Michigan football's Donovan Peoples-Jones was 9 years old when he first visited his father's office at Oak Orthopedics in Bradley, Illinois.

Dr. Eddie Jones, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in orthopedic trauma, sports medicine and joint replacement, was performing an ankle procedure at his practice’s outpatient surgical center and decided to bring his son along.

Before the trip, Jones gave Peoples-Jones a book titled "Anatomy: A Regional Atlas of the Human Body." Written by Carmine D. Clemente in 1975, the tome is more commonly studied by medical students.

Peoples-Jones flipped through the pages and reviewed the bones of the ankle. When the day of the procedure arrived, he was well-prepared for what he’d witness.

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“He was very curious, very observant, asked all the appropriate questions,” Jones recalled. “He was happy to see the structures that he learned about.”

Peoples-Jones still has that book. And the way he studied human anatomy all those years ago is the same as how he juggles his dreams of reaching the NFL and becoming an orthopedic surgeon: With laser-beam focus and quiet determination.

Entering his third year at Michigan, Peoples-Jones has blossomed into one of the top receivers in college football. He’s one of the more recognizable players on one of the nation’s highest-profile teams — yet there’s still very little known about him aside from his athletic feats.

He doesn't like to talk. He is best described as reticent, and he has always been that way.

“Early on, I didn’t really understand it, because he’s always been really quiet,” his mother, Roslyn Peoples, said. “But if you asked him what you said, or when you go to church, he can tell you everything that was said and what it meant to him. I just think that he’s very grounded.”

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Stardom hasn’t changed Peoples-Jones. If anything, his athletic and academic accomplishments (earning academic All-Big Ten honors in 2018) are a reflection of his original dream. He has never had to pick between either of his biggest aspirations. He simply understands the will and determination required to bring both into existence.

“He always knew what he wanted,” Peoples said. “As a little boy, when he was 9 or 10, when he would get his allowance, he would buy those little orange cones. He was creating routes and running routes through them. I just saw him running in circles. I didn’t understand what he was doing.

“But he always had vision. He was always very focused and very strategic. He would always play by himself. He was a loner. I’d see him zigzag, running routes.”

Signs of things to come

Peoples-Jones harbored a love for football from a very young age. Instead of watching cartoons or Disney films, he watched football — specifically, a tape of Super Bowl 25. He would pretend to catch passes, diving across the couch and mimicking slow-motion replays.

When he reached third grade, he was assigned to write about himself. His words: "Read all about me. I’m Donovan Peoples-Jones, I’m 8 years old. God’s light shines in me when I play football."

He began playing youth football with the Southfield Lathrup Falcons, and he quickly became a star.

“We had certain plays for him,” said Rodney Hall, the Falcons’ coach. “You’d run him hard inside, give him a jet sweep or a pitch, and you knew he was just gone. He was just so much faster than all the other kids.”

At home, Peoples-Jones would pose in front of the mirror with a microphone, giving a speech as if he had just won the Heisman Trophy. Then he’d go outside and run routes around the orange cones bought with his allowance. When he spent time with his dad, Peoples-Jones would work on different drills in the backyard.

“When he came down to visit, he’d like jumping on the trampoline,” Jones said. “And he’s very athletic, very coordinated, very animated. We dreamed up a drill where he’d throw the ball up and do a flip and on his way down catch the ball.”

At the same time, Peoples-Jones’ interest in becoming an orthopedic surgeon grew. Part of it stemmed from being around his father’s profession from an early age. The rest, according to his mom, came after he began playing football. Whenever Peoples-Jones incurred an injury, he would seek to treat it himself.

“If his arm was hurt or leg or knee, he would Google it and then he would have me take him to the store,” Peoples said. “He would buy all this special tape and all these different things and wrap his own leg or wrap his own arm or drink beet juice.

"Becoming an orthopedic surgeon after he plays, he can still be close and understand what those guys are going through. It’s very different if you’ve ever felt those injuries — which he has.”

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As he approached high school, Peoples-Jones remained dedicated to his earliest visions of success. “He just really knows what he wants to do in life," said Rodney Hall Jr., one of his closest friends, "and that’s just how he goes about his business.”

In eighth grade, Peoples-Jones wrote a letter explaining his dream of becoming a heavily recruited prospect. That’s why he — and his mom stresses her son made the decision — chose to attend Cass Tech, a perennial superpower in the Detroit Public School League. He wanted to go to a school where he would be challenged, both athletically and academically.

"He really had a plan," Peoples said. "It was just so interesting to watch that materialize into him living his dream. But he also worked really hard for it.”

Choosing Cass Tech proved to be the right decision. As a student who finished high school with a near-4.0 GPA, Peoples-Jones often was invited to special breakfasts for high-achieving students. True to his quiet nature, he declined to attend until his senior year, when his coach, Thomas Wilcher, implored him to go at least once.

“I think the most important thing about him is that he had the desire to be the best, and he would do whatever it takes,” Wilcher said. “No matter how long he would practice, no matter how long he would stay up, he wouldn’t sleep. He just did schoolwork, straight-A student, and work out. That’s all he would do. He didn’t do anything else.”

When Michigan came calling

Ohio State was the first to offer a scholarship, during his freshman year. The rest of college football soon followed. During the summer after Peoples-Jones’ sophomore year, Wilcher took a contingent of players to a camp at North Carolina State. By then, Wilcher had noticed a trend — coaches and evaluators focused solely on Peoples-Jones, ignoring everyone else. “He stole the show,” Wilcher says.

The coach asked him to sit out and allow his teammates to receive more exposure. Peoples-Jones willingly agreed — and did the same at other camps and events. He wanted his friends to succeed.

As his recruitment continued, Peoples-Jones sought the same type of environment he had at Cass — a school that would allow him to pursue both football and an eventual career as a surgeon. Michigan happened to be the first to emphasize both.

During one trip to Ann Arbor, Peoples-Jones visited with a surgeon before shadowing him during a procedure — much like he had done all those years ago with his dad. Afterward, the surgeon offered Peoples-Jones a coveted internship.

Word got out quickly. Once Ohio State found out, the Buckeyes invited Peoples-Jones and his family to attend a surgery in Columbus. Other programs also made sure to give Peoples-Jones a tour of their medical schools.

During that time, he found a kindred spirit in Myron Rolle, a safety who starred at Florida State, was named a Rhodes scholar and enjoyed a brief NFL career. Rolle retired in 2013 to attend medical school and still talks to Peoples-Jones.

There remains a big difference between the two, though, according to Peoples: “Donovan just seems to love football a little more than Myron.”

As Peoples-Jones’ decision date approached, all parties remained in the dark — including his family. His father, who attended Michigan, hoped the Wolverines would be the choice. So did his mother.

The weekend before his commitment, Peoples-Jones took one final visit to Michigan. He and his mom spent Saturday and Sunday in Ann Arbor, whereupon a heavy winter storm blew into town. A car service was scheduled to take them home, but Jim Harbaugh proposed that he drive them home himself in his truck.

“He didn’t even want the car service to bring us home,” Peoples said. “He said, ‘No, this is precious cargo.’ ”

During the ride back, Peoples took a call from Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who had originally scheduled an in-home visit with Peoples-Jones immediately following the Michigan visit in an attempt to have the last word. Meyer explained that Detroit Metro Airport had been shut down by the storm, and that he would instead fly to Toledo and drive the rest of the way.

“I’m like, ‘People, really, it’s really bad out here, you don’t have to do this,’ ” Peoples recalled. “(Meyer) said, ‘No, no, we’re coming.’ My snow service didn’t even have a chance to shovel the driveway. It was a 10-inch snowstorm. It snowed up to your knees. They drove in it, they pulled to the driveway, and came on in.”

In the end, it proved not to matter. Peoples-Jones knew — has always known — what he was looking for. On Dec. 15, 2016, he announced his decision by donning a Michigan hat on national television. Growing up, he had always wanted to commit at the Army All-American game. ESPN wasn’t exactly that. But it was close enough — and a sign that his childhood dreams were coming into focus.

'Excited for Donovan's year'

Peoples-Jones' success extends beyond his determination and healthy curiosity. He happens to have world-class athleticism. It’s why he has been able to separate himself at the collegiate level, and why expectations are so high.

Receiver Nico Collins recalls a practice during which Peoples-Jones ran a corner route and caught the pass with one hand across his body. There’s also the time he beat the NFL combine’s broad jump record — as a rising freshman in high school. His leaping, game-winning touchdown catch against Utica Eisenhower that sent Cass to the state title game in 2016. The viral videos of him front-flipping over a fence or dunking over three people at a high school pep rally.

This season, Peoples-Jones is primed for a big year in U-M’s new offense, after leading the team in catches and receiving touchdowns last fall.

“Past performance usually predicts future success," Harbaugh said. "I love so many things about Donovan. One of my all-time favorite players. His physical courage, I think, is one of the things that stands out the most to me. He is a tough guy. Does so many things for the team in terms of receiving, returning. Excited for Donovan’s year.”

In many ways, Peoples-Jones is the same as when he was a child. . He remains reserved and keeps a tight inner circle — and he's undeniably focused.

“A lot of people talk about what they want to do,” his father said. "But when it comes to that juncture when they have to put up effort, we all know that some people haven’t been able to meet their goals. Donovan seems to have had a consistent vision for himself. He’s made it happen, because of his passion and his curiosity.”

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.