- April 25, 2024
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Every time Michael Fox steps into the sprawling, state-of-the-art gym inside N.C. State University’s Wendell H. Murphy Center, he knows it is a chance to prove himself.
In fact, every day since Fox first arrived in Raleigh two months ago has been an opportunity to show his worth to the coaches and staff on the team, as well as his new teammates.
The world of college athletics often ignores walk-ons, but it’s that underestimation that fuels Fox’s fire — it’s what has pushed him throughout his entire playing career.
“I always just felt like an underdog; I always felt like people didn’t think I could play at this level,” said Fox, who graduated from Dr. Phillips High School in 2018. “Going out there and proving my point — proving that I can play here, that I do belong here and that I can actually succeed out here — that’s what excites me the most. I just have a vision, I know what I can do and I know what I’m capable of. I just have to go out there and do it.”
Fox’s life on the football field has never been easy.
After playing his freshman year on the junior varsity team, Fox was given the option to either continue to excel at the wide-receiver position with the underclassmen or move up to varsity. He would ultimately choose the latter, and that’s when the struggles started.
“I didn’t really play much my sophomore year — junior year, same thing,” Fox said. “A lot of stuff was going through my mind. I started doubting myself (and) doubting the program, because I felt like I was one of the hardest workers out there and I felt like I wasn’t getting that shot to show what I could do.”
By the time his junior season ended, Fox had been on the receiving end of fewer than 10 passes — thanks in part to having to sit behind a corps of Division I-level receivers. He knew he needed a breakout game.
That came in the following spring game, where he had two touchdowns and more than 100 yards receiving. Despite the impressive showing, which later would lead into his solid senior season, Fox was still under-recruited before signing on as a walk-on at University of Central Arkansas.
As a walk-on, Fox took that year as a redshirt year but made the travel list and made the rotation at practice after spending a short time on the practice squad. Fox understood his role at the time, but things just still felt off, he said.
“I never really played — I traveled every single game but never touched the field,” he said. “But I was like, ‘Well, this is my first year, it’s just a learning year.’ Coming into my second year, I had a great spring and an even better fall camp, and just played the first few games.
“I felt like I was doing really good — I just felt like things weren’t going in the best of my favor, I would say,” he said. “I felt like I wasn’t getting the best ‘me’ out of that program. I felt like I wasn’t becoming the best player I could be and given the best opportunities to get to the next level.”
Fox left the Central Arkansas program and decided to play junior college ball at Hinds Community College in Mississippi. He was ready to get his spring semester at the school going earlier this year before being told the scholarship he had been promised was gone.
Disheartened, Fox decided to take the spring semester off before a discussion with a friend and former teammate had him going in a new direction.
Fox and Tanner Ingle’s friendship goes back to when they were just 4 years old, and since then, they’ve always seen each other as god-brothers.
For years, they had talked about playing Power 5 football on the same team, but neither knew that dream would eventually come to fruition. Ingle, a star defensive back for the Wolfpack and fellow Dr. Phillips alumnus, offered a suggestion to Fox: “Come play at State.”
“I told him I felt I could play at State, but I felt like it was too late for that, with all the COVID going on,” Fox said. “We just got to talking about it, and long story short, I ended up getting in contact with the coaches and applying to school and getting accepted.”
Since his acceptance, Fox has made Raleigh his home — where he now shares an apartment with Ingle and South Florida native Calvin Hart — and has gotten adjusted to life as a collegiate athlete during the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the history of challenges and the ongoing pandemic, he could not be happier, he said.
“I’m excited every day,” Fox said. “I come into practice every day with a big smile on my face just at how good we have it here. I’m just looking forward to the season — I’m playing really top athletes now … the Power 5 is where you make your mark, especially (when you’re) trying to get to the league.”
