HOUSTON — Forest Hills Eastern High School alum Bryson Kuzdzal grew up a big Michigan State fan.
However, even after receiving a preferred walk-on opportunity to play for his beloved Spartans, he passed it up for the same opportunity at Michigan.
"Academics, that was the biggest reason," Kuzdzal said. "If football did not work out, academics would. I was banking on that."
After balling out his senior year of high school where he scored 22 touchdowns on the Hawks football team, Kuzdzal could have also taken the Division 2 path, with offers from Ferris State and Saginaw Valley State.
But taking the route to Ann Arbor is what paid off the most. The FHE alum is now a part of the Michigan football team that is playing its first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship.
"It's great," Kuzdzal said. "It feels like I've come a long way since high school. In one year, I'm already here. I'm just glad to be able to learn from all of the guys ahead of me and just take it all in."
The Wolverines running back said the walk-on life is not as tough as he imagined it would be. He credits the ease into college thanks to what he learned in high school.
"They prepared me really well," Kuzdzal said. "They taught me like just how to be a good person and how to just do things the right way every day and I'm trying to use that as much as I can as well as what I'm learning here to just make myself a better person."
The 2023 Forest Hills Eastern graduate believes becoming a better person is exactly what will happen to him inside historic Schembechler Hall.
"You're putting in the time and putting in the work and you're just doing the right thing, you'll be putting yourself in great position to succeed here," Kuzdzal said.
Kuzdzal and the Wolverines will battle Washington for the national championship on Monday night in Houston, Texas. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.