If the state of college football in Colorado had been in a good place, Eddie Yarbrough might have been able to follow his heart. Instead, he did the best he could.
The standout defensive end for Wyoming admitted he could have been a Ram or even a Buff had either house had things in order. But as he was exiting Grandview High School in Aurora, so was Dan Hawkins at Colorado. The rumors were pretty strong Steve Fairchild would be exiting Fort Collins in short order too.
So Yarbrough crossed both schools off his list. Despite holding offers from Vanderbilt and Kansas State, he followed his heart and headed north to Laramie.
“Then Wyoming couldn’t outrun the bullet (Dave Christensen was fired two years ago), of course, but Wyoming had me,” Yarbrough said. “I had an offer to Vanderbilt and K-State, but my parents have been seeing me play every single game for my total football career. I felt like it would be unfair for me to go all the way down to Vanderbilt, all the way to Tennessee, for them to see me play twice a year. They’re half responsible for the football career I’ve had.”
Not that Yarbrough has had any regrets. He enters his final season with the Cowboys as a two-time first-team all-Mountain West selection. He has registered 194 tackles in his career, 28½ for loss. With 7½ more stops behind the line of scrimmage, he will be Wyoming’s career leader.
More important to him is what he sees after games. His parents make the two-hour-plus drive north for all his home games, and he said seeing them smile is what keeps him from ever looking back on his choice. With an uncle who works for the Broncos, he understood that no matter where he played, if he was good enough to reach the next level, the NFL would find him.
He’s among 19 Colorado players on the Wyoming roster, one of six expected to start for the Cowboys this season. Overall, there isn’t a large list of Colorado players on Mountain West rosters — just 72 overall, not enough to fill one team’s scholarship limit.
It makes no sense to Yarbrough. In fact, it offends him somewhat.
“I don’t know what it is, if people don’t have faith in Colorado sports or prospects, but that’s kind of a chip that I play with on my shoulders,” he said. “How dare people pass up on Colorado thinking a California kid, a Texas kid are better than me because they’re from a different state. You shouldn’t have passed on me. I’m going to make you feel my pain.”
