Mizzou Senior Feature: Chris Black
9/20/2016 1:22:00 PM | Football
Graduate transfer has added leadership, play-making ability to Mizzou offense
Growing up, Chris Black didn't even want to play football. He wanted to be a baseball player. Black said he probably never would have played if it wasn't for his parents, who signed him up for a football team when he was eight years old. That little push was all it took for Black to be hooked on his new favorite sport.
"I love it," Black said. "I would always go to my older brother's football games and instead of watching the game, I would get some kids together and play football under the bleachers or something like that. We would play with anything. We would play with a Gatorade bottle if we could, anything to play football."
All that practice worked out very well for Black as he quickly discovered that he had a gift for the sport, especially with running.
"I always thought I would be a running back. But around my freshman year of high school I started growing up, but not out. I had always had good catching ability, so I started playing receiver and that was the path that got me to the next level."
Black was an excellent high school talent, earning nationwide recognition as a four-star recruit out of First Coast High School in Jacksonville, Fla. He took a scholarship to play at Alabama, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Education. But injury troubles kept Black off of the field, and he decided that if he wanted to accomplish his goals, he would have to transfer.
"I had to start my whole recruiting process over again," Black said. "But this time, I knew people in the college game. So, someone I knew reached out to Coach Cross, not even knowing that he had just taken the job here. Coach Cross contacted me and told me that they could use me at Missouri. He put me in contact with Coach Heupel and we did what we needed to do to get here. I came and visited and fell in love with it. I felt that all the coaches were genuine and that they would help me do what I wanted to do, get to the NFL."
Switching schools breeds all sorts of new challenges. Black knew that his experience and work ethic made him a perfect candidate for a leadership role with his new teammates, but establishing yourself right away as a leader on a new team is a difficult task.
"Being the older guy in the room, that leadership role was something I wanted to fill since day one," Black said. "Coach Hill and Coach Odom really leaned on me to take that role. And we have some special guys in that locker room. They respected that I was an older guy, so it didn't take much time. It's really about showing these guys how important the small things are. The things you have to do each and every day, in order to be successful."
Black admits that he is new to the state of Missouri, but even with his limited experience, the "Show Me" mantra has had a special impact on him.
"This is the 'Show Me State'," Black said. "It's not about talk. You have to show me what you're made of. Put up or shut up. It's as simple as that. That is the way I'm going to approach this season. It's not about the talk, it's about what we do."
Black looks forward to showing all of us what he can do. His ultimate goal is to make it to the NFL and he knows that the best way for him to accomplish that, is by producing at Mizzou. He looks forward to helping his teammates reach new heights this year and hopes to finish his college career on a winning note. And in order to do that, Black switched up his pre-game routine a little.
"Normally before games I would listen to some upbeat music, you know," Black said. "Just anything that was hot I'd put on. But these last few games I've been listening to gospel music in the pregame. I've been doing it and it's been paying off."
Black's early success on Mizzou can be attributed to many different things. His work ethic, his new role as a leader, the new coaching staff or even his change in music. Whatever the case, it's working. Black knows he couldn't have done it alone and wanted to thank God, his family for being in his corner since the start. And, the coaching staff here at Mizzou for taking a chance on him and believing that he can get the job done here at Mizzou.
