In early September, on his weekly Sunday conference call, Georgia football coach Mark Richt was a little upset after his team's 56-17 win over Central Michigan. Not because of anything his team did - the ESPN highlights of the game didn't show running back Knowshon Moreno's hurdle of an upright Chippewa safety late in the third quarter.
"They missed the boat or didn't do their homework or whatever," Richt said. "But it's going to make our highlights for a long time."
The play "Sportscenter" missed is on YouTube, where it's received more than 360,000 views. That's dwarfed by the 1.6 million views of Michigan running back Sam McGuffie leaping over a defensive back in high school in Texas, part of a litany of McGuffie mixtapes all across the internet.
For running backs, hang time is hip, defenders a vault in the endless pursuit of making tacklers miss and eyes widen. What's a juke move when you can show off your vert? Why take bruises when you can go up and over?
Where's the fun in staying grounded? Running backs have imaginations, too. As sports blend with each other and athletes break barriers, it's no shock that the runner has taken highlights to another dimension: the sky.
"That's my fun," SU running back Curtis Brinkley said. "That's how I enjoy it. You've got to enjoy the game somehow."
Brinkley's been hopping since high school, leaping over approaching defenders in the open field, flying head first over the pile near the goal line, hurdling for extra yardage near first-down markers. He said he had never run track or played high school basketball - football was his only sport. Jumping comes as naturally as a side-step or a stutter.
He'd watch Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook over and over, rewinding his touchdown dives and replaying them in slow motion. When it came time for Brinkley to do it, he knew exactly how it was supposed to look.
"I just always enjoyed jumping; it's fun to me," Brinkley said. "I enjoy doing it. I'm happy when I get the opportunity to do it."
Brinkley might also know that it can be almost impossible to stop. At 5-foot-9, he often gives up more than six inches to defensive linemen, but he can clear them without hesitation. And in the open field, if a defender tries to cut his legs, leaping becomes the instinctive option.
And when Brinkley leaps, his teammates watch.
"We can't even figure out how to hit him, cause he's like diving over us," SU defensive lineman Anthony Perkins said. "I mean, I stand at 6-foot-4, he jumped one time, literally cleared right over me. Kid has hops.
"I remember one day in camp we had a goal-line drill. He jumped straight over the whole pile. We were like 'Oh, there he goes.'"
The coaches, meanwhile, hold their breath until Brinkley comes down. Running backs coach Randy Trivers said he's spoken with Brinkley about the risks of hurdling defenders, mostly because of the exposure of themselves and the ball. Jumping is never something they'll train in practice.
"I think it's more of a knack thing - a timing and a feel when you have to go over the top," Trivers said. "He has a good instinct for being able to do that."
So does Georgia's Moreno. Down in Athens, Ga., he's the modern-day grasshopper with hydraulics in his socks. He's the contemporary college back who made hurdling chic and bucked the trend of ground-bound runners, even if ESPN didn't notice his best example.
It's in his arsenal, though, just like for Brinkley. Against Louisville on Nov. 1, Brinkley awed spectators with his Superman sprawl from the 2-yard line for a first-quarter score. Other times, he's hurdled defensive backs trying to take out his legs. For a player with a history of knee and leg injuries, he doesn't falter to fly.
Why not, when it's fun? Spin moves are so yesterday, stutter steps are overdone. Why stiff arm when the power's in your legs? Why not show versatility by breaking dimensions?
"You definitely see it all the time when he's making a move," SU sophomore Da'Mon Merkerson said. "Just the power and explosion he has."
Leaping is in (shocks optional). For Brinkley, and others, making the highlight-reel run isn't about keeping feet on the ground anymore.
Zach Schonbrun is The Daily Orange's sports columnist, where his columns appear every Tuesday. He can be reached at zsschonb@syr.edu.
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