Recruit Beck can't escape spotlight
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
When you are believed to be a football savior, your phone is forever ringing.
Harrison Beck has become used to it. Truth be told, the high school senior usually likes when it rings.
"You kind of feel honored," Beck said. "That people want to call and talk to a high school kid about football?"
Who knew having a cannon for an arm would wear out Beck's cell phone minutes? But the calls keep coming from persistent college recruiters, nosy reporters and, most importantly, his future offensive coordinator, Jay Norvell.
The Nebraska assistant coach calls Beck a day or two before each Husker game.
"We go over the first 15 plays of every game and what they're going to run," said Beck, Nebraska's prized recruit from Clearwater, Fla.
Such status has made Beck a prime target for foes and rumors alike. His senior year at Countryside High School has provided him a learning curve on how to deal with being a public figure; on how to deal with suddenly carrying a name that's supposed to have greatness attached to it.
What often seems forgotten? He's just 17.
"Every time someone tackles me this year, they scream my name out loud like they're really cool," the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Beck said. "One time during a timeout, a defensive lineman yells at me, ‘Hey, look. There's Harrison Beck.' That was kind of weird. Another time, I ran for 50 yards, they finally tackle me and they still get up screaming. Every week we hear schools saying what they're going to do to me, how they're going to hurt me. It's getting pretty crazy."
Even so, about the only guy who seemingly wouldn't like to be Beck right now is his stepfather, Dave Bothwell.
"I personally wouldn't want to be in his shoes where everyone is breathing down his neck and misinterpreting things," Bothwell said. "It's tough for a teenager always getting calls (from coaches and reporters). Cause he can't be sarcastic. He's got to watch every word. And teenagers don't say every thing the right way probably. He's learning. He can't be goofing around."
A few weeks ago, Beck joked to someone around town about how he had "nothing to do over the weekend. Maybe I'll go to the Florida game." His comment was apparently passed around until a blog appeared on an Internet message board suggesting the quarterback was considering decommitting from Nebraska to join the Gators, who are still courting him.
Some die-hard Nebraska fans who pay close attention to the recruiting wires began to panic. Husker head coach Bill Callahan was on the phone with Beck soon after, making sure he hadn't lost the quarterback he desperately wants.
"It gets old. I always get people asking me, ‘Is he going to decommit? Is he going to decommit?'" Bothwell said. "I have to keep telling them, ‘No. He's solid Nebraska. He gave his word and he's going to keep it.' In his mind, (the recruiting process) is over."
But the speculating has just started. Given Nebraska sophomore quarterback Joe Dailey's struggles this season (he's only completed five passes the past two games), it seems Beck will have a great opportunity to compete for the starting job next year.
Even though he'll have been the ripe age of 18 for just a few days when the Huskers play their first game next season, Beck has been successfully running a version of the West Coast offense at Countryside under coach John Davis. The team has thrived this year and goes into the playoffs as district champion with just one loss.
While rampaging through high school foes, Beck has also been keeping a keen eye on Nebraska. Three losses haven't seemed to deter his excitement for the program.
"Nebraska's doing pretty good when you think about it," Beck said. "Putting in that offense? That's hard to run without the personnel. Once they get the right guys in the system, they'll really pick it up. Once they get some of those 4.4(-second) guys in at receiver, those big receivers, I think you're really going to see this offense take off and blossom."
He said nothing about the quarterback position until asked to analyze Dailey's play.
His answer: "You have no idea what it's like when you have a 6-foot-5 guy from Missouri who's chasing you. I'm not going to criticize the guy. He's doing the best job he can right now."
Beck said he'll get his playbook right after he signs his letter of intent in February, and that he'll arrive in Lincoln as soon as high school ends on May 20.
That leaves limited time to become the starting quarterback for a complicated offense that is said to have 3,500 versions of pass plays.
"He's not going to back down. He's not going to say, ‘Oh, I'm a freshman. I don't expect to make it,'" Bothwell said. "No, he expects to go all-out. But he doesn't expect it to be a pushover at all. He's got to get used to those receivers while Joe Dailey already knows how fast they all can run. It's all about timing. I think that's what will have to be ironed out."
While waiting to wear red, Beck said he has worked on being a more patient quarterback.
"Last year, I was more about wanting to score and score now," Beck said. "When I got the underneath route open, I'd still go to the post route and think I could fit it in there and get the TD. This year, I'm fine to take what the defense is giving me. I'll just take the underneath stuff and keep going down the field."
Beck had thrown for more than 1,800 yards going into Friday's regular-season finale, which served as a warm-up for a Nov. 12 playoff game against Armwood High.
Bothwell — who joined the family several years after Beck's father passed away from an undiagnosed heart disease — said he's known his stepson was going to be a special quarterback since he started playing Pee Wee football.
He knew for sure two years ago when Beck threw a pass so hard it split the webbing in Bothwell's hands, leaving a wound that required two stitches.
Beck's idol, Brett Favre, would no doubt have been proud of such a dart.
While Beck has a long way to go to be Favre, he's already got a star quality to him that includes his own web site (www.harrisonbeck.net), his own public-accessible diary (www.theomahachannel.com), and his music. He's played the guitar for seven years.
But in most areas, he's a typical 17-year-old. He's hooked on his girlfriend, likes the bands Weezer and Blink 182, still has to devote time to homework, and hopes his phone doesn't ring when he's trying to go out with buddies.
Of course, sometimes he picks up that phone and hears an N.C. State or Florida coach trying to sway him away from Nebraska.
Or it's Norvell telling him the Huskers' first 15 plays for today's game against Iowa State.
You know? Kid stuff.
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
Most Commented news