Eric LeGrand was right. His presence fired up Rutgers.
LeGrand, who was paralyzed from the neck down while trying to make a tackle on a kickoff return a year ago, put on his black-and-red Rutgers uniform Saturday and led the Scarlet Knights onto the field for their game against No. 25 West Virginia.
Riding in a motorized wheelchair through a snow storm and carrying an ax — Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano's oft-stated motto is "Keep chopping" — LeGrand led the team to midfield before making a right-hand turn and leaving the field.
LeGrand is an analyst for the Rutgers radio network and has made a tremendous recovery. He can stand for up to 40 minutes at a time.
"I think it's the perfect time to fire up the team, inspire the crowd and hopefully lead us to a victory," LeGrand said earlier in the week during a radio interview.
And it worked — for a half. Rutgers led, 31-21, at halftime and 31-28 after three quarters. But West Virginia rallied for a 41-31 victory.
Open mouth …
… insert foot.
Notre Dame defeated Navy, 56-14, and has restored order in what is college football's longest continuous rivalry — the teams have played the last 85 seasons. Not all is well, however, with the Fighting Irish.
On Thursday, Coach Brian Kelly was quoted saying, "You can see the players that I have recruited, you know who they are. We've had one class of kids that we've recruited that I've had my hand on. The other guys here are coming along. It's a process."
On Friday, Kelly apologized, but by then several upper-classmen had responded on Twitter, including star linebacker Manti Te'o, who wrote: "Playin for my bros and that's it!!!!
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