Bulldogs Sony Michel, David Andrews prove doubters wrong on the way to becoming champions

ATLANTA — It had to be Sony Michel.

It had to be in the Super Bowl. It had to be in Atlanta at the stadium in which Michel and the University of Georgia football team lost the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in 2018.

It had to be David Andrews, Wesleyan grad and Michel’s former college teammate, who was the first to congratulate the rookie running back when he scored the Patriots’ go-ahead touchdown with 7:00 left in the game. He added Michel’s signature post-TD flourish, a wave of the hands to the crowd seated in the end zone sections. It’s a flourish Michel has kept up since his college days.

The two players shared that moment of elation that was greater than the weight of all of the previous doubt throughout parts of both their football careers. Michel has always been billed as an all-star and dealt with the weighty expectations that come with it. Andrews, meanwhile, has been overlooked time after time, but anyone that took a chance on him would say they didn’t regret it.

“I’m so proud of him,” Andrews said of Michel. “He faced a lot of adversity at the beginning with an injury and he battled through that. People saying he’s a bust and all this and all that. And I knew when he got in the shot, he’d cut it loose. To me, it felt like (the offensive line was) letting him down. That’s our fault that they were all calling him a bust, because we weren’t giving him holes to run in.”

It sounds strange to call a team led by a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback and “run-first team,” but that was the Patriots’ philosophy at various times in the season, and the end of their 13-3 win in Super Bowl 53.

“We started to find our identity throughout the year, and our identity is a tough football team and we’re going to run the football, even when it’s not going great,” Andrews said. “Hats off to (New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels) for sticking with the run all night. We struggled there a bit, but he stuck with it, he kept pushing it, and we finally broke them.”

Michel wasn’t always the popular rookie sensation he is considered now. He set high expectations as the Patriots’ second pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the 31st overall in the first round. He missed Week 1, then Weeks 8 and 9. Michel had fluid drained from his knee in August, causing him to miss the season opener. The two weeks he missed during the middle of the season stemmed from the same injury.

Still, Michel’s numbers are remarkable for a running back that shares a workload with up to four other teammates at times. He broke the 100-yard mark six times during the regular season and in two of the Patriots’ three playoff games this year. He was six yards short of breaking 100 yards in Super Bowl 53 with 94 yards.

“It’s not really about me, it’s about the team,” Michel said. “These boys, they take pride. They took me under their wing and I just appreciated them. I’m thankful. I’m blessed.”

Michel is a former five-star recruit out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to 247Sports. He was ranked behind two other future NFL running backs from Florida, Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook. He was ranked two spots ahead of future teammate Nick Chubb, who became the Southeastern Conference’s No. 2 all-time rusher.

But Sunday was his day to shine.

Smiling right behind him was the Patriots’ center and former Wesleyan Wolf. Andrews was one of the first players to grab Michel after he scored. Andrews peered into his running back’s facemask and uttered words of encouragement.

The game was far from over at the time, but that was a pivotal drive and eventually the difference in the Patriots’ 13-3 win.

“He was saying so much,” Michel said. “Most importantly, he was congratulating me for being able to execute the play and get into the end zone.”

Earlier in the week, Andrews talked about how his own professional football career was far from a certainty after Georgia beat Louisville 37-14 in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Andrews, a four-year starter at Georgia, went undrafted and was signed as a free agent by the Patriots in 2015. He made the roster and started Week 1 of his rookie season at center for future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.

Andrews was a three-star recruit out of Wesleyan in the Class of 2011. As a senior, the Wolves, still led by current head coach Franklin Pridgen, lost to Savannah Christian in the Class A semifinals. He went on to appear in the 10 games of he true freshman season. He took over as a full-time starter in his sophomore season.

From three-star to two-time Super Bowl champion, Andrews counts himself lucky.

“It’s amazing to be back home and play in front of so many friends and family,” Andrews said. “This is where my football journey started, and I never thought the game would bring me back here for this moment, but it did and it’s so special.”