Penix Goes to Hollywood, But He's Already Been Discovered
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The young kid leaves Florida well ahead of Hurricane Ian, seeking a safe haven to land, relying on a powerful left arm and an extremely likable personality to take him places.
He travels to Indiana and the land of Hoosiers and then on to Washington state, where Husky dogs are barking nonstop, skillfully entertaining the adoring masses and building a large following wherever he goes.
This is the Michael Penix Jr. Story.
It's one that should be pitched to Hollywood, visualized, commercialized and idolized.
Well, now that you think of it, this gifted and gilded one will be in Southern California for about 36 hours, leading his unbeaten University of Washington football team into the Rose Bowl on Friday night and up against the similarly perfect UCLA.
Two 4-0 teams. An ESPN-TV broadcast. A left-handed quarterback suddenly becoming part of the national conversation for college football. Heisman candidate. FBS leader in passing yards with 1,388. Conversation starter.
Yet while a young Axl Rose was once shown in a video clip getting off a bus in Los Angeles, presumably from Indiana where he was born and the this UW quarterback previously played, and then becoming this big rock star, Penix is not gravitating to the extra bright lights just yet that someday await him.
He's in town to play a football game for his new team and not much more.
"I'm just looking forward to the game, just because it's the next game, each and every week," Penix said on Tuesday. "I still come in with the same preparation. I make sure I'm prepared and ready for this team. It's just another game."
Wait a minute, cut. Let's shoot that scene over, Michael. Could you offer just a little more gee-whiz emotion? After all you're in the entertainment capital of the country and about to be discovered by the rest of America.
"It's definitely going to be great that we're playing in the Rose Bowl stadium," Penix said, before pulling up his game-day blinders once more. "But it's just another game. At the end of the day, once I get on to the field, everything around me kind of cancels out. I really don't focus on anything around me."
Don't you steal glimpses of the big screen?
"Me personally, I never look at the scoreboard," Penix said. "I try to stay away from the scoreboard as much as possible. I do look up at replays and stuff like that."
What about the grass field that awaits you in Pasadena?
"It's beautiful," Penix said. "It takes you back to high school days. Let's go."
That's better, but we you might need a publicist to help you become a matinee star, someone up on the marquee.
By the way, how was your first day of school at the UW?
"I've already graduated," Penix said. "I'm just taking some baccalaureate classes."
What did you get your degree in?
"Sports marketing and management," Penix said.
Well now we're getting somewhere. You can sell yourself.
As Penix prepares for a full Tinseltown unveiling that could go a long way to dictating his professional future, he's laser focused on taking the Huskies places before he moves on.
Seattle has been a good fit for him, so far. A rocking Husky Stadium. No hurricanes.
"I definitely expected a lot and it's exceeded that," Penix said.
This is a star waiting to be born, ready to play to a much bigger audience, poised for great things, just up the street from the studios.
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