North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes' World: Playing Two Is Tough
6/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
June 10, 2001
By Tony Haynes
Philip Rivers pondered his answer to the question, but only briefly. During a recent media gathering, NC State's star quarterback was asked if he'd ever considered playing two sports on the college level.
"No," Rivers said with an accompanying giggle. "Growing up I used to say that wherever I go to college, I'm going to walk-on to the basketball team. That's what I used to say when I was in 10th or 11th grade when I was really into basketball. It would be tough for anybody to do. On occasion, people are able to do it, but I don't see how I would be able to do my best in one sport and be just as good in the other. It doesn't happen as much anymore."
He's right. These days, being a college football player is virtually a 12-month a year obligation. Athletes in other sports experience the same challenge. The words `off-season' have almost become obsolete in college sports.
At North Carolina, playing two varsity sports has obviously taken its toll on Julius Peppers and Ronald Curry. Peppers, an All-American defensive end in football and a bruising power forward in basketball, has already announced that he will not return to the Tar Heels' basketball team next season. Curry, a football quarterback and a basketball point guard, is weighing his options. More than likely, however, he will follow in Peppers' footsteps and forego another year of basketball.
"They've got a great ability to do both and they're good in both sports," Rivers said of Peppers and Curry. "Curry being a quarterback and playing basketball says a lot."
Rivers should know. He is the football version of a basketball gym rat. Even during the off-season, the 2000 ACC Rookie of the Year eats, drinks and sleeps the demanding position he plays. Throwing a football with precision is only a part of a quarterback's job description. He must also be able to read defensive fronts and secondary coverages in a matter of seconds, while also possessing the know-how to get his offense into the right play against certain defenses. Like most quarterbacks, Rivers spends an inordinate amount of time watching film year round in an effort to improve his decision-making abilities. His time is already precious. Imagine the time crunch he would face by playing two sports.
But whether an athlete plays quarterback, defensive end or point guard, performing at a high level in two sports is extremely difficult.
In the past year, most of NC State's football players have endured three weeks of preseason practice, an 11-game schedule, and a full month of bowl practice. And not long after the Wolfpack's victory over Minnesota in the MicronPC.com Bowl in Miami, head coach Chuck Amato was already pushing his players into an off-season conditioning program. Then, before you could blink, it was time for spring practice.
"A bunch of the guys were talking during spring practice about just how fast spring practice got here," Rivers said. "It's because we were in a bowl game. We practiced all the way until we got back January first. Then before you knew it, spring practice was underway."
And although the start of preseason practice is nearly two months away, most of the football players are hard at work either in the weight room or in individual, unsupervised workouts on the practice field.
One of the players who is scheduled to start working with Rivers and some of the other receivers this week is Dovonte Edwards. A two sports star at Chapel Hill High School, Edwards, who was recruited for football, has expressed a desire to play football as a receiver and walk-on to the basketball team as a guard.
But between now and late December, Edwards probably won't so much as even see a basketball. And by the time the football team opens its season in early September, coach Herb Sendek's basketball players will have already begun limited individual skill workouts, which are permitted by NCAA rules before the first official day of hoops practice in mid-October.
In other words, if Edwards does choose to come out for basketball at the end of football season, he'll be joining a group of guys who will have already been practicing or playing basketball almost every day for four months. Not to mention the fact that he'll be trying to crack a roster that will feature more guards than Buckingham Palace.
The difficulty of playing two sports makes you appreciate guys like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. Not only have those two superb athletes played football and baseball professionally, they have done so at an extremely high level. Jackson, in fact, was an all-star in both sports.
But those two are exceptions to the rule. Being very good in one sport is difficult enough. Excelling in two is almost too much to ask.
