Charles gets his dream offer

Plant tight end Orson Charles always dreamed of playing football as Miami.

While scholarship offers began mounting for the 6-foot-3, 230-pound junior, there was one he eagerly anticipated. And on Monday afternoon, Plant coach Robert Weiner pulled Charles out of a workout to tell him the good news from Coral Gables -- that Miami was the latest school to offer Charles a scholarship.

"I was about to cry," Charles said. "I thought it was coming, but I didn't think it was coming this soon."

Charles admits it will difficult to turn his back on the Hurricanes, especially considering that Miami has been a tight end factory for the NFL -- Kellen Winslow, Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen are just a few recent first-rounders to come out of the "U" -- but he said he will take a close look at the academics at all the Florida state schools he's been offered (Florida, Florida State, USF) before narrowing his list. Charles wants to major in architecture.

"I think they have a leg up becuase they're a private school," Charles said of Miami. "So I would get more one-on-one attention."

Charles, a transfer from Riverview, will be busy the next two weekends, taking unofficial visits to Georgia and Florida the next two weekends along with a teammate, Plant's highly-recruited quarterback Aaron Murray.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how Georgia uses their tight ends," Charles said.

-- EDUARDO A. ENCINA

Comments

The U is a tight end's dream?

[Da U]

8:03, see Bubba Franks, Jeremy Shockey, Everett, Winslow, etc.

Yes, the U is a good place to matriculate if you want to be a TE in the NFL.

The "U" is like a NFL factory producer.

The 'U' IS a tight ends dream!!