Warren Central star Michael Tutsie’s NFL dreams come true with home team
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A lifelong dream turned reality — in the biggest way possible.
Warren Central football star Michael Tutsie got a phone call that changed his life on Father’s Day. His hometown team wanted to sign him to an undrafted free agent deal after a standout career at North Dakota State.
It was a moment more than 20 years in the making.
“I’d probably say as early as 4 or 5, I realized I wanted to play football for the rest of my life, and wanted to play in the NFL,” Tutsie said.
Tutsie grew up on a football field. The son of a coach, he started as Warren Central’s ball boy — ultimately turning into a defensive demon for the Warriors.
“Luck favors the prepared, and it always seems like he was in the right spot,” said Jayson West, Tutsie’s high school coach from Warren Central. “Always making plays, a pick, a fumble recovery. All those little things that just don’t happen to people, and it’s because Michael’s always prepared.”
Tutsie went from the Warriors to the Bison. Three FCS national championships later, the two-time All-American waited for his name to be called in the NFL Draft, which never came.
“It was hard. I thought it might be done,” Tutsie said. “Like, I’d never play football again. That could’ve been the last time, being at NDSU could’ve been the last time of me playing football. All those thoughts went in my head.”
Tutsie never stopped working. He was at Marian University’s football field, working three to four hours a day every single day with his dad Steve, the Knights current assistant football coach.
Finally, he got the call that made his dreams come true, and it was from the home team.
“That was the best. How can you get any better than that?” Tutsie said about signing with the Colts. “Being from the city, growing up loving the Colts, watching all the legends, it’s just amazing.”
“He called me, and I melted. My body went numb,” his dad Steve said. “It’s just a step, right? But it’s a huge step. It’s just a step, now it’s the next step.”
A step he’ll do alongside a very familiar face, former Warren Central teammate — and the Colts second round draft pick — Julius Brents.
“He came up to the weight room, and we just kind of looked at each other like, ‘Man, how about this! This is really crazy.’ That’s when it really set in. We’re here on the Colts together in the same defensive backfield. That’s stuff you dream about,” Tutsie said.
“I get shaky just watching him play at NDSU all those times. Now, I know that guy, I know that guy, I know that guy. That’s a Hollywood script,” Steve Tutsie said.
“It’s amazing. I don’t know if you’ll ever see it again,” West said. “It’s overwhelming. I’m just so proud of them. You never plan on these things, but you always know it’s possible with special people, and they are.”
“I love Indianapolis. I love being in the city that I’m from. It’s made me a part of who I am,” Tutsie said. “I’m not taking it for granted. I’m just putting my head down every single day, and representing the city.”
On the biggest stage in sports.