WR Tipton gets 6th year from NCAA
Pat Narduzzi kept an open line of communication over the past few months with Tre Tipton, discussions that included what-ifs, unfinished business and, eventually, one big decision.
“I had to really sit down with myself and think about everything. My body’s been through a lot of building and a lot of breaking,” Tipton said Wednesday. “So, I was really sitting down thinking to myself about what I wanted to do.
“Man, we need you to make a decision,” Tipton recalled the Pitt coach telling him. “But we need you to make the best decision for yourself.”
Finally, Tipton came back to an idea that has driven him for much of his 23 years. It was the motivation he needed when faced with the option of walking away from football.
“Of course that crossed my mind,” Tipton admitted, “but, in reality, all I ever wanted to be was a superhero. And football allows me to be that person for people
right now, until I find some other way to do so.”
Just call him Captain Super Super Senior.
It’s no secret that Tipton has been far from an ironman in his college career, seeing four of his five years at Pitt end prematurely due to injury, including his 2019 campaign. But Tuesday, the NCAA officially granted Tipton a sixth season of eligibility, Pitt’s first such veteran since star defensive end Ejuan Price in 2016.
“I’m praying that he gets through a full season,” Narduzzi said.
To Narduzzi, it was a nobrainer that Tipton would get an eligibility waiver. Not only did a second ACL tear in his left knee end his redshirt senior year after three games, but he missed all of 2017 with the same injury and all but the first four games of his freshman season. It’s an unfortunate history that Narduzzi didn’t shy away from in his conversations about keeping Tipton on scholarship if he wanted to come back for more.
“I just made him think long and hard about, ‘What if you get hurt again? How are you going to feel?’ Because it’s not easy being injured,” Narduzzi said. “But he’s got the right mindset, and we’re going to pray and cross our fingers he stays healthy.”
Indeed, Tipton still has work ahead of him. Managing to be a physical participant in any capacity is a goal of Tipton’s this spring, which he called “a stepping stone” to becoming himself again.
But if a productive redshirt redshirt season does come to pass, Tipton could carve out a memorable place for himself in Pitt history. As an Apollo-Ridge High School standout who was the fourth recruit in his class to commit to Pitt, the summer before he enrolled, Tipton joked that he actually feels like he’s been a Panther for seven years now.
“I ain’t going to lie,” he said, “I can’t stop smiling about it.”
As if that’s any different from Tipton’s demeanor on most days. His positive outlook belies his modest college production, just 12 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns in 30 career games. Narduzzi likened his return to that of a player who’s on the fence about entering the NFL draft early, but instead puts it off for another year of school.
“Tre’s the same way. If practice was not fun, he may be in the real world. If he felt like we weren’t treating them the right way, these guys might all leave,” Narduzzi said. “I think that’s a big thing. You can look at wins and losses, and we can evaluate a lot of things, but doing it the right way and building relationships with your kids is important.”
Tipton is all about relationships, but also football. He went on and on about his love for Pitt, talking a mile a minute on an unseasonably warm day in Pittsburgh. It’s not lost on Tipton that he could’ve picked up a basketball and found a pickup game, or maybe headed off to a batting cage to get in some swings.
But football? Good luck finding 21 other people to block and throw and run and catch. Tipton didn’t want to be an old man one day looking back on what could’ve been.
“It’s one of those things where, when you’re done, you’re done,” Tipton said. “So I really thought to myself, ‘Can you really see yourself giving this up, knowing you have a chance?’
“I had to give it all I’ve got, and right now, that’s what I’m doing.”
“It’s one of those things where, when you’re done, you’re done. So I really thought to myself, ‘Can you really see yourself giving this up, knowing you have a chance?’”
— Tre Tipton