Terps' Newcomers Hit The Gridiron Practice Field This Morning
8/16/2000 8:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2000
By Bill Free, Baltimore Sun
Visit the Baltimore Sun to view the Sun sports page and other stories on Maryland athletics
Chris Earhart's life was headed nowhere more than two years ago as he drove a dump truck east on Route 7 near Leesburg, Va., and continued past Ashburn on the way to Tysons Corner.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound football dropout had not played a down in more than five years. He had become resigned to driving that quad-axle dump truck 50 hours a week for a land development company and helping his father milk cows on their 500-acre farm the remainder of his waking hours.
Earhart had been an all-state defensive tackle at Nokesville (Va.) High as a four-year starter, using his strength to toss blockers and running backs around. As he drove past Ashburn that day in May 1998, Earhart's closest tie to the game he had loved so much was nearby Redskin Park.
Earhart, 23 at the time, insisted Redskin Park had nothing to do with the decision he made that day to attend junior college. He had made the same trip many times and no light bulbs went off in his head.
"I just seen the light," Earhart said. "I decided to change my whole lifestyle and go to school. I missed football a lot. The low pay was one thing that I wanted to change. I wanted an education and I wanted to play football. I was tired of not doing anything. I got on the CB and called my truck-driving buddies and told them I was going to college. They didn't believe me, but they did when I turned in my two weeks' notice."
Today, Earhart will be riding on emotion when he reports to Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden with 24 other newcomers for the first day of two-a-day workouts. The rare 25-year-old junior is a transfer from Montgomery College in Rockville and could become one of the biggest recruiting stories in Vanderlinden's four years in College Park.
"I've wanted to play D-I football since I was a little kid," Earhart said. "I was offered a scholarship to James Madison out of high school, but I turned it down because I didn't want to go to junior college at that time. I didn't have the grades to go to James Madison. I became a little depressed because of that and got down and didn't go anywhere."
Vanderlinden believes he has uncovered a gem who should start right away.
Earhart is the kind of wide body Vanderlinden has been searching for to anchor the middle of the Maryland defensive line.
"I've watched our offense have a lot of trouble blocking 300-pound wide bodies over the years," Vanderlinden said. "They muddy everything up. I've said, 'Let's get one of those guys.' And now we've found one in Chris. He's a great story. He's worked his butt off after deciding he wanted a new life. There's something special about a guy who goes through the process just because he loves the game. He realizes he's lucky to be here. Sometimes, the highly recruited kids have an unhealthy perception of things."
Earhart has impressed the coaching staff with his football and classroom work ethic this summer. He has been running and lifting weights for eight weeks to slim down from 320 pounds to 290, and he has worked all summer in the classroom to catch up.
Assistant coach Mike Gundy said: "It's great to have a mature guy like Chris who just goes off and does what he is supposed to do without us telling him."
So just how did Vanderlinden discover this big and affable Virginia farm boy from Nokesville, which is 10 miles from Manassas?
"I had a message from Dan Folio [Centreville (Va.) High football coach] on my answering machine, telling me about this phenomenal kid [Earhart] who was working out in his weight room in the spring of 1999," Vanderlinden said. "Dan told me he thought the kid was going to Montgomery College, and we looked at tape of his spring game and brought him in for a meeting."
Earhart said he will never forget the day (May 1, 1999) when Vanderlinden first called him, or the day (June 18, 1999) when he made an oral commitment to Maryland.
Earhart arrived in College Park for fall camp Sunday night and said he told a few of the other players he was 25 later that evening.
"They all just looked away and said, 'Wow.' They didn't know quite what to say. I'm sure they'll come up with some names for me like Grandpap, but it won't bother me. I'll let them go in one ear and out the other."
