QUOTE from Marshall Yanda: "I guess this means I made it, huh?"
I LEARNED yesterday that anything is possible if you have talent and you get your head on straight and make the most of that talent. The quote above comes from my former student who is now an NFL superstar. His name is Marshall Yanda and he is the son of Iowa hog farmers located several miles north of Anamosa. Marshall played high school football for Anamosa but didn't get into a D-1 school because of his grades. So he went to North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City for two years (2003-2004) where he blossomed into a great football lineman and a good student. He played the last two years (2005-2006) for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Ferentz had been an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens and he called the Ravens and said they should draft Marshall as he was going to be a great NFL offensive lineman. They did so in 2007 and Marshall ended up starting in his rookie year. His second year (2008) he hurt his ankle, had surgery and didn't play. In 2009 and 2010 he really blossomed into greatness and became known as one of the NFL's best lineman. He became a free agent in 2011.
As a free agent he was open to offers from other teams. The Bears, Rams, Redskins and Bucs were interested but Marshall wanted to stay with the Ravens. And the Ravens wanted Marshall to stay with them. So on Tuesday, (July 26) at 10 a.m. his agent started talking to the other teams. At 5 p.m. that afternoon the deal was done with the Ravens. They offered Marshall a contract for $32 million to play for the Ravens for the next five years. He gladly signed - he wanted to remain a Raven and got his wish. Baltimore General Manager Ozzie Newsome called the Yanda signing the key to the team's off-season needs.
The quote today was made when our newspaper sports editor called Marshall to talk about his new contract. Marshall was on the highway driving to Baltimore with his wife and son when he got the call. He went on to say, "I don't plan on changing how I live or how I do things on a daily basis just because of this contract. I still plan on being the same person I was before. I'm not going to buy a fleet of cars or a bunch of homes or a lot of fancy jewelry. Well, I'll probably buy my wife a few nice things, but we don't plan on spending money like it grows on trees. That's just not who we are."
He also said, "I have to admit, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever sign a $32 million NFL contract. Back when I played for Anamosa, it was always my dream to play for the Hawkeyes. I never thought the NFL was even a possibility. I guess this just shows dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and work hard." Yanda's contract is the second-richest ever given to a Ravens offensive lineman behind only all-Pro Jonathon Ogden.
During the lockout Marshall was lifting weights with the Hawkeye players in Iowa City and helping his dad on the farm. "That was fun, but I'm ready to get back to Baltimore and get back to work playing football. I can't wait to get started."
By the way, if you want to watch Marshall in action this fall his number is 73 and he usually plays right guard.
To me, Marshall is an example of the good old MIDWESTERN work ethic and common sense.
HUMOR for today: I did some figuring on Marshall's salary.
32 million dollars for 5 years amounts to $6,400,000 a year.
a. They will play 16 regular season games a year plus 4 exhibition games for a total of 20 games. If the Ravens do not make the playoffs they will play only those 20 games. So I divided 20 into 6,400,000 and his per game salary will be $320,000.
b. If they go all the way to the Super Bowl they will play 24 games. If that is the case then his salary gets really low at $267,000 per game. (But they get a Super Bowl check so that would offset his lower salary)
c. Here's the humor part. Marhall makes more in 3 1/2 games than I made in 36 years of teaching school.
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