BOULDER — Michael Sipili’s polite and softspoken personality, along with his infectious smile, offer no indication the Colorado senior inside linebacker once had to overcome a dark period. Sipili sat out the 2007 season while serving a university suspension after an off-campus altercation that summer left the face of another CU student battered and broken. Pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault, Sipili was sentenced to four days with a Boulder County Jail work crew, 80 hours of community service and two years of probation.
“I learned a lot of things from that — maturing, staying out of trouble,” Sipili said this week. “I realized you should never take anything for granted, especially when you’re given an opportunity to play college football and be at a place like this. Things happen. You just have to move forward and learn from it.”
Sipili, 6-feet-1 and 245 pounds, enters Folsom Field for today’s homecoming game against Texas Tech tied for the team lead with five tackles for a loss. He recorded the first interception of his college career last weekend against Baylor.
Linebackers coach Brian Cabral is not surprised Sipili is having his best season. It has taken Sipili this long to recover from his lost season — and the emotional and psychological scarring associated with feeling like an outcast.
The university suspension for the 2007 fall semester banned Sipili from campus and prohibited him from participating in any team function.
“For Mike to push through adversity like that, it’s made him a better person, a better player,” Cabral said. “That was not easy. For anybody not in his shoes, I don’t know if they understand how hard all that stuff was that he went through.”
Long talks with Cabral and fellow linebacker B.J. Beatty helped Sipili get through it.
The trio is connected by their home, the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Sipili was born in American Samoa but attended high school in Honolulu. Cabral was born at the Fort Benning (Ga.) army base but grew up in Kailua. Beatty, from Kaaawa, might be Sipili’s closest friend on the team.
“I know personally how hard it was for him that year,” Beatty recalled this week. “We’d try to hang out. I tried to keep in contact with him throughout that year. It was hard for him to see the ups and downs we were having that (6-7) season and he couldn’t be part of it.”
Cabral encouraged Sipili to stay.
“I told him it would be too easy for him to leave,” Cabral said. “The easier way would have been to go someplace else to play and try to forget and not deal with what he put himself into.”
A full-time starter this season, Sipili said he decided to remain at Colorado because there were reasons he picked this school during recruiting.
“I thought it was best if I finished what I started out to do,” he said.
Some closure to Sipili’s legal issues occurred in June. In a civil judgment, Sipili was found liable on negligence and battery, and former CU player Christopher Perri was found liable on negligence and extreme and outrageous conduct. From the lawsuit, Sipili owed John Antrim $67,200. Perri owed the victim $59,200. Sipili doesn’t have that kind of money now, but Antrim could register the judgment against him at a later date.
According to the lawsuit, Antrim got into a fight with Perri on University Hill in the early morning hours of June 16, 2007, after Perri had knocked down a female acquaintance of Antrim’s during a quarrel. Antrim said he was then knocked down by Sipili and repeatedly beaten. Antrim required surgery to insert three metal plates in his face.
“I think there can be (anger management issues) with anybody, especially when you drink,” Cabral said. “When alcohol is involved, that can bring out the worst in somebody.
“Mike learned from that. He knows right. He knows wrong. And he knows where to be and where not to be.”
After serving the university suspension, Sipili returned to classes and to the team in the spring of 2008. Although he had started the Missouri and Nebraska games as a true freshman in 2006, this almost felt like starting from scratch. There was a lot of rust.
“After missing that year (2007), it just put me back — not just two steps, but seven steps back,” Sipili said. “I just had to learn from it and catch up real quick. That’s what I’m trying to do. I still feel I have a long ways to go.”
Sipili has always been regarded among the squad’s hardest hitters. Teammates getting tackled hard by somebody during a game or scrimmage joke about being “Sipili’d.”
Sipili’s power and tenacity is an asset, and this fall he has keyed several goal-line stands. He also has gained a greater appreciation for the cerebral side of the game.
“I want to know what the offense is going to do before the snap,” Sipili said.
For the first time, he feels like a leader.
“How Sipili has matured and learned from his mistakes says a lot about his character,” said CU running backs coach Darian Hagan, whose unit goes against Sipili in practice. “With a lot of guys, when things get tough and situations aren’t in your favor, they pack up and run.
“Sipili didn’t. He manned up to his situation. And now he’s going to get a degree from a great university and maybe have an opportunity to play at the next level. He’s a great example that things can work out when you stick it out.”
Footnote. Because of Friday’s bad weather in Boulder, the Franklin Field and Sewall Field parking lots will be closed today. Those with permits for Franklin Field can park in lot 494 by the Coors Events Center; those in the Sewall Field lot can park in meters along University Avenue and in the Marine Drive and Grandview Avenue areas.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Remembering the Big 12
Oct. 27, 2007: CU 31, Texas Tech 26
With Colorado leaving the Big 12 after this season, The Denver Post is taking a look at the Buffs’ history with its opponents.
Colorado coach Dan Hawkins gave his players the silent treatment during practice the week of Oct. 21, 2007. He didn’t say much. The Buffaloes had just lost to the two Kansas schools, and Hawkins wanted his players to show him something.
They did. A 13 1/2-point underdog, Colorado intercepted the nation’s top passer four times and beat host Texas Tech 31-26. Cornerback Terrence Wheatley picked off Graham Harrell three times, and linebacker Jordon Dizon returned another interception 42 yards for a touchdown.
While the defense shut down one of the nation’s top offenses, Colorado ground out drives of 91 and 75 yards for a 14-0 lead it would never relinquish. Senior tailback Hugh Charles carved up the Red Raiders for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
The win put the Buffaloes at 5-4 (3-2 in league) and one win from playing Alabama in the Independence Bowl. The victory also was significant for another reason.
It marked Hawkins’ last win outside the state of Colorado. It has been 15 straight losses since.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
THE SERIES
Overall: CU leads 5-4. In Lubbock: Tech leads 4-1. In Boulder: CU leads 4-0.
