Adversity to Wyryor and Michael Noil means more than overcoming a season setbackor an injury.
The redshirt freshman wide receiver and redshirt sophomore defensive back reside in the inland northwest now but have not always. The brothers and their family moved out of their home state of Louisiana at the end of August 2005 — the day before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
“It was just chaos, panic,” Wyryor said of the evacuation. “Everybody was in shock. We moved before the hurricane actually touched down so that was probably more of a stressful position because everybody was getting out of the city was leaving, most of the state was evacuating. That was (really) stressful, not knowing if we was going to go. It was chaos.”
The family, including their five other brothers, left New Orleans the day before Katrina struck. After the storm had loomed for several weeks, it seemed that it was not going to hit the way it was originally anticipated to, Michael said, so when it hit land the impact was more than anticipated.
The family packed up the essentials in the time allowed, focusing on leaving before Hurricane Katrina hit.
Michael Noil | Idaho Athletics
“I know our mom lost our birth certificates and that, social security cards, it was a lot of stuff that was lost,” Wyryor said. “Just pack up what you need and leave.”
The family left for Mississippi that day, where they stayed for some time before returning to their home after the hurricane had done its damage.
“We were still so young, so really it was just debris everywhere, houses torn down,” Wyryor said of the aftermath. “Everybody see it on the news, and it was real, exactly what it looked like.”
Their home was gone, along with baby photos, birth certificates and all other items that were left behind in the rush to flee the hurricane.
“Everything (was) destroyed,” Wyryor said.
After the storm hit, the family switched back and forth between Mississippi and Louisiana for several years before traveling out west to Portland, Oregon.
Wyryor Noil | Idaho Athletics
While the brothers and their immediate family are more removed from hurricane paths now, the two still have family ties down south.
“Really just telling them to be safe. (I) talk to my family a lot around this time of year and make sure everybody is safe,” Wyryor said. “Then when something does hit, usually ahurricane hits, no matter the severity, about five or six of them a year. So just checking inon them around this time of year, making sure everyone is alright.”
The two both came out of Madison High School in Portland but sticking together to play collegiate football was not out of the plan, Michael said.
“It was really like gods plan,” Michael said. “We always talked about it though, we going to grow up, play with each other, and go to the League, play with each other.”
The hurricane that brought them to the Northwest only brought them and their family closer, Michael said. The family worked to make the most of their situation and keep their heads up, despite the adversity, Michael said.
A forced relocation due to impending natural disaster and football do not have much in common at surface level, but Michael carries it with him in his game.
“When I think about all the stuff, everything we been through, I just keep a chip on my shoulder,” Michael said. “I know what we went through, so I know that I’m already tougher than everybody out there so I just got to show it and I do the same thing in practice every day, just making sure I got a chip on my shoulder, making sure he keep that chip on his shoulder so we can go out there and show them, make them feel us.”
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]