It’s just two words, and if you’re not steeped in the minutiae of football, they mean little. If you do live in that world, though, they carry a lot of weight – “The Mike.”
Mike is the nickname for the middle linebacker on defense. “The Mike” is the starter at that position. For football players, it means more than just a position, it means a certain stature. In most defensive systems, the middle linebacker makes all the defensive calls, which brings with it a lot of responsibility.
“There’s a high level of trust in making the calls and just being the Mike,” South Carolina sophomore T.