From Dolphins.com:
Dionte Savage Reunites With Familiar Face On Offense
Posted May 14, 2015
Alain Poupart
Lead Writer
Dolphins.com
Perhaps it was inevitable that Dionte Savage ended up signing with the Miami Dolphins after being undrafted two weekends ago.
The massive guard’s college career took him to Arizona Western College and later to Oklahoma where one of his teammates in both places was running back Damien Williams. So why not a third stop together?
“We talked after (I signed with the Dolphins),” Savage said last weekend during the rookie minicamp. “We were just like, it’s crazy how we keep ending up on the same team together. But he’s a great friend. We shared some experiences and hopefully here we can do the same.
“He really honestly didn’t know, so that’s why when I called him I kind of surprised him. It was great, man. He felt good about it. I’ve got a great opportunity here. Come out here every day and make the most of it.”
Savage and Williams first hooked up at Arizona Western in 2010 when both were freshmen and were reunited at Oklahoma in 2013 after taking different paths to major college football.
While Williams went to Oklahoma in 2012 after two seasons at Arizona Western, Savage left Arizona Western after his freshman football season and attended a different community college before returning for a second season at Arizona Western in 2012.
After he earned second-team NJCAA All-American honors, Savage became a highly recruited offensive lineman and he verbally committed to Baylor before having a conversation with Williams.
“OU was actually the last visit I took,” Savage said. “He hosted me, so we talked about everything. He was just like, man, let’s come here and do it all over again. Won’t you come block for me? We were great friends, so I just came.”
The dream now is for Savage to once again get to block for Williams, but this time in the NFL.
Of course, the first step for Savage is making the 53-man roster, always a difficult task for an undrafted rookie.
Savage was one of four offensive linemen signed by the Dolphins as rookie free agents along with Aundrey Walker, Mickey Baucus and Michael Liedtke.
Savage started six games last season for an Oklahoma offensive line that sent three of its members to the scouting combine. Savage didn’t get that invitation, but he did play well enough to earn honorable mention All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches.
But while he watched former offensive line teammates Daryl Williams and Tyrus Thompson — as well as Dolphins second-round pick Jordan Phillips — get selected, Savage watched the draft come and go without hearing his name called out.
“It was a little disappointing, but not so much frustrating because at the end of the day I got an opportunity and that’s all I need,” Savage said. “So I take it as it is and (will) make the most out of my opportunity here.”
It’s not as though Savage hasn’t overcome obstacles before.
He made it out of Flint, Mich., named in 2013 in an article by Business Insider magazine as the “most dangerous city in America” based on FBI statistics.
Then there was the year out of football in 2011 when he worked to get his grades back up.
Savage, who reportedly weighed about 430 pounds when he first arrived at Arizona Western and is now listed at 343 on the Dolphins roster, indeed has come a long way.
He’s always been a fighter, although not in the same sense as his brother Shujaa El Amin, who is a professional boxer in the super middleweight division.
As Savage once said in an interview with mlive.com: “At the end of the day, out of all of the adversity that I’ve faced, I managed to overcome them and keep going and never give up because you’re always going to have opportunities, but it’s up to you.”
Dionte Savage Reunites With Familiar Face On Offense
Posted May 14, 2015
Alain Poupart
Lead Writer
Dolphins.com
Perhaps it was inevitable that Dionte Savage ended up signing with the Miami Dolphins after being undrafted two weekends ago.
The massive guard’s college career took him to Arizona Western College and later to Oklahoma where one of his teammates in both places was running back Damien Williams. So why not a third stop together?
“We talked after (I signed with the Dolphins),” Savage said last weekend during the rookie minicamp. “We were just like, it’s crazy how we keep ending up on the same team together. But he’s a great friend. We shared some experiences and hopefully here we can do the same.
“He really honestly didn’t know, so that’s why when I called him I kind of surprised him. It was great, man. He felt good about it. I’ve got a great opportunity here. Come out here every day and make the most of it.”
Savage and Williams first hooked up at Arizona Western in 2010 when both were freshmen and were reunited at Oklahoma in 2013 after taking different paths to major college football.
While Williams went to Oklahoma in 2012 after two seasons at Arizona Western, Savage left Arizona Western after his freshman football season and attended a different community college before returning for a second season at Arizona Western in 2012.
After he earned second-team NJCAA All-American honors, Savage became a highly recruited offensive lineman and he verbally committed to Baylor before having a conversation with Williams.
“OU was actually the last visit I took,” Savage said. “He hosted me, so we talked about everything. He was just like, man, let’s come here and do it all over again. Won’t you come block for me? We were great friends, so I just came.”
The dream now is for Savage to once again get to block for Williams, but this time in the NFL.
Of course, the first step for Savage is making the 53-man roster, always a difficult task for an undrafted rookie.
Savage was one of four offensive linemen signed by the Dolphins as rookie free agents along with Aundrey Walker, Mickey Baucus and Michael Liedtke.
Savage started six games last season for an Oklahoma offensive line that sent three of its members to the scouting combine. Savage didn’t get that invitation, but he did play well enough to earn honorable mention All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches.
But while he watched former offensive line teammates Daryl Williams and Tyrus Thompson — as well as Dolphins second-round pick Jordan Phillips — get selected, Savage watched the draft come and go without hearing his name called out.
“It was a little disappointing, but not so much frustrating because at the end of the day I got an opportunity and that’s all I need,” Savage said. “So I take it as it is and (will) make the most out of my opportunity here.”
It’s not as though Savage hasn’t overcome obstacles before.
He made it out of Flint, Mich., named in 2013 in an article by Business Insider magazine as the “most dangerous city in America” based on FBI statistics.
Then there was the year out of football in 2011 when he worked to get his grades back up.
Savage, who reportedly weighed about 430 pounds when he first arrived at Arizona Western and is now listed at 343 on the Dolphins roster, indeed has come a long way.
He’s always been a fighter, although not in the same sense as his brother Shujaa El Amin, who is a professional boxer in the super middleweight division.
As Savage once said in an interview with mlive.com: “At the end of the day, out of all of the adversity that I’ve faced, I managed to overcome them and keep going and never give up because you’re always going to have opportunities, but it’s up to you.”
