Rocky River
Mike Milano has looked up to Mt. Everest from a base camp in Nepal. Everest may be the world’s highest peak, but the Rocky River native has stood at the bottom of another mountain — one that no doubt seemed much higher at the time.
Milano became one of the few Rocky River High School athletes recruited by a Division I school when he received a wrestling scholarship to the University of Michigan in 2005. Then he earned a football scholarship as a Wolverine walk-on his junior year. The following year, what was supposed to have been a dream senior season became a nightmare, and Milano has put his story on paper with the book “Michigan Men?”
Milano, 25, recently spoke of his experience by phone from New Orleans, where he teaches third grade for the “Teach for America” program, which places recent college graduates as teachers for a two-year commitment in urban areas.
“I had no intent on this ever becoming a book. It just sort of happened. When I was in Nepal, I had a lot of time on my hands, and I was always writing in my head,” said Milano, adding that he started the book, put it down for a year, then picked it back up. “Before I knew it, I had 200 and some pages of the story,” he added.
The book chronicles an October 2008 incident outside of an Ann Arbor, Mich., bar, where Milano came to the defense of a female friend who was allegedly being physically abused by her ex-boyfriend, hockey star Steve Kampfer. After the woman fled, words were exchanged between Kampfer and Milano, who, with his brother Chris and friend Brandon Hahn, were walking behind Kampfer and his friend Mike Anderson.
Witness reports didn’t match up, but it was determined during trial that Kampfer turned to face Milano and made the first move to start a fight. Milano responded with a wrestling-style move, which put Kampfer on the ground. Kampfer ended up in the hospital with a skull fracture, which kept him out of hockey for six weeks. He recovered and today plays for the Boston Bruins.
Milano’s mother Debby recalled the following months. “Mike was on cloud nine, then his senior year everything fell apart. It was the worst year of all our lives. He was charged with a felony assault and barred from football. He became a cog in our legal system, and once you enter that system, you have no control.” His father, Jay, a defense attorney, remarked how helpless he felt watching the court proceedings.
“When you’re playing football at Michigan, when you put yourself out there, you’re going to have ups and downs. That’s when you define yourself,” said Mike Milano, who, at 5 feet 6 inches, shocked his family with his football scholarship, only confiding his plans to his younger sister Jessica.
Milano said that he made it through his senior year, attending classes and graduating with a political science degree, thanks to the support of a close circle that surrounded him. Most prominent in that circle are legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who retired after Milano’s junior year, and wrestling coach Joe McFarland, both of whom testified on his behalf during the four-day October 2009 trial.
“Coach Carr is still someone I can count on and so is Coach McFarland,” said Milano, adding that he is still in contact with both men. He said he is flattered that they want to stay in his life.
Missing from that circle was Coach Rich Rodriguez. Despite assuring Milano and his family that his football career would not be jeopardized, Rodriguez banned Milano from the team. The former running back said he learned of his banishment by seeing the news on ESPN. Milano said he never heard from Rodriguez again and that the coach did not even show up for the ceremony at which Milano was awarded his Michigan ring and letterman jacket after he was acquitted of the felony. He was charged with a misdemeanor, which can be expunged from his record in five years.
Debby Milano said that the family followed the instructions of athletic director Bill Martin, whom Mike Milano befriended while crewing on Martin’s racing yacht, and did not speak to the media. However, hockey coach Red Berenson defended his player. “If we had it to do over again, I’d be in that newspaper office (The Michigan Daily, which broke the story),” he said.
However, Milano holds no grudges against Martin, who wrote his reference letter for Teach for America, or big-time college football. “I do think there are areas where I’d like to see the programs looking out for their athletes way more than they’re looking out for their image or themselves,” he reflected.
Milano said that the only mistakes he made on that early morning of Oct. 12, 2008, were walking behind Kampfer and then leaving the scene. He said he would not hesitate to come to the aid of a person being victimized in a similar situation or defend himself if he had to.
Despite his experience, Milano, who is considering a political career, proudly wears his Michigan ring. “I absolutely lived up to that ideal. There are people in that program that have done great things for other people, and that’s what I’m trying to do. And whether or not that’s a Michigan Man, I think that’s what’s important.”
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