the team, Buono made a decision. He had been planning to cut the Miami alum for some time, but it was an unexpected source that expedited the process.

"Dwayne's agent called me," Buono remembers. "I told him that more than likely, we were going to release Dwayne. Then he asked if I could do him a favor. 'Can you cut Dwayne and send him home right now?'"

The WWF was calling.

   

Was The Rock good at football (Part III)?

As he was the world's second-highest-paid actor in 2017 and first-most-popular "Rock" (Chris and Kid are second and third), it's only fair we consider the movie and television roles in which Dwayne Johnson portrayed a character who played football. Spoiler: Not all were great.

• He plays selfish superstar quarterback Joe Kingman in The Game Plan, a Disney film in which The Brahma Bull appears in a leotard in a ballet production with his estranged daughter, who teaches him to be less selfish. Then, he leads his team, the Boston Rebels, to an "American Football Federation" championship because he's learned to pass the ball to his teammates rather than tuck and run himself. Kingman is a Russell Wilson type, minus Ciara, plus the archetypal Disney kid. He earns 3 out of 7 on the Rock Bottom scale of overall coolness. Yes, he's the best QB in the league and a champ, but his "Never say no" catchphrase is troubling, especially when it's advice he gives to his child...

• In Gridiron Gang, he is Sean Porter, a man who coaches a football team at a juvenile corrections facility. He dons a No. 94 (same as Johnson wore at Miami) Mustangs uniform for one scene and drops running back Willie Weathers six out of seven times after challenging him to "knock me on my ass." That gets a 6 out of 7 Rock Bottoms.

• Spencer Strasmore, the character he portrays on the hit HBO series Ballers, was a two-time All-American at The U, multitime Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champ and the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. That's a pretty successful resume in my book. Above all, Ballers is a pretty—dare I say—baller show. 7 out of 7 Rock Bottoms.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has enjoyed a vastly more successful fictional football career than his non-fictional one. He may have never achieved his dream of playing in the NFL, but you'd be forgiven for thinking he had.

   

Dwayne Johnson? The football player?? He's a wrestler???

It's not surprising given his lineage, but Dewey Johnson eventually became Dwayne Johnson, who became Rocky Maivia, who became The Rock. But let's rewind a bit.

Sparing the cliches of what football taught Dwayne Johnson (IT DOESN'T MATTER), his time on the gridiron actually helped form The Rock character.

Though Johnson didn't talk trash, Jim Ross—the GOAT wrestling play-by-play commentator—has a theory.

"Him playing at The U, during that era, I'm convinced it allowed him to become a polished trash-talker," Ross says. "He could come up with dialogue off of the top of his head—and resonate the point he was making. That's perfect for a promo guy."

That said, it took time for Rock to develop his mic skills. Bruce Prichard, a former manager and writer for the WWF, recalls how frustrating promos were for Rocky Maivia when he first joined the promotion. Wrestlers like Hunter Hearst Helmsley (aka Triple H) would flame his one-dimensional babyface character on a consistent basis.

"Rocky would follow the script, but his opponent would go off the script and eat him up," he says. "I told him, 'Look, you're getting your ass chewed out right now. The show is live. If you're confident that you can improvise and match him, go for it.'"

An injury, a heel turn, a run with the Nation of Domination and a split from the Nation later, Rock was the best improviser in the company. Just think about his rolodex of catchphrases: "If ya sa-mellllllll...what The Rock...is cookin' [insert: eyebrow raise]," "Know your role, and SHUT YOUR MOUTH," "FI-NALLY." The list goes on and on and on...and on some more.

That just isn't stuff you can write. As matter of fact, he didn't, according to Sapp and Searcy.

Miami University's former defensive line coach (and now LSU head coach) Ed Orgeron enjoyed yelling about as much as Brock Lesnar enjoys hurling human carcasses around the ring. Orgeron was "country as grits," as Searcy puts it.

Sapp, a goofball and instigator, remembers Coach Orgeron well.

"Oh, you'd never tell Coach you didn't watch film, or he'd kill you," Sapp says with a roaring laugh. "He caught Greg Mark sleeping in a meeting one time and almost threw his shoulder out trying to throw the heaviest chair across the room. And then he kicked us out of the room because the chair only went two inches and we all laughed."

After Sapp made it to the NFL, he recalls watching an episode of Monday Night Raw with teammate Derrick Brooks. Sapp preferred the Discovery Channel, but when Brooks told him his boy Dewey was about to be on, he had to watch.

"He comes out to the ring and does his thing. My mouth is on the floor. Because I can hear Ed Orgeron cussing us out after the offense done ran for 251 yards on us, and he's calling us 'candy-asses' and 'They runnin' that sumbitch sideways' and all kinds of stuff.

"I looked at this and went, 'Holy s--t. Dewey turned it into a schtick. And it's good.'"

Pro wrestling superstars typically develop catchphrases and personality traits from the people and places around them. In fact, they are encouraged to "borrow" material from movies, TV shows, friends, athletes, etc., according to former wrestler Tom Prichard, who trained Johnson. Nothing is completely invented. The Rock adopted "candy-ass" and "runnin' that sumbitch sideways" and made them his own.

Ross, who worked a lot with Rock on developing his heel persona (which gained him superstardom), suggested speaking in the third person, like Deion Sanders. From that, "The Rock says" and "The Rock means" were born.

Other Rock-isms that sprung from unexpected sources:

• According to Tom Prichard, "You smell what I'm cooking?" was taken from Brad Armstrong, a former WCW wrestler.

• The phrase "rudy poo" originated from Iceman King Parsons, who would go around threatening to beat people with a "rudy poot" stick. Don't have the slightest clue what that means, but coincidentally (or not), King Parsons tagged with Rock's father, Rocky Johnson, in the National Wrestling Alliance in the '80s.

   

Did Dwayne Johnson layeth the smacketh down (verbally) on the football field? In the WWE locker room?

No, not even a little—which is surprising since Rock is undoubtedly on the Mount Rushmore of trash-talkers in the professional wrestling business. Here's what his former coaches, teammates and WWF trainers had to say about Rock's IRL persona:

• "I've been around a lot of athletes, and [Johnson] came across with a quiet, respectful confidence." —Ross

• "He was quiet. You see him now, and what he did in wrestling—that's not how I saw him when he played for us at Miami. ... I don't remember that at all." —Erickson

• "He was really reserved." —Will Johnson

• "He was very respectful and very reserved." —Bruce Prichard

• "I swear to God, for two years, I never heard him say a word. ... It was kind of odd about The Rock. He had all this amazing talent and strength and ability. But he didn't trash-talk. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the guys on the defensive side of the ball at Miami when I was playing smack-talked to the fullest." —Searcy

• "You wouldn't know Dewey was in the room unless you said something to him. He was quiet as a church mouse." —Sapp

In fact, Sapp goes even further than that. If you thought there was any lingering ill will from competing with Johnson at The U, let this quote put it to rest: "I love the guy," Sapp says. "If you ever had a sister you wanted to date somebody, Dewey would be the guy. Him or Trent Dilfer. That's it. Everybody else can go to hell."

Ross surmises that Johnson became a "polished" trash-talker thanks to his time at The U. But as an observer, not an active participant.

"He saved his trash-talking for the ring," Bruce Prichard says.

   

How jacked was Rock when he took his first steps on the University of Miami campus?

As far as tracing Johnson's path from football to wrestling, this is perhaps the most important question of them all. A swole AF human whose muscles seem to grow with age, he is a fitness junkie. But did that come from his wrestling training, or was he ripped back in the football days?

Seven out of the eight people I interviewed for this piece confirmed he was.

The other, Sapp, says, seemingly stunned by the question: "Dewey? A 'jacked specimen'? No. No. No. [Laughs.] No. Really? I think all y'all wrasslin' fans really put him in like a different category. Like he's a mythical creature."

Searcy calls trolling. His first memory of Johnson was when Searcy was a junior, Johnson an incoming freshman.

"It was during the summer, and a bunch of linemen were in the cafeteria. The freshmen just got out of orientation, and we were kind of sizing them up. This one particular kid comes in. To be honest with you, I thought he might have been a factory worker or coal miner, cuz he looked like a grown-ass man."

That "grown-ass man" was Johnson. We've all seen 16-year-old Rock by now, so you can only imagine what two extra years did for him. Dewey was big, but Searcy also remembers just how much of a weight-room force he was at The U.

"He was out-squatting and out-benching guys who had been there three to four years at Miami. He was benching over 400 pounds, squatting about 500. Could run, lift and loved the weight room. ... He was just bulging everywhere."

Erickson took notice too, saying Johnson lifted weights "before lifting weights was cool."

Of course, his teammates at The U, who loved trash-talking almost as much as they loved football, razzed him for his physique.

"Because he was so big and swole, he used to wear a lot of tight stuff," Searcy says with a laugh. "I remember the D-line guys getting on him about wearing clothes that were too tight—those extra medium shirts and pants he used to wear."

Tom and Bruce Prichard both noted Johnson had "the look" when they first saw him, even detailing that he was a natural in-ring worker from the jump. But perhaps the most interesting meeting story belongs to Ross, the man who signed Dwayne Johnson to his first WWF contract.

   

So if Ross signed Rock, does that mean he recruited him?

You bet your ass it does. Here's the story:

Pat Patterson, a legendary wrestling figure who competed in promotions all over the world and was once considered Vince McMahon's right-hand man, worked with Rock's father in San Francisco in the '70s. They were NWA tag team champions together in 1972, the year Dwayne was born. So Pat knew Dwayne as a kid and kept tabs on him as he grew older, mostly through his relationship with his father.

When Ross became the vice president of talent relations for the WWF in 1996, his job was to assemble a roster of wrestlers that could compete with rival company World Championship Wrestling. Remember: At the time, Monday Nitro was besting Monday Night Raw in television ratings on a consistent basis, legitimately threatening the livelihood of the WWF. So Ross had perhaps the toughest GM job in sports.

Turns out, he was arguably an even better recruiter than he was a commentator, which is saying something. Ross signed guys like Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian and Mick Foley, ushering in the Attitude Era.

(Aside: Ross later inked Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton and Shelton Benjamin, among others, to WWE contracts. He also recruited Roman Reigns when he played nose tackle for Georgia Tech.)

Ross' "proudest" signing, though, was Johnson, whom he'd heard about through Patterson.

After researching him and learning about his football past, Ross was eager to meet Rocky Johnson's son. "I saw images of him, I saw his background, and he checked off a lot of boxes," Ross recalls. "He was a USA Today All-American high school football player, then he got recruited by Miami and was on a national championship-winning football team. ... He graduated from college. He started goals and accomplished them, and I liked that."

They linked for the first time in Florida in 1995, shortly after Dwayne was released by Buono and the Stampeders. Ross watched the behemoth work out, and then they grabbed lunch at a little Cuban joint. Ross remembers the meal like it was yesterday.

"He wore a tank top, and of course sitting in a booth with me made him look even better."

They both ordered grilled chicken with black beans and yellow rice, and Ross noticed Johnson's magnetism immediately. The customers and employees at the restaurant couldn't take their eyes off him. Men and women alike were stopping by the table to catch a glimpse.

"This is no exaggeration: Every female that worked there came by at least once to give us more water. … Even the females who didn't work there.

"A lot of times men will look at athletes like Rock and be jealous because their girlfriends are gonna like him a lot. The men were taken with him. They came by, too.

"He looked like a star."

What impressed Ross the most about Johnson, though, wasn't his look. It wasn't his ability to run the ropes. It was something else.

At the time, Johnson's dream of playing football in the NFL had just been crushed. He had broken up with his girlfriend and moved back home with his parents in Tampa. He hit rock bottom (pun fully intended). Life kicked him in the ass. It took some time, but he got back up. Despite having only $7 to his name at the time (hence, Seven Bucks Productions company), Johnson won Ross over with his positive spirit in the face of adversity—something he continues to preach and exhibits today.

"Rock said, 'I'm going to be your No. 1 guy,'" Ross recalls. "I didn't take that as arrogance. I did not take it as being egocentric. It was a quiet calmness and confidence that he was going to be successful.

"Basically what he was saying to me was, 'I'm going to outwork, outtrain, out-nutrition everyone. Whatever I need to do, I'm going to do that.'"

Johnson's confidence was contagious and sparked Ross'. He signed him shortly after the meal, and the rest is history.

   

But remember, that history started with football.

Reflecting back on Johnson's journey from football washout to entertainment superstardom, Ross—like everyone else who was interviewed for this piece—claims that Dwayne hasn't changed a bit. He was broke, so he's able to appreciate the money and success because he knows the feeling of not having it. His playful and upbeat nature remain a defining aspect of his character.

As far as what the future holds for his proudest signee, Ross believes Johnson can do anything he puts his mind to. It's corny, and Ross acknowledges that, but the iconic wrestling figure has witnessed Johnson set a lofty goal for himself and achieve it time after time.

"Acting, producing or directing or creating. He's a hell of a content-provider on a big, big level. I'm not so sure he wouldn't make a hell of a president. Really. Based on what we're seeing, I would definitely vote for him because of his honesty, and I know his intentions are good. He sure as hell wouldn't be doing it for the money, as we thought Trump might.

"I just think he has unlimited skills. If that includes running for the president of the United States, there's no doubt in my mind that he will win."

Can you imagine all the incredible slogans he'd come up with?

Just two seasons into a six-year deal, Mark Richt appears set for a new extension with Miami.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the school is working on an extension with the football coach to "keep him at UM for years to come."

The length of the proposed extension is not yet known.

David Hyde of the Sun Sentinel reported when the coach was hired in 2015 that the deal was worth about $4 million per year, which was close to what he made at Georgia.

The 58-year-old spent 15 years with the Bulldogs before joining Miami and has immediately found success in his new location.

The Hurricanes went 9-4 in his first season, including a win in the Russell Athletic Bowl that represented the school's first bowl victory in 10 seasons. The squad went 10-3 in 2017, winning the first 10 games of the year before fading down the stretch.

Still, it was the first 10-win season for the program since 2003.

Richt also helped put together a top-10 recruiting class for 2018, per 247SportsComposite Rankings. Combining this with a lot of returning talent like quarterback Malik Rosier and running back Travis Homer, and Miami could be a top contender nationally in 2018.

Bleacher Report's David Kenyon listed the squad No. 6 overall in his preseason rankings.

It's clear the school feels Richt has Miami heading in the right direction.

MIAMI — "It should be easy for you. You're in the music business," Buccaneers defensive line coach Brentson Buckner says to Chad Thomas 10 minutes into the workout. The former Hurricanes defensive end is standing next to a neon yellow agility ladder on the University of Miami's practice fields.                           

Buckner asks Thomas to do a reverse karaoke drill, something he hasn't done since high school. He must tap his right foot inside the ladder, then cross his left leg behind him and tap the opposite side of the ladder. It's a difficult drill.

He nails it on the first try.

"It's just rhythm," Thomas says after zig-zagging his way through the ladder, displaying his agility and hip mobility.

And it's just become part of the predraft process for Thomas, who's been asked about his music career constantly in workouts and meetings with NFL teams.

The 22-year-old already has an impressive resume, producing tracks for artists like Rick Ross, Kodak Black and City Girls; being sampled by DJ Khaled and Drake; and recently dropping a five-track EP, Lil Tape. He can read and write music and has the ability to play nine different instruments (piano, organ, drums, guitar, bass guitar, trombone, clarytone, tuba and trumpet).

Projected as a Day 2 pick by B/R draft analyst Matt Miller, Thomas will soon become a professional football player—something his parents never imagined while supporting his passion for the sport—but is also creating his own wave at the intersection of South Florida's subculture: hip-hop.

Which is why the conversation around his future in football always transitions into the one question he hates: How much do you love football?

"You ask me that question, I feel like you trying me," Thomas says after his workout with the Bucs while sitting on a couch at his cousin's smoke shop in Liberty City, the predominantly African American neighborhood five miles north of downtown Miami in which Thomas grew up.

NFL teams are uncomfortable when a football player pursues off-the-field interests, maybe none more so than hip-hop. Even if Thomas' musical talents are more virtuoso than just another athlete trying to be a rapper, the lifestyle is viewed as a distraction. It causes decision-makers to question whether a player wants to be a rapper or a football player.

If they only knew what it took to get to this point, this wouldn't be a question.

---

"Anybody can do something and make a million dollars without hitting they head, breaking their bones or losing their life on the football field," says Thomas, who suffered a concussion at Miami and broke his hand in high school. "I love football so much that I'm willing to sacrifice my body for it."

Thomas loves football so much that he spent his last year at Miami fighting NCAA eligibility rules to play. As he was set to begin spring football for his final collegiate season, Rick Ross informed him on FaceTime that one of his beats would be showcased on "Apple of My Eye," the opening track on Ross' album Rather You Than Me, featuring Raphael Saadiq. Ross, a Miami native, has known Thomas since high school.

Soon after the release of the song, Thomas says he was contacted by Miami's office of NCAA compliance demanding documentation of income he earned in this profession before he entered college and of payments he had received from music during college.

Although he wasn't held out of any offseason practices or workouts, Thomas says he was told his eligibility hung in the balance. "They kept reminding me, 'Boy if we had a game this Saturday, you won't be playing,'" Thomas says.

He cooperated with the compliance office to remain eligible without profiting off his likeness. He used "Major Nine" as his rap name, a nickname that started as "Nine-Nine" in high school because of his jersey number but evolved in college. He used his Twitter account solely to promote his music and couldn't post his songs on streaming sites for profit. He says he was prohibited from tweeting about Miami or posting pictures wearing Miami attire on that account.

"They were trying to take away my love, football. You can't take that away from me. If somebody takes football away from me right now, Imma find my way back around it. Imma be coaching, doing something."

(The NCAA declined to comment on Thomas' situation, and messages to Miami seeking verification of Thomas' portrayal of his interactions with the compliance office were unreturned.)

Thomas expressed his frustration on "Do Not Disturb" last summer for his mixtape For Sale and then didn't release any music for the rest of the season. He channeled the anger on the field, developing into a leader on a team that went 10-3 and played in the Orange Bowl. He finished the season with 5.5 sacks and tied for a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss.

Constantly drowning in my thoughts this a deep sea

I'm writing letters just to ask if I could use my name

Fake smiles and head nods just to play the game

"They robbing us," Thomas says of the NCAA. "You walk by stores and they got your number in there—some of them even got your name on the back of it—and you can't get no money from them. They feel like they giving us a free education like that's all we need. People still got families at home, and they're struggling. We gotta use those college checks to help our [moms] out and stuff."

I’m just trynna make my mama proud @2chainz pic.twitter.com/pN9LczpWN6

— Major Nine (@MajorNine) April 18, 2018

---

Thomas will soon secure his NFL bag and help financially provide for his parents, who didn't expect their son to make it to the league given the extremely slim odds. They were reluctant to let him play in the first place. His mother, Stefanie Jones (who Thomas calls "Shawty Red" when she's listening to his music and giving her opinion before it drops), isn't a football fan and didn't want her son to get hurt.

Thomas started playing at around five years old but stopped soon after due to a heart murmur. He says it doesn't affect him anymore and that there wasn't an issue during his physical at the NFL combine.

Jones' uncle, Roger Finnie, played 11 NFL seasons during the 1970s with very little to show for it after he retired. Jones and Thomas' dad, Chad Sr., didn't want that for their only child. They envisioned Thomas pursuing a career in his first love, music.

Thomas has had rhythm ever since he was three years old, when he took piano lessons from his grandmother and became obsessed with Mystikal's "Here I Go," a song that still speaks to Thomas when Mystikal repeats, "I know y'all n---as ain't f--king with me cause I can't f--k with my damn self!"

"Ain't nobody messing with me because I don't even know how great I am until you put me under pressure, and I just go to work," Thomas says.

At the same age, Thomas played the drums at two church services on the weekends. On Sundays, when his grandmother cooked family meals after service, Thomas would grab a couple of old pots and make his own drum set on the floor, switching out the pots to get the sounds he wanted to replicate the songs he played at church.

After his grandmother died from cancer when he was five, Thomas continued to learn the piano on his own. He later would add the trombone, bass and acoustic guitar to his repertoire. At age 11, he was accepted in the Norland Middle School band, where they played songs by South Florida rappers like Grind Mode and Piccolo. It was the one class where Thomas and his friends gave their undivided attention because, "We was gonna play something gangsta."

Thomas started exploring DJ equipment during trips to the music store with his dad because of his love of hip-hop, and when he was in seventh grade, Chad Sr. bought him a Roland MC-808 drum machine for his birthday to allow him to make beats with live instrumentation.

"He's an actual musician, which is what I thought he would be," says Chad Sr., who envisioned Thomas becoming a band teacher who would play side gigs at events like weddings.

Still, his son kept asking if he could start playing football again.

After seven years of saying "no" since that heart murmur, Chad Sr. finally agreed and signed him up to play—without telling his mother—as a reward for his performance in the classroom. Hovering around 160 pounds at 12 years old, Thomas played on both sides of the trenches against kids older than him, some by three years.

In a state where toddlers sign up for football immediately after their first steps, Thomas lacked experience. He was extremely raw. But he loved it. And his parents supported his passion.

"You can't walk on the street and just hit nobody," Thomas says. "I like fighting. I ain't gonna lie. I like fighting, but I'm too old for that. So I go on the field and know I can legally hit somebody and smash 'em and the worst I get is a flag or kicked out the field—that's cool with me. I ain't trippin' about that."

In high school, Thomas learned how to balance football and music. His father enrolled him at New World School of the Arts, a public magnet high school known for its performing arts, and he played football at Miami Jackson, where his father worked. Thomas would ride the bus to Miami Jackson, where he was often late to practice. And all this as a third-stringer.

It wasn't until his junior year that Thomas gained buzz in both fields. He transferred to Booker T. Washington, where legendary head coach Tim "Ice" Harris began developing him into a 5-star defensive end prospect.

After a victory over Miami Carol City, Thomas' phone blew up. But it wasn't about the game; it was about his music. He had just started making music again after a brief hiatus, and local artist Lil Dred jumped on the remix to one of his tracks, "No Shone."

"I felt like I was the man," Thomas says. "I'm doing football and music, and I'm doing good at both. Ain't nobody doing that."

His platform continued to grow as he stayed home to play for the Hurricanes, developing into a full-time starter during his junior season and snagging 4.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. At the end of the season, Thomas made the saxophone-laced beat for Ross in his bedroom.

"N---as who play football love football, and they love something else," says DJ Sam Sneak, who is Ross' official DJ. "A lot of the times it's just not in entertainment. With Chad, it's music. Music is like his second love next to football. You can't tell him he's not going to do it. You tell him that, and he's going to show you he's going to do it."

Thomas' lyrics and production are fueled by his environment in Liberty City, where the sounds of police sirens, helicopters and dirtbikes are common at any given point near his cousin's smoke shop—a place where Thomas resides when he's not working out or at home. "Where we sitting at right now, there could be about 100 traps around us," he says of the lower-income community. "It's just poverty. That's just what it is."

Liberty City has birthed rappers like Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew, Trick Daddy and Trina, as well as athletes like Chad Johnson, Santana Moss, Teddy Bridgewater and Devonta Freeman. Moonlight, which won an Oscar for Best Motion Picture, was set in Liberty City. Director Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, who co-wrote the film, are both from there too.

Thomas puts on for his city by making beats for local rappers, including one for the Ball Greezy song "Dats My Bae," which has over 3.5 million views on YouTube. Just after he gave the beat to Greezy, Sneak reached out to ask if he still had it. Rihanna was interested. But it was too late. He'd already sold it.

Thomas was so mad, he didn't make music for a week.

"If I would've sold it to the person it was supposed to go to, yeah, they would've really questioned me about football," Thomas says.

He's expected to have another beat on Rick Ross' upcoming album, Port of Miami 2: Born To Kill, which will feature A Boogie wit da Hoodie (who leaked the beat on his episode of Netflix's Rapture docuseries) and Denzel Curry. Sneak, who wore Thomas' college jersey during Grammy weekend this year, says the record is a "banger."

"My n---a is gonna win a Grammy," says Sneak. "I'm telling you right now. He's gonna win a Grammy."

Grammy Weekend.

Remember this pic in the future. pic.twitter.com/yqXuGGY9sL

— Sam Sneak 👟 (@DJSamSneak) January 27, 2018

When Ross' album drops after Thomas is drafted, it will probably cause another wave of questions about whether he cares about football. There's "one or two percent" of Thomas' mind that reminds him the NFL can also stand for "Not For Long," with the average career lasting about three years. But he considers it one of the greatest temporary jobs ever, and he wants it to last as long as possible.

The music will always be there for Thomas, who has displayed over the last decade he's capable of dropping it or picking it up when he sees fit. But don't get it twisted: Football is his priority, as it always has been, whether NFL teams are able to wrap their heads around that or not.

"They'll never understand somebody doing something and being great at two things that require a lot of mental ability, a lot of strenuous hours," Thomas says. "They'll never understand that because it ain't easy to them. But it's easy to me."

Miami head coach Mark Richt issued an apology Monday for putting his hands on an official during Saturday's Orange Bowl loss against Wisconsin.

Richt expressed regret on Twitter:

After seeing TV copy of our game I want to apologize for my language and the putting of my hands on the official and my staff. I did not show the proper respect to the authorities of our game.

— Mark Richt (@MarkRicht) January 1, 2018

Richt received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for making contact with an official. Wisconsin scored on the following play to help take a 24-14 halftime lead.

When asked about the incident during ESPN's telecast of the game, Richt didn't go into specifics.

"If you watch the tape, you'll see," he said, via Ben Kercheval of CBSSports.com.

It appeared a Wisconsin offensive lineman got away with a holding penalty on the play before Richt's penalty.

The Hurricanes ended the year with three straight losses following a 10-0 start. It was the school's first 10-win season since 2003.

Have never seen Mark Richt this heated pic.twitter.com/IS93RX7BJM

— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) December 31, 2017

The Miami Hurricanes entered Saturday's Orange Bowl riding a two-game losing streak, and their season continued to spiral out of control in the first half against Wisconsin.

The Badgers entered halftime leading 24-14, but the real fireworks occurred on the Hurricanes sideline.

Following a Wisconsin touchdown late in the second quarter, Miami head coach Mark Richt began screaming at the refs and eventually grabbed one of them before being escorted away by an assistant coach.

It wasn't immediately clear why Richt was irate, but it may have stemmed from a potential holding penalty that wasn't called against Wisconsin.

Regardless of the call on the field, Richt was lucky to escape the heated exchange without an ejection.

[Twitter]