If you walk down the streets of Akron, Ohio, with Tyrell Sutton, you might get a glimpse of life in the spotlight.
Sutton, an incoming freshman running back who has achieved near-celebrity status after playing for Archbishop Hoban High School for four years, comes to Northwestern next year as one of the most decorated running backs in the country.
“I guess to be able to represent our school in a positive way is good,” Sutton said. “And it’s nice to be able to walk around somewhere and have someone recognize me and know who I am.”
Sutton is Ohio’s all-time leading rusher, and he became the 17th Ohio’s Mr. Football in history, following players like Robert Smith, Charles Woodson and Maurice Clarett.
Tyrell Sutton’s father, Anthony Sutton Sr., said Tyrell Sutton hasn’t let the fame go to his head.
“The big thing was that he wasn’t trying to get these awards and recognitions,” Anthony Sutton Sr. said. “Some of the awards he didn’t even know about.”
Tyrell Sutton also has used his fame to benefit others.
He became the face of the school’s Anthony M. Grimaldi Scholarship Fund when he allowed the school to use his name and face on a Tyrell Sutton T-shirt with proceeds going to the scholarship.
Tyrell Sutton said Grimaldi, who died last year in a car accident, was one of his good friends and teammates, and this was a way Sutton could give back.
“(Tyrell Sutton) is not a person who’s overly impressed to see his name somewhere,” said Ralph Orsini, Sutton’s high school coach. “But because the money from the shirts was raised for one of his better friends, I think he’s OK with it.”
In his high school career, Sutton amassed a state record 9,438 yards, including 38 consecutive 100-yard games — another Ohio record.
He rushed for a career-best 3,241 yards in his senior season, averaging 270 yards per game. For his break-out senior year, he was named Ohio’s Mr. Football.
“It’s something that you really never think can happen to you,” Sutton said. “You see it happen to other people, but you can never see it happening to you.”
His mother, Connie Sutton, said although she is proud of her son, she tries not to get too swept up in the hype.
“He has a record that hopefully will stand for many years to come,” Connie Sutton said. “He worked so hard for it, and we couldn’t be more proud of him.
“But it doesn’t overwhelm me or anything. We really try not to get involved in all of that. I just think of him as my son.”
The Wildcats have two of the last five Ohio Mr. Football players on their roster, as Tyrell Sutton follows senior cornerback Jeff Backes, who won the award in 2000, to NU. Backes came to NU as a running back as well.
Orsini also said it took a visit to NU to seal Sutton’s committment to the school.
“His dream was to always play in the Big Ten,” Orsini said. “Probably coming from Ohio, Ohio State would have to be a choice. But once he met with the NU coaches and visited the campus, there was no doubt it was the place for him.”
Tyrell Sutton said he chose NU over Illinois, Akron, Ball State and Miami (Ohio).
Throughout the spring, coach Randy Walker said Tyrell Sutton will get the chance to earn playing time this upcoming season.
But he will have to beat out senior Terrell Jordan, NU’s backup running back last season, and sophomore Brandon Roberson, who became the favorite to start at running back after the spring.
“(The NU coaches) told me I have as good a chance as anyone to play,” Sutton said. “They said I’ll start from the bottom like everyone has and work myself up.”
Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].
