Every time Malik Elzy showers, he writes “NFL” on the toilet mirror, the condensation making an ideal whiteboard for one thing he discovered from social media — manifestation.
“He always said he wanted to be an NFL player,” his mom, Jackie Elzy, instructed the Tribune. “I will go in my bathroom and in the mirror (see) ‘NFL,’ so I would just smile to myself knowing that after he showers, he writes it on the mirror.”
As his remaining highschool season at Simeon was winding down, Elzy nonetheless approached recreation preparation as if the offseason weren’t days away. The 17-year-old huge receiver would get up at 5 a.m. to get in a exercise earlier than college. After a day of courses, he would head to soccer follow, the place he would keep one other few hours earlier than going house to do it another time.
The lengthy days don’t appear to hassle Elzy, although. They’re simply a part of his plan.
Jackie, a nurse, and her husband, Curtis, a truck driver, work lengthy days, and Elzy attributes his work ethic to them and his grandmother. He has watched them work arduous all of his life; they’re his motivation.
But he additionally is aware of it doesn’t simply occur like that. He is aware of that together with manifestation, he additionally should do the work. Elzy appears to be like at each opponent as an impediment that his work ethic will assist him defeat.
“The reason I did that was because I wanted to get closer to God and I found out that you can manifest a lot of things by writing it down,” Elzy stated. “Like simply preserve saying it time and again. So I simply began doing that once I take a bathe. The steam shall be within the lavatory, so I write, ‘I’m going to be within the NFL.’
“I feel the person across from me, he’s trying to stop me from getting my family out of the ‘hood. He’s trying to stop me from being successful.”
So he retains waking up at 5 a.m. He’s going to outwork his opponents earlier than he even steps on the sector.
Elzy, the No. 4 recruit within the state in line with 247Sports.com’s composite rankings, will announce his faculty selection Saturday throughout the Adidas All-American Bowl in San Antonio. The four-star prospect decommitted from Cincinnati in October.
As a 6-year-old, Elzy picked up a soccer in hopes of beating his brother Devonta, who’s 13 years older. Devonta performed at Simeon and went on to play for Division II Northwood University in Michigan, however his soccer profession ended there.
Malik, the child of the household, not solely picked up the sport — but additionally the dream.
In his junior 12 months, he amassed 35 catches, 674 yards and 12 touchdowns. Despite groups beginning to double-team him as a senior this 12 months, Elzy racked up 45 catches, 1,025 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He discovered himself closely recruited by a few of the nation’s greatest faculty packages, receiving greater than 25 provides from colleges similar to Auburn, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Tennessee.
But what he actually brings isn’t on the stat sheet.
“Malik’s character is just as elite as his performance,” stated Simeon assistant coach Kofi Hughes, who performed huge receiver at Indiana (2010-13). “In pregame warmups (earlier than Simeon’s 2022 season opener towards Wheaton Warrenville South), Malik stated if you happen to don’t consider, it’s essential to get the hell out. … This child obtained each single child on that group to consider they had been going to win that recreation, and we did. I’ve by no means seen a gaggle of youngsters come collectively like that. It was so particular.
“(It) is these moments where I see him, whether it’s at practice (and) he gets everybody together and gets them focused, whether it’s before the game, the way that he leaves warmups and the energy he brings … the whole room could be dead and then this boy turns it up. To me those are all little signs of a great leader and a guy who has great influence. People just follow Malik.”
During the peak of COVID-19, with every thing shut down, Elzy discovered himself in search of methods to remain lively and in form. His brother had instructed him repeatedly that if he wished to play in faculty and past, he needed to preserve each his physique and thoughts ready as a result of the work solely will increase. It felt just like the world had come to a halt, however Elzy couldn’t slack on his plan.
With choices fairly slim, he began figuring out in an alley in Englewood with a coach from close by Ogden Park. One day Elzy obtained a name from Hughes, who can also be a efficiency coach, to affix him for coaching in River North. Elzy and a Simeon teammate determined to go.
“Before that I’d seen him,” Elzy stated of Hughes, who frolicked in coaching camp with three NFL groups, together with the Chicago Bears in 2014. “I knew of him however I’d by no means labored with him. After that we’ve been locked in ever since. And Kofi … he actually evokes me. He modified my complete standpoint about what I’m doing as a result of at first I wasn’t actually studying the Bible or none of that, however he instructed me his story and I used to be like, ‘Wow, you really inspire me.’
“He did everything I’m trying to do. He went D1, but in high school (at Indianapolis Central) he wasn’t as popular. He only received one offer. He went to that school, he made it to the league, but he did some things that weren’t good and it hurt him.”
In Elzy, Hughes discovered a younger man with promise, and Elzy discovered a mentor who had walked the trail already. Someone who understood his plan and wished to assist him get there. But for that to occur, Elzy wanted him round extra usually. Every day. It was their bond that led to Hughes becoming a member of Simeon coach Dante Culbreath’s employees as a large receivers coach.
Culbreath, who has coached at Simeon for 20 years, describes Elzy as tenacious, explosive, good and a “high-character guy.” He recalled two years in the past when he realized Elzy was going to interrupt out.
“Elzy made some critical catches at critical times,” Culbreath stated, “and I turned to one among our coaches and stated, ‘Oh, man, this kid is dynamic.’ I knew that he was going to be a really, very phenomenal athlete.
“(What makes Malik particular) is his capability to catch massive balls, his capability to get open. And if he’s not open, he’s a type of gamers that make a approach out of no approach. He simply comes up with the ball.
“He’s our motivation. He plays by example. He’s going to try to outwork everybody.”
Simeon went 12-1 in Elzy’s remaining season, successful the Chicago Public League title and the Prep Bowl. Now he has a call to make.
Elzy dedicated to Cincinnati in June, however the extra he considered it, the much less sure he turned.
“They always said, ‘Go with your gut, it won’t do you wrong,’” Elzy stated. “I couldn’t sleep because I was just thinking, ‘Did I make the right decision?’ At the end of the day, no disrespect to Cincinnati, but it just didn’t feel like the right choice.”
In October, Elzy made the tough determination to reopen his recruitment. Every day he will get requested the place he’s going to play soccer subsequent 12 months, and every single day he says he doesn’t know.
But everybody will know after Saturday’s announcement, and it’s a selection he feels good about.
“Ever since I was a kid, I always told (my family) I’m going to the NFL,” Elzy stated. “It wasn’t a question. It was a statement: I’m going to the NFL. No question about it. It’s going to mean a lot to them. Once they see it, there’s going to be real tears. That moment when I get drafted? It’s going to be crazy, but I’ve got to get back to work.”
It’s all a part of Elzy’s plan.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com