The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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he was a defensive specialist at the time, his coach threw him out at tight end for a goal-line play late in one game. Toussaint, now a redshirt junior running back at Michigan, didn't F know what to do, so he just ran toward the end zone and extended his hands toward the sky — and the ball fell safely in them. It was so long ago, Toussaint can't remember exactly what went through his mind when he realized he had scored six points. "But I know it was a good feeling," he said. 96 s THE WOLVERINE 2012 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY ANDY REID itzgerald Toussaint can still remember his first touchdown. He was 8 years old, playing on a Pop Warner team named the Raiders in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. Although He permanently moved to the offensive side of the ball when he hit middle school, playing running back and tight end as the only seventh grader on the team. At Liberty High School, he impressed coaches with his speed and elusiveness, and he was promoted to varsity as a freshman, where he provided situational scat-back ex- plosiveness. As a sophomore, he beat out several seniors and was named the Leopards' starting running back, compiling 1,047 yards and 14 scores on 87 carries (12.0 yards per rush). He had always enjoyed playing defense, but — as the yards and dejected opposing defenses continued to pile up — he knew he'd found his true calling. "I was always an angry player," Toussaint said. "I played with a lot of anger and ag- gression, and I felt like I could punish people