[jwplayer 7werh9Jm-XNcErKyb]
Imagine this: you’re a standout football player, who can play anywhere in the country — and so is your best friend.
They choose national powerhouse Ohio State as their school of choice. Where are you gonna go? Are you going to follow them — especially considering you already have an offer to be a Buckeye?
If you’re Quintin Somerville, you do the one thing that your best friend, OSU WR commit Denzel Burke, and his new supporters in Columbus would particularly abhor — you choose to attend Michigan.
While these two best friends will be on opposite sides of the rivalry in just a few short months, Somerville says that no love will ever be lost between each other. Regardless of being on the verge of becoming arch-rivals, the four-star defensive tackle says he and the four-star wideout will be best friends for life.
“Me and Denzel have been best friends since – I don’t even know when,” Somerville told WolverinesWire. “Probably since I was eight or nine-years-old. This has been a dream for us. Besides the rivalry – that’s going forward – but right now we’re brothers and will be for the rest of our lives. It’s gonna be exciting to see who wins that one in the next few years. Whoever loses that game will get the best of it. Right now – and going forward – we’re gonna be best friends for the rest of our life. We’ll have the opportunity to go and play college football at the next level, which we’ve been dreaming of for the longest.”
@King10Burke (@OhioStateFB ), @quintinn_2 (@UMichFootball), @chillwill_8 (@ASUFootball ), @bramwalden42 (@oregonfootball) it’s been a good afternoon.. pic.twitter.com/sA3jITmhIg
— 2BCville2All (@2BCville2All) September 27, 2020
That said, is there much smack talk between the two?
Naturally, it’s part of the rivalry, but Somerville says — at least to this point — it’s been kept to a minimum.
“No, no, not too much, but Denzel will have that upper hand right now,” Somerville said. “I’m telling him every day, once we get out there, we’re trying to change this tide. This class has big expectations and hopefully we bring them down in Ann Arbor.”
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While Somerville and Burke don’t discuss the rivalry much in heated terms, the Michigan commit does confer with many of his future teammates about the state of The Game.
Harkening back to what J.J. McCarthy told WolverinesWire, Somerville says that the class is intent on changing the tide of the rivalry, as well as the narrative.
That said, Ohio State has been a daily topic of conversation amongst the 2021 pledges, as they’ve already put something of a focus on how they can take down the Buckeyes once they get their opportunity.
“Every day – we see the stuff on Twitter and we’re always sending screenshots to each other on chat,” Somerville said. “Knowing that we haven’t won that game in a couple years, it’s just fueling this fire. It’s really incredible knowing that we have an opportunity to change the tide and stamp our mark in Michigan’s football legacy.”
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