All Aboard The Hype Train: Sam McGuffie
The Hype Builds: With the emergence of Rivals.com in 1998 and Scout.com in 2001, the excitement level for recruits grew exponentially each cycle, to the point where a four-star running back commitment (rated No. 10 at his position nationally) would generate incredible attention from a fan base.
McGuffie was different, though. He was a white athlete at a position that is predominantly black, that curiosity alone attracting eyeballs. But the overwhelming hype arrived because of McGuffie highlight film in which he hurdled a defender mid-game and followed it up with a backflip in practice over five-star 300-pound offensive lineman JB Shugarts.
McGuffie's film went viral before "viral" was a thing. You throw in some hyperbole from Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson (who was known to make grandiose comparisons of incoming recruits to past greats), and Maize and Blue fans were salivating waiting for the debut of McGuffie.
At Michigan: McGuffie started the first six games of the 2008 season before a concussion limited his availability and play the rest of the year. He had only eight yards rushing (though he scored a TD) in his debut, a loss to Utah, but by Week 3, in a trip to South Bend, he had tallied the first of two 100-yard efforts at U-M (131 yards, 5.2-yard average, on 25 carries).
In those first six games, McGuffie rushed for 424 yards on 109 attempts (3.9 yards per carry) and scored three touchdowns. He also had 17 catches for 141 yards and a TD.
He had just 62 yards rushing and two catches for 34 yards the rest of the year while battling to return to full health (juniors Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown had also taken over at the running back position).
McGuffie transferred in Dec. 2008 to Rice, heading back to his home state to be closer to family - McGuffie cited a close relationship with younger siblings and a desire to be a positive mentor in their lives for his decision to transfer.
Was The Hype Real: In three seasons at Rice, McGuffie rushed for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns, while adding 1,059 yards and nine scores on 102 receptions. In total, his 2,777 yards from scrimmage and 20 total touchdowns scored in four seasons of his college career are very respectable numbers.
Had he achieved all of that at Michigan, he would rank 16th all time in combined rushing/receiving yardage. You certainly can't call him a bust.
Consider this: McGuffie's 424 yards in the first six games of 2008 were just 72 yards shy of Mike Hart's six-game tally in 2004, when Hart would go on to establish a Michigan freshman rushing record of 1,455 yards. And while McGuffie was not on pace to match Hart, he very easily could own the No. 2 mark in the record books if not for the concussion - Ricky Powers is second all time among true freshmen at Michigan with 748 yards in 1990.
That he got banged up and then left U-M (especially for a noble cause) should not be used against him. He might not have ever hurdled a defender in a winged helmet nor set the world on fire with statistics, but he proved himself a versatile back (albeit mostly with the Owls). His legend was always sort of absurd to begin with, and everyone was in on the joke, including McGuffie.
In his post-college career, he had a brief stint in the NFL, played in the CFL and, most recently, qualified for the 2018 Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. bobsled team.
