Here’s another clip from the 1993 Copper Bowl.  Mike Ekeler was one of my favorite K-State players.  He and I were in a couple of the same classes at K-State.  He was a normal, quiet guy off the field, but on the field was a different story.  I thought of him as the “Rudy” of K-State football.  A walk-on that was undersized and not very fast, he mostly played on special teams and took advantage of every second he was on the field.

He used to lead the football team out onto the field before the games and he would run the entire length of the field to the opposite (south) end zone and headbutt one of the signs posted on the wall.  Sometimes he’d break it and sometimes not, but regardless it was always a lot of fun to watch. 

He was a monster on special teams and the clip above shows a short glimpse why.  He ran down at full speed, got blocked and did a cartwheel in the air, landed on his feet and still started running towards the ball carrier to try to get the tackle.  Craig James’ call on the replay accurately captured the essence of Mike Ekeler.  “An insane guy that just wants to HIT!”  I miss moments like this.