By Joe Vanden Acker
Lawrence Today magazine, Summer 2007
The
poet John Donne wrote that no man is an island.
Try telling that to Derek Micke ’09. The Lawrence University cornerback
stands alone on every play and draws the task of shadowing the other team’s
top receiver.
For his efforts, Micke has won All-Midwest Conference honors in each of his
first two seasons and has earned the respect of teams across the league.
“It’s tough playing corner, because you always have to be aware
of what’s going on,” Micke says. “When the right play does
come, you have to take advantage of it because you never know when the next
one is going to come.”
A native of Kaukauna, Micke has been the football team’s top cover man
since arriving on campus in 2005. In his two seasons, he has accumulated six
interceptions, 21 pass breakups, and 54 tackles.
“If you look at the stats from his two years — passes defensed
and interceptions — that shows his big-play capability as a sophomore.
It’s hard to argue he’s not one of the best DBs (defensive backs)
in the conference,” says head football coach Chris Howard.
“He proved his athletic ability as a freshman, and now he has a feel
for what’s going on in the game. He understands down and distance and
the game.”
Micke is in the situation of either covering one side of the field or taking
on the other team’s best receiver and removing him from the equation.
He appears to enjoy the confrontation.
“Even in high school, starting with my junior year, I was matched with
the other team’s best receiver,” Micke says. “I’m used
to the challenge. I try to embrace it and take it on.”
As a defensive back, you are at the disadvantage of not knowing where that
receiver is going. Will it be a quick out? A post pattern? A double move?
“One wrong step can get you in trouble,” says Micke, quickly adding
that he has embraced the old adage about defensive backs having short memories.
“I always try to limit the guy to one or two catches a game — or
zero — but it’s a tough position, and you’re going to give
up catches. Every play, you can’t be thinking about the last play. It
can be challenging, but as long as you don’t give up the big play, that’s
all that matters.”
Micke speaks at length about taking the techniques he is taught in practice
every day and implementing them on Saturday afternoon. Practicing what Howard
preaches has been a key to Micke’s development.
“We talk about eyes and feet,” says Howard. “You have to
have your eyes in the right place, and if you know what to expect, your feet
will be in the right place.”
Micke can rely on superior athletic ability. Along with being a football standout,
he has put his talents on display as a sprinter and jumper for the track team.
He broke the indoor record in the 55 meters with a time of 6.65 seconds to
make him the fastest Lawrentian in history.
“He’s a really smart, athletic corner, pretty much the total package,
if you ask me,” says wide receiver Tim O’Toole ’07, who battles
Micke in practice every day. “Without question, he’s one of the
top, if not the best, in our conference.”
O’Toole says that working against Micke day in and day out allows him
to see Micke’s best and worst — and notes that his worst is the
best that many other defensive backs have to offer.
“As an offensive player, I’ve beaten him once or twice. It doesn’t
happen very often, so you remember it,” says O’Toole, who believes
Micke’s athletic prowess, physical strength, and ability to read the
receiver’s routes are his greatest assets.
“I don’t know if it’s a mindset, when you go against some
other defensive back, you have the thought you can beat them. When you go against
Derek, you have to hope he messes up so you can beat him.”
Micke became a victim of his own success during the 2006 season. His reputation
as a defensive stopper grew during his rookie campaign, and teams around the
Midwest Conference really began shying away from throwing the football in his
direction this past season.
“It represents a challenge to us as coaches and to Derek as a player
that he is going to shut down the other team’s best guy. If they can’t
go to him, they have to find a different way to play,” Howard says.
“Our next problem is how to make Derek more of an impact player when
they don’t throw at him.”
The impact is electric when Micke drops back to return punts for the Vikings.
With a career average of 9.3 yards per return, he is one of the best ever at
Lawrence. He returned a punt 70 yards for a score against Grinnell College
in 2006 and had three more touchdown returns called back during his freshman
season.
“I love getting that ball and finding that hole and using my speed to
break up the field and get our offense in good position,” says Micke,
who believes being a great return man is part art form and part technique.
“I think it’s a little bit of both. You’ve got be able to
read the field, see where the defenders are, and where they are going to be.
You have to be patient and, as soon as that hole opens, put it in second gear
and blow through.”
When Micke drops back in punt formation, the anticipation on the sideline is
that something big is about to happen.
“You expect it from him,” O’Toole says of his teammate. “On
defense, when the ball goes in his direction, you expect a big play or an interception
or a knockdown. It’s the same thing on a punt.”
With the ability to change a game in just a few seconds, Howard has plans to
make Micke an even bigger part of the Vikings’ plans for 2007. Look for
Micke to catch the ball from his own quarterback, as well as taking it away
from the opposition.
“If you look at Derek’s capabilities, he can change the game on
defense, and he can change the game on special teams. We’d be foolish
as coaches not to put at him on the offensive side of the ball,” Howard
says.
“There are very few athletes in our conference who are better. That’s
why we have to get his hands on the ball. In the world of big-time college
football, they talk about touches. Derek needs more touches.”
And that may translate into more Ws for Lawrence.
www.lawrence.edu/athletics/football/