- Slug: Sports-Knox Harvard, 600 words
By John Alvarado
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Harvard University produced the past two U.S. presidents. Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook while a student there. Business leaders, politicians and scholars graduate each year.
Phoenix native Cade Knox is headed to the university with the hope of joining an exclusive group: Harvard Crimson football players in the NFL. In the history of the university, Harvard has had less than 50 players in professional football (Alabama has 55 this year).
A year ago, Knox committed to the Crimson football team after getting offered scholarships from four universities, most notably Bowling Green University. After taking a recruiting trip and meeting with head coach Tim Murphy, he said it was the legacy of Harvard that stood out.
“The weight of the name Harvard explains itself,” the Brophy Prep alumnus said. “It’s just a blessing and an opportunity to go there.”
The Harvard name doesn’t carry much weight in the NFL, however. Knox’s brother and sister are the godchildren of Carolina Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl, a two-time Super Bowl winning receiver with the then-St. Louis Rams in 1999 and the Indianapolis Colts in 2006. In addition, Knox has met Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young by way of his mother, Michelle, who is the director of public relations for the Forever Young Foundation.
“I’ve always grown up looking up to them as my role models,” Knox said. “Steve is a person I want to become someday.”
When he committed to the university, Knox was congratulated by New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, a Gilbert native and seventh-round draft pick out of Harvard.
“He told me he was an Arizona guy, was pulling for me and said anything I needed or had any questions I could ask him,” Knox said.
Fitzpatrick said when he first traveled to Harvard, he was intimidated by the sight of a frozen Charles River during his senior year at Highland High School in Gilbert. Then when he arrived there to attend in the fall of 2001, he had adapt to the lifestyle of being away from home for the first time and learn how to manage his time in academics and with football.
“They don’t go any easier on you because you’re an athlete and they don’t expect anything less of you because you’re at Harvard,” the Fitzpatrick said. “We spent as much time as anyone else practicing and training for football, but the rigors in the classroom were that much greater.”
Knox also is not worried about attending a school 3,000 miles away. He said his parents put education in front of football, with his mom refusing to let him go to practice if he had not finished his homework.
“She just told me that this is the best way to fully give back, to use your talents as and compete as a football players and to get the best education as well,” the former Brophy quarterback said. “That was just a big, helpful statement in my mind going forward.”
Fitzpatrick became the starting quarterback in his junior year and was named Ivy League MVP in his senior year. He said it was the Crimson football team and other students that helped him make it through his time at Harvard.
“I think being on a sports team helped a lot because right away you have a built-in group of buddies that you spend a lot of time with,” the Harvard alumnus said.
Fitzpatrick was the 250th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft and has played for six teams. The Jets resigned him for one year this summer for $12 million.
“Even with my story, what it proves is that if you’re good enough the NFL is going to find you.They’re always looking for talent,” Fitzpatrick said.