A Decision Made, Horton Ready to Work

After a myriad of conversations, Tory Horton had to have one final personal one.

With himself, a moment where he was going to have to be completely honest.

"Of course. There was no other way I could think about it," Colorado State's standout wide receiver said. "I had to take some very deep thoughts. I had to talk to my family, and my family told me this was my decision and whatever I ended up doing they were happy with. We just had tons of feedback, just the positives and negatives of each situation and me taking that into consideration. To me it was like the NFL isn't going anywhere. There could be some risk; it could be good or bad. This college time, once it's gone its gone.

"I felt like this last year could be a year where CSU is going to make a huge jump and stamp our name on the board of being one of those top contenders, just that powerful team that teams have a hard time playing against."

Horton announced earlier this week he will indeed return for one final season at Colorado State, putting a chance at a professional career on hold for one more season. No one questioned if he could play in the NFL, just if he was fully ready and at his most marketable point.

He owed it to himself to find out. And while he took input from multiple sources, the final choice had to be his and his alone.

On Wednesday, Colorado State announced the addition of 19 freshmen to the program on the early national signing date, and coach Jay Norvell said the biggest sales push he had to make was with Horton.

"It kinda starts with your own football team. The biggest recruiting job we had to do was really to talk to Tory Horton -- him and his family about the benefits of staying in college football for one more year and not going to the National Football League," Norvell said. "I really felt the responsibility with my experience of coaching in the NFL, of being involved in many Senior Bowls and combines, evaluating players, I really felt he needed to know the good and bad with his decision and what he would weigh . We're just so thankful Tory is coming back. We excited."

Norvell believes with one more college season, Horton can vastly improve a stock which has always been an upward climber. Horton has one more season to further attack the record book at not only Colorado State but the Mountain West.

His 167 receptions as a Ram rank seventh all time, with Rashard Higgins's 239 the number to beat. He'll go after Higgins' yardage mark too, which stands at 3,649; Horton enters with 2,267. Might as well go after Higgins' touchdown mark too (32), of which Horton has 16.

Considering his first two collegiate seasons were spent at Nevada, Horton is already part of the conference's big board. His 239 career receptions rank fifth in the Mountain West, with 283 by UNLV's Ryan Wolfe setting the benchmark. Higgins' yardage sits atop the conference charts, and Horton is at 3,262 at this point. With 26 career touchdowns, Horton is 12 behind the record set by Fresno State's Davante Adams.

Part of the reason for coming back is to make himself a better player and an even better professional prospect. He won't chase those numbers with intent but will do so as a byproduct of the work he puts into become a better wideout.

"It's quite a bit that I always work on. I want to work on being a better leader; that's one I can work on for myself and made for myself," Horton said. "Of course, I can get a little more armor on me, more muscle. You can always increase on speed, but that was something NFL evaluators said was that I have good speed. It's more so all around stuff. I can always improve on everything, and that's something I take to heart, to go back and make sure to show people the growth and change I made in the offseason to be better for the 2024 season."

Of all the voices he listened to, Horton valued the ones he knew best. There was his family, a group who chose to back whatever decision he made. Norvell made the same claim to the player he first recruited four years ago out of Fresno, Calif.

The trip Norvell made to meet with Horton and his family felt very familiar to him, but also highlighted the changes since they first met. There were still pictures on the wall of a younger Horton playing sports, snapshots on display the very first trip. But now there were additional photos from Nevada and Colorado State.

"I look at him as a key mentor. He's a very competitive person; he cares," Horton said of Norvell. "Me coming back to help the program, that's something we all thought about when we first got to CSU. He's been busting his tail off to make that happen.

"I want to set that mark and let everyone know what the standard is and what we're going for and nothing less. Of course, we're shooting for a Mountain west championship. The work ethic is going to be high, and Norvell has a high motor and that's something I like. He's not afraid to take risks, take shots. He's very competitive, so whatever we have to do to win, that's what we're going to do."

One way or the other, he was looking at an offseason of strenuous work. A vast amount of it will now be done in Fort Collins with a heavy dose of finishing a project he arrived with when he followed Norvell to Fort Collins.

To change an outlook for a program and do so with a person who gave him a chance and has always backed him. That feels good. Almost as much so as making the final decision.

"It was hard, but it was a huge relief. There were tons of people constantly asking what I was doing, and have I made a decision yet," Horton said. "It took a lot of weight off my shoulders. I could finally focus on going back to the routine of training in the offseason and getting ready for the 2024 season."

One which he knows will take him back home at some point in front of family and friends. One he definitely hopes will eventually take him to a level he still can't wait to reach.

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