by Carson Abrir
Michael Dyer has come a long way from the fifth grader who always wanted to fight.
“I was so mad at the world, I just wanted to fight. From second grade to fifth grade, that’s all I ever I did,” said the freshman MVP of Monday’s stunning Auburn Tiger’s 22-19 win over the Oregon Ducks for the BCS National Championship.
In 1994 at just 27, Dyer’s father was killed in an accident. Michael was four. His brother, Jonathan, was five. As a youngster, Jonathan stepped in to help Michael in the wake of his father’s death.
“He really showed me that I could be happy,” Michael said of his brother. “All the things I learned about life and how to be a person, and how to do this and that, I learned from him.”
When Jonathan sees his brother running down the field wearing number five, he knows it’s for him.
“My brother wears #5 because of me. My dad passed when I was five years old,” Jonathan said.
Although Michael Dyer’s father never saw his son carry a football, score a touchdown, or wear the Auburn jersey, the story of how his mother and brother came together to help him discover and embrace the promise of his life is as meaningful as the Tiger’s national championship.