Former IU football quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. is expected to be chosen in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Penix spent four years at IU before transferring to Washington for his final two seasons of eligibility. He led the Hoosiers to two of their best seasons in program history, but also suffered season-ending injuries all four years.
Reunited with former IU offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer at Washington the last two seasons, Penix became the 2023 Heisman runner-up, and led the Huskies to the national championship game.
Penix penned a “Letter to NFL GMs” for the Player’s Tribune, and in it he wrote about his time at IU:
“To think injuries are the only adversity I’ve faced in college would be shortchanging my story,” Penix said. “I faced adversity before I even got to college. Two weeks before signing day I was told by the team I was committed to for two years (Tennessee) that I no longer had a scholarship. They didn’t think I was good enough to play in the SEC.
I decided to go to Indiana because Nick Sheridan was the QB coach, and he believed in me from the time he offered me at Tennessee to when he took his position at Indiana. IU had 10 straight losing seasons when I got to Bloomington, one winning season since 1994. I knew what I was walking into, but I felt I could help turn the program around. In 2020 we became the 7th-ranked team in the country, the highest ranking the program has had since 1967.
We didn’t have any drafted offensive players, but we were together, one team, one mission. What we lacked in recruiting stars we made up for in the collective. We believed in each other. We felt like every time we stepped on the field we were going to win. Didn’t matter who we went up against. That’s how we beat Michigan and Penn State and took Ohio State to the brink.
Even with that success, I experienced a lot there. From lighting up practice to watching practice on crutches. From getting a shout out from LeBron to being booed in my own stadium. From 4th quarter comebacks to entering the transfer portal waiting for somebody to call. Indiana taught me to never take this game for granted. It also taught me that if I fall, I wouldn’t bet against me getting up.”
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