Curry makes ‘life decision’ and commits to Air Force

Football was definitely in Willie Curry’s future, but he looked beyond the next four years when deciding where he would play in college.

Curry orally committed to play football at Air Force earlier this week. He chose the service academy as much for what it could give him off the field as it can on the field.

“I was looking at it as far as what I’m going to do after football,” Curry said. “A lot of people graduate, but can’t find a job. I’ll have a job. It was more of a life decision than a football decision for me.”

Curry burst on the scene for the Wildcats as a sophomore. After two years of dominating at the junior high level, Curry scored on a 45-yard run the first time he touched the ball as a varsity player.

He hasn’t slowed down since. Curry rushed for 1,319 yard and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore, including an Enterprise single-game record 282 yards rushing against Smiths Station. Curry added 1,273 yards rushing and 16 more scores as a junior.

But it’s what Curry brings to the team off the field that most impresses Enterprise coach Kevin Collins.

“He is a high-character guy,” Collins said. “He is dependable. He’s done a lot for this program and he’s done a lot for this school.”

Collins said Curry is a perfect match for the type of student athletes at Air Force.

“He fits in to the mold they’re looking for,” he said. “He fits the profile of the military schools. He’s self-disciplined, he’s got high character and he’s dependable. He’s got all the things that any school is looking for, but certainly those that have got a little bit of a higher standard, he fits those.”

Curry chose Air Force instead of Auburn, Stanford, Nebraska and Georgia Tech.

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work, and it’s not just football,” Curry said. “They compared the education to an Ivy League school so it’s not going to be a walk in the park by any means.”

Curry hasn’t yet decided on a major, though he expected that would change soon.

“I’m trying to focus on high school right now,” Curry said. “As I committed, that’s a big step that makes you realize how fast things are going and how close you are to really being in college. I haven’t really thought about a major, but I’ll think about that toward the end of the season.”

One thing Curry has focused on is being a member of the Air Force football team.

“The team that’s there is a bunch of good guys; that’s the only kind of guys they take at Air Force,” Curry said. “I’m real excited to meet my teammates. It’s competitive; they all have that military mindset. I’m looking forward to running the ball there.”