Mycah Pittman is used to having a target on his back.
His dad, Michael Pittman, played 10 years in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos. His brother, Michael Jr., is a junior at USC and has established himself as one of the best receivers in the nation in 2019. Despite his proximity to excellence, Pittman has always found a way to stand out on his own.
“When I came into camps and stuff like that, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh, Pittman’s here? I gotta show out if Pittman’s here,’” Pittman said.
Being the guy that everyone’s gunning for, even at the high school level, isn’t for everyone. Some people shy away from the spotlight, but not Pittman. He uses that outside pressure as motivation, and he’s found that other people’s expectations for him will never be as great as the ones he has for himself.
“I have high expectations for myself,” Pittman said after his debut against California. “People tell me I had a great game, I didn’t have any dropped passes. But at the end of the day, I feel that I can do more for this team. I’m very hard on myself, and personally, I feel that I could have done better.”
He’ll never admit it, but he’s been excellent in his first two games back from a serious shoulder injury. He caught four passes for 43 yards — a couple of them during critical points of the game — in his collegiate debut against Cal. He followed that up with three catches for 57 yards on Friday night against Colorado.
He has instantly stood out as one of the most talented and sure-handed receivers on the team, but the road back from injury to that point wasn’t an easy one. That’s part of what makes his early success so meaningful.
“I’m really happy for him,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “You see how excitable he is when he touches the ball … It means the world to him. Being a member of this football program and this team, this family — it means the world to him.”
Football has been a part of Pittman’s life since before he can remember, so having all the anticipation of his collegiate debut abruptly halted and replaced with six long weeks of rehab was admittedly tough on him. He talked at length before the season about how excited he was to make his debut under the bright lights of AT&T Stadium against Auburn in Oregon’s week one matchup in Arlington, Texas. He was understandably disappointed when that didn’t happen.
“It was tough,” Pittman said. “It was tough on my faith, it was tough on my family, tough on myself. It really hurt.”
However, that’s part of what’s made these last two games so special for him. In a way, it has brightened the spotlight on him even more. When he made his first career catch, he received the loudest applause of the night from the Autzen faithful. After every catch since then, his outward displays of emotion let everyone know that he’s back like he never left.
“My dad always tells me that football can be taken away from you at any second,” Pittman said. “So live to the fullest of it and enjoy it when you play.”
His Oregon career may have started later than he planned, but he’s been just as good as advertised. And yet at the same time, it feels like he’s just scratching the surface.
“If I told you my goals, you’d laugh at me,” Pittman said.
