Having followed college football for as long as I have, I continue to be amazed by some of the recruiting tales that come to light every year. From parachuting commitment videos or music videos on an airplane, the extent some kids will go to announcing their college decision knows no bounds. Of course, for some, making the decision alone can lead to some unheard of methods.
Take Chase Ferris of Palmer, Alaska. While simply trying to decide whether or not to play college football for the University of Mary (a Division II program in North Dakota) or drop football and go to the University of Wyoming, Feris decided to let a bear hunting trip make the decision for him. If he caught a bear, he would play football for the Mary Marauders. No bear, no football at Wyoming (although he could always try walking on, right?).
In the end, Feris caught his coveted bear, and he made the decision to follow through and commit to the University of Mary to play some Division 2 football.
“I let it all come down to fate, and fate chose University of Mary,” Ferris said in a story on Frontiersman.com. “We’d gone up for (the bear) once. We hadn’t seen it in two days. I said, we kill it, I’ll go play football.”
Though he may be going to play some small school football, Ferris’ recruiting decision was not that all unlike the decisions facing many of the top athletes on the recruiting trail. He may not have been flooded with mail and text messages and fans on Twitter, but the stress was similar to what four and five-star athletes sometimes have to deal with as well.
“(The) decision was weighing me down,” Ferris said. “I was losing sleep over it. It’s the biggest decision I’ve had to make.”
The bear was really hoping he’d end up going to Wyoming.
[Deadspin]
