The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Fanning returns to All-Star Game
By Don Richter, Sports Editor
PUBLISHED: July 17, 2008
Chelsea's Grant Fanning is in select company.
Advertisement
Twenty-one years ago, as a senior at Saline, Fanning was chosen to play in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game.
Last Saturday, Fanning posed for team photos and conducted interviews during All-Star press day at Michigan State University's Spartan Stadium as an assistant coach for the West squad.
Fanning is only the second person to ever play and coach in the All-Star Game.
"That's pretty amazing," said Fanning, Chelsea's defensive coordinator. "I thought more people would have done it. It makes me feel great."
Fanning was selected for the West All-Star staff by Bulldog head coach Brad Bush. Bush is head coach of the West team.
"When Brad found out he would be head coach, he called me and said he could take one guy from his staff," Fanning said. "He asked if I would be interested. I said of course I would."
Fanning, who'll coach receivers and tight ends in the All-Star Game, said he has a couple goals heading into the contest.
"I want to try and get the guys equal playing time," he said. "That's going to be the biggest challenge. All these guys are the best players on their teams. They all want to get the ball. It'll be hard to do that. I want everyone to catch a ball, that's my goal. I want everyone to have a good time and stay healthy."
Fanning will have a who's who of area receiving standouts to coach this week. At wide receiver, he'll have Ypsilanti's Marvon Sanders (5-foot-8, 170), who'll play at Eastern Michigan University in the fall, and Saline's Sam Burchyett (6-2, 187), while at tight end, Fanning will have Fowlerville's Joe Lane (6-4, 240) to throw the ball to.
All three players have been thorns in Fanning's side over the years as opponents of Chelsea.
"When you compete against these players, it's nice to have them on your team," Fanning said.
Fanning said since he competed in the All-Star Game, he understands what the current players are going through.
"I remember a lot of the things that are happening," he said. "The reporting (to game) and being kind of nervous and not sure. I remember, though, that as the week went on it started to get more and more fun. I ended up making some lifelong friends."
Though his team won (West 9-7) back in 1987, Fanning, who played defensive back for the Hornets and later at Hillsdale College, recalled only a few moments from the game.
"I remember it was low-scoring and it rained here (at MSU)," he said. "I dropped an interception and I also remember them (East) catching a touchdown pass that I didn't think was in bounds. But it was a great time."
Saturday's game at MSU kicks off at 2 p.m. Player introductions are at 1:30 p.m.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
TOP JOBS
