Sanders working toward something special for the Griz
9/30/2016 4:24:00 PM | Football
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Yamen Sanders knows a thing or two about playing sports at the highest levels. It runs in the family.
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Yamen Sanders, the senior safety for the Montana Grizzlies, has learned much of what he knows about being an athlete from his father Yamen Sanders, who was a college basketball star at the University of Southern California before playing professionally in Europe.
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What Yamen Sanders the Grizzly has learned isn't rocket science. To him, the secret to being an athlete is hard work and learning to deal with adversity.
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"There's no easy route. Everybody wants the easy route, everybody wants to be given things, but in life, you really just have to work hard," said Sanders. "One thing he's told me is, life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you respond."
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It's a good thing Sanders has learned to deal with adversity too, after missing the first two games of the season due to an ankle sprain. Now, as The Big Sky's defending league champs prepare to invade Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Sanders has responded.
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"It's life. Things happen in life and you just got to figure out how to keep going, how to get back as soon as possible."
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Sanders started his second season at Montana as the Grizzlies leading returning tackler from 2015 with 64 takedowns after transferring from the University of Arizona. Pundits around the league took notice and named him a preseason All-Big Sky selection heading into the season.
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Sanders has also applied hard work in the classroom as well as on the football field, earning a spot on the All-Big Sky academic team last year.
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He made his first start of the season at Cal Poly and is set to lead the Montana defensive secondary again on Homecoming.
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Now that he's back in action the 6-4, 216-pound physical specimen is ready to take what he's learned from a lifetime around sports and apply it to one big goal: bringing home a Big Sky Championship.
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To see Sanders' complete senior profile, click on the photo above.
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Yamen Sanders knows a thing or two about playing sports at the highest levels. It runs in the family.
Â
Yamen Sanders, the senior safety for the Montana Grizzlies, has learned much of what he knows about being an athlete from his father Yamen Sanders, who was a college basketball star at the University of Southern California before playing professionally in Europe.
Â
What Yamen Sanders the Grizzly has learned isn't rocket science. To him, the secret to being an athlete is hard work and learning to deal with adversity.
Â
"There's no easy route. Everybody wants the easy route, everybody wants to be given things, but in life, you really just have to work hard," said Sanders. "One thing he's told me is, life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you respond."
Â
It's a good thing Sanders has learned to deal with adversity too, after missing the first two games of the season due to an ankle sprain. Now, as The Big Sky's defending league champs prepare to invade Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Sanders has responded.
Â
"It's life. Things happen in life and you just got to figure out how to keep going, how to get back as soon as possible."
Â
Sanders started his second season at Montana as the Grizzlies leading returning tackler from 2015 with 64 takedowns after transferring from the University of Arizona. Pundits around the league took notice and named him a preseason All-Big Sky selection heading into the season.
Â
Sanders has also applied hard work in the classroom as well as on the football field, earning a spot on the All-Big Sky academic team last year.
Â
He made his first start of the season at Cal Poly and is set to lead the Montana defensive secondary again on Homecoming.
Â
Now that he's back in action the 6-4, 216-pound physical specimen is ready to take what he's learned from a lifetime around sports and apply it to one big goal: bringing home a Big Sky Championship.
Â
To see Sanders' complete senior profile, click on the photo above.
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Players Mentioned
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