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FOR BLAKE CORUM, AN ANXIOUS NIGHT TO REMEMBER
FOR BLAKE CORUM, AN ANXIOUS NIGHT TO REMEMBER
By Leonard Shapiro
More than a hundred family and friends gathered in a spacious meeting room at Middleburg’s Salamander Resort & Spa recently to witness one of the most important events in Blake Corum’s life, not to mention one of the more nerve wracking evenings he’ll ever experience.
It was April 26, the second night of the NFL college draft, and the Marshall, Va. native, a 5-foot-8, 205-pound All-American running back at the University of Michigan, was literally on the edge of his seat as the national telecast of the second and third rounds began shortly after 7 p.m.
He was not a first-round pick the previous night, just as most had expected. But several teams and countless so-called draft experts had told him his future almost certainly would be determined 24 hours later. That’s why he was at Salamander, where resort owner Sheila Johnson also attended what started out as a rather raucous watch party, only to turn tense as pick after pick came and went through the entire second round.
Johnson has known about Blake’s athletic prowess for years. His grandfather, David Pierce, manages her Zulla Road farm outside Middleburg. She hosted the party, grabbing a microphone just before the telecast began.
“It’s an honor to have you all at Salamander,” she told the crowd. “I wanted to do this out of love. I couldn’t be more proud of this hometown hero. I so admire you spiritually, your value system, your work ethic. It is my pleasure to celebrate you tonight.”
Blake also spoke briefly, clutching two cell phones in his hands in anticipation of soon getting a call from a team that might pick him.
“I just want to thank you all for coming,” he said. “You being here means a lot. I hope it turns out good.”
Actually, it turned out swell.
The 32 picks in the second round came and went without his name being called. But at 10:25 p.m., almost 3 1/2 hours after it all began, one of his phones lit up. Shortly thereafter, so did his face. The Los Angeles Rams, who lost the Super Bowl in February, were on the line, and at 10:29 p.m., they selected him in the third round, the 83rd pick overall.
He will join a team that already relied heavily on running back Kyren Williams, who gained 1,144 yards and scored 12 touchdown last year. But Blake is expected to share playing time with Williams in 2024, giving the Rams one of the best backfield tandems in the league.
When Blake’s name was announced, the Bluemont Room at Salamander erupted in sheer joy. Blake had been sitting on a couch in front of the big screen TV with his girlfriend Makiah Carr to his right, and his father James to his left. His three younger sisters, Skye, Starr and Rainn, were there, too, along with grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and so many more. When the grand news came, they all were on their feet, many hugging Blake, and each other, too.
“That was a lot of anxiety there,” James Blake said when the room calmed ever so slightly. “Sitting here was not easy. But you know what, where he was going to go, that’s where God intended him to be.”
“It was very tough,” Blake told Country ZEST. “When you feel like you’re the best running back in the draft and you keep waiting for something to happen, you start to wonder. But God had a plan, and I’m going to Los Angeles. It’s all good.”
And surely about to get even better.
