An injured hamstring may keep us from seeing ASU running back Keegan Herring in Saturday’s opener against NAU. But let’s be sure to keep our eyes on one of ASU’s most overlooked superstars when he returns to the field.

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If you believe what you read in the newspapers (and we tend to) you already know Keegan Herring may not play against NAU due to a hamstring injury. While we’d obviously prefer he play, we’d rather give him the weekend to freshen up a bit before resuming his historic ASU career.

Historic?, you may ask. Well, yes.

As a profile in Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star recently pointed out, Herring is 10th on ASU’s career rushing list with 2,234 yards. (Disclaimer: By posting this link, the editors of Echo from the Buttes are not condoning anything with Tucson origins except the link itself. Oh, and you may have to register to view it.)

When you start throwing a number like that out there (see the top 10 below), you start talking about Whizzer White and the Malone boys chewing up Wyoming and New Mexico for six yards per carry back in the WAC (and pre-WAC) days.

Herring has reached such exclusive company despite playing more USCs than UTEPs, despite never entering a season as ASU’s primary ball carrier and despite starting just 12 games in his career.

Is he one-dimensional? Perhaps. The speed that carried him to state titles in the 100- and 200-meter dash as a sophomore at Peoria High definitely distracts from recognition of his overall game.

But Herring’s importance to the Sun Devils goes beyond his home run speed. He’s also one of the team’s most critical leaders.

He’s always smiling, always propping up teammates, even when he’s fighting to maintain his spot on the depth chart or fighting to overcome the tragic family losses he suffered last year. Remember, he played last season having recently suffered the losses of his dad, best friend, sister and aunt in a 10-month span.

As Rudy Carpenter said: “He’s really the heart and soul of our team. He’s our emotional leader. He’s the ‘character’ of our guys. He’s the funny man.”

We know a lot of Sun Devil fans are excited about freshmen Ryan Bass and James Morrison, and rightfully so. Bass is an athletic freak and Morrison is a great story as a walk-on earning his way onto the varsity.

But let’s be sure not to overlook Mr. Herring, who should soon be recognized as one of the greatest backs in Sun Devil history.

ASU’s Top 10 Career Rushers

Tags: ASU Football , art malone, ben malone, Keegan Herring, Ryan Bass, whizzer white // 3 Comments »