"They were all about it," Rush said, of his family's support. "We went to every game and watched his back on the bench," Matt Rush said. When Central Michigan University gave Rush his only scholarship offer Matt Rush, his father, said it was "disappointing," but he and wife Fran were behind him.ĭuring Rush's first year at Central Michigan as a redshirt freshman, they watched from the stands at every home game, even though their son never took the field. He stays right in the middle of things, where he needs to be." "I think he was very under-rated among athletes in our area," Macksood said. Beyond that, he was a born leader on the field. Matt Macksood, a Lansing Catholic teammate who went on to play football for Michigan State University, said Rush had obvious "raw talent' in high school. "I really wanted to play college football," he said. Sure, Rush said, but he didn't start setting goals to get there until making his high school team. He and his three brothers - Michael, Dillon and Owen - were raised on baseball, golf, soccer, basketball and football. He started playing the latter in fifth grade through Charlotte Junior Orioles, a local youth league, and took to the quarterback position right away. Michael Parish in Grand Ledge before he attended Lansing Catholic. Mary Parish in Charlotte, where his family lived and his father is employed as president and CEO of Hayes Green Beach Memorial Hospital, and then at St. Rush was raised with a Catholic school education, first at St. "He has the ability to bring out the best in people just because of who he is and how he is." "He made great plays just by staying in there," Ahern said. "There's no way" they should have won, but they did, he said, and Rush was the catalyst. Rush shocked everyone, Ahern said, leading the team to a tie in the fourth quarter and into overtime. It was the school's Homecoming and the Cougars were down several touchdowns in the game against Williamston. Rush was a junior at Lansing Catholic and the team's starting quarterback. Lansing Catholic High School football coach Jim Ahern calls it the "Miracle on Marshall Street." I definitely have a different story, and I like it." 'A cooling presence' "Got one scholarship offer and now I've got the chance to play in the NFL. "I'm just a small-town guy, you know, from a small high school," Rush said. He's never thought of his football career that way, he said, but maybe he should. "It's staying focused and staying on track," Rush said. Grand Ledge twins squaring off on 'Project Runway'.Lansing Catholic's Cooper Rush ignoring naysayers, focuses on NFL draft.Lansing Catholic graduate throws first NFL touchdown.Rush's path to the NFL isn't typical, but he's been working toward it since his sophomore year of high school. He set high school records there too - for most touchdowns in a quarter, half, game and season. He started 50 straight games there, and passed for nearly 11,000 yards and 78 touchdowns.īefore that, at Lansing Catholic High School, Rush helped to secure two undefeated regular seasons as the starting quarterback his junior and senior years. Here are the facts: Rush, 23, is an undrafted rookie who signed with the Cowboys as a free agent in May after a fruitful four years as quarterback at Central Michigan University, the only college to offer him a scholarship.
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