Veteran NFL quarterback Charlie Batch considers Eastern Michigan a second home
There will be times when Charlie Batch and Ben Roethlisberger will sit down and start exchanging stories about coming of age in the Mid-American Conference.
These days, the MAC has become a quarterback pipeline to the NFL, producing household names at schools still considered to be competing at a mid-major level.
For Batch, who was inducted into Eastern Michigan's Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday, starting his career in Ypsilanti was a chance to just get on the field. The rest - his 12 years in the NFL, his two Super Bowl rings and the chance to play professionally in his hometown of Pittsburgh - proved just to be extra.
But Batch never glosses over where it all began.
"A lot of people obviously see the end result where I am now, but the journey that it took to get here has been really great," Batch said Saturday. "I would have never envisioned in a million years the way my career started here that it would end up in this situation."
Batch, whose eight years with the Pittsburgh Steelers has produced two Super Bowl championships, left Eastern Michigan owning virtually every career passing mark. Early on, though, he didn't start, forced to wait before he'd get a chance to prove himself as a Division I quarterback.
His coaches begged for him to be patient and to trust the system. If he did, the rest took care of itself.
During his Eastern Michigan career, Batch earned four varsity letters. During his career, he set school records for total offensive yards (7,715), single-season offensive yards (3,229) in 1995 before breaking his own record his senior year (3,390). He also left Ypsilanti holding the record for career passing yards (7,592) and career touchdown passes (53). He earned the program's Most Valuable Player award in 1997 and was a first-team All Mid-American Conference selection in 1995.
As he began to produce, the scouts began to come, making Batch a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. After never expecting his time at Eastern Michigan would lead to an NFL career, Batch became a four-year starter in Detroit before making his way to Pittsburgh.
Again, he credits the foundation he built at Eastern Michigan, which hasn't produced a winning football season since Batch's second season in 1995. Despite his team not finishing with a winning mark in his final two seasons when he captained Eastern Michigan's program, Batch became one of the first MAC quarterbacks to reach the NFL.
"I had to do what I need to do here," Batch said. "At the time, you didn't have many MAC players that were going to the league...but now, I laugh with Ben Roethlisberger and say, 'Hey - you're Miami (Ohio) and I'm Eastern Michigan' and there's a MAC connection."
While his schedule doesn't allow him to return to Eastern Michigan during the regular season, Batch considers Ypsilanti a second home. Of the seven Hall of Fame inductees recognized during Saturday's Eastern Michigan-Northern Illinois men's basketball game, Batch received the warmest reception.
Following the halftime ceremony, Batch posed for photos and allowed youngsters to try on his Super Bowl ring. Known as much for his charitable work in Pittsburgh as much as his accomplishments on the field, Batch still feels a special connection to the place where his college career took shape.
After spending four years with the Lions, Batch came back to Detroit in 2006 when the Steelers captured a Super Bowl championship at Ford Field over the Seattle Seahawks. For Batch, it was a chance to return home.
"I basically grew up here," he said. "Ypsilanti is really a city that embraced me and to be able to become the person I have become."
Batch hopes to re-establish a connection with Eastern's football program after he retires. But given his success since he left the school and the reputation that helped him earn the Steelers' Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2006 makes him one of the school's most recognizable ambassadors.
This year's Hall of Fame class also in includes Denise Allen (women's basketball), Jerry Cerulla (men's track), Angela (Springer) Johnson (women's track), Sharon McNie (women's gymnastics), Gary Patton (football) and Gary Strickland (athletic trainer).
"It just helps Eastern to continue to be on a national stage," Eastern Michigan athletic director Derrick Gragg said Saturday. "(Batch) is kind of unassuming and doesn't toot his own horn, but he's a great representative for the university.
"He always says it doesn't matter where you go to school (the NFL) is going to find you and the school gets a lot out of that."
Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.