Two decades later, Justin Gage feels continued connection to Mizzou athletics
It's been an eventful year for Justin Gage.
The Jefferson City product, former University of Missouri star and former NFL player has relived some of his athletic feats multiple times in the past six months alone.
Most recent among them, Gage last week was announced as a member of the Class of 2022 that will be inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
In between all that, he achieved an academic goal, too.
"To top it off with an event like this and be mentioned as an inductee and join this fine group of people, I mean, it's so many different memories and there's high-level opportunities and achievements that are hitting at once," Gage said. "There's no way to explain the feeling."
Of the times Gage has been back in Columbia in 2022, twice he's been recognized for his athletic achievements.
The first came in March, when he was honored along with the rest of the 2002 Missouri men's basketball team that made a Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight. Next was celebrating his Missouri sports career as a whole from his Jays days to his time as a Tiger with his upcoming hall induction.
On top of that, in August, the 41-year-old finally graduated from MU.
"The university is really growing and giving a lot of alumni reasons to come back and cheer the (athletic) program on," Gage said. "I was able to graduate and finish my schooling."
Being a former member of the men's basketball and football teams connects Gage to both programs' situations.
On March 23, just weeks after Gage was honored at Mizzou Arena with a handful of his teammates, Dennis Gates was introduced as Missouri's next head men's basketball coach. Gage took note of the hire, as well as the job Eli Drinkwitz has done as the head football coach.
More:Kwiecinski: 10 thoughts on Dennis Gates' first 100 days with Missouri men's basketball
The events this year have reminded him the real reason he was a two-sport athlete in the first place: competition.
That competitive spirit earned him All-Big 12 first-team honors in 2001 and All-Big 12 second-team honors in 2002. His 2,704 career yards receiving are second-most in MU history, and his 200 receptions are third-most.
Years later and his accomplishments aside, Gage doesn't want to boast about playing two Division I sports. Instead, he wants to remember the two things that kept him busy in college, which became something more.
"Hey, I'm a part of the football program; hey, I'm a part of the basketball program," he said. "That's a relationship and a family that I'll carry on forever and never lose."
That connection has continued as the present-day MU coaches have allowed Gage to come back and pass his wisdom on to current players.
Gage also serves as an assistant football coach for CBC High School in St. Louis.
"It's having that home that we can go back to," Gage said of returning to visit MU. "We'd love to be a part of that and love to go talk to some of the young guys and just give 'em some pointers or some advice of things that we may have faced, just so they're not reinventing the wheel."
Current five-star wideout Luther Burden adds to a recent history of MU receivers that includes Gage and the likes of Jeremy Maclin, Dorial Green-Beckham, Danario Alexander and Will Franklin.
"We've had some really good guys come through," Gage said. "We haven't been recognized the way that I feel we should, but a lot of that comes with the success of the program."
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Former Mizzou star Justin Gage's continued connection to Missouri
