For quarterback Tony Stauss, a blue chip recruit out of high school, the transition to scout team was a firm reality check. Regarded as the top quarterback in the Midwest by several recruiting reports, Stauss realized his storied past carried little weight at Kenosha.
“It’s a very humbling experience because in high school, everybody is telling you how good you are,” Stauss said. “Then you get there and you figure out that ‘Hey, there’s a lot more guys here now.'”
Though Walker hands down the scout team sentence, he sympathizes with players like Stauss.
“I tell people that the hardest time in my life was being a freshman, being on the scout team,” said Walker, who played at Miami (Ohio) in the mid-1970s. “I’d like to think I was pretty competitive and I wasn’t getting a chance to compete. I was a demo guy, I was someone else’s tailback every week and it was humbling.
“To say it was fun and I liked it, I couldn’t say that. It sucked. It was as deflated as I’ve ever been.”
As the sacrificial lambs who go head-to-head with the Wildcats’ starting offense and defense, scout team players have the critical responsibility of preparing their teammates for upcoming games. By studying film and mimicking an opponent’s scheme in practice, the scout team provides NU’s starters with a preview of what they’ll see on Saturday.
And according to wide receiver Derrick Thompson, their efforts have paid off.
“They are probably the greatest asset to our success,” Thompson said. “(Cornerbacks) Marvin Ward, Brandon Evans, all those guys give us better looks than some of the DB’s do in games.”
While the scout team mirrors an opponent’s entire offense or defense, freshmen have occasionally been called on to imitate the Big Ten’s best players.
Before the Indiana game, walk-on wide receiver Tom Fluegge was chosen to play the part of the speedy and shifty quarterback Antwaan Randle El. Though he was shocked at being selected, Fluegee enjoyed the freedom of re-creating Randle El’s flashy style of play.
“It was pretty cool, I’m surprised they asked me to do that,” said Fluegge, who has also practiced as big-name receivers David Terrell and Ron Johnson. “It was a good honor, he’s a great quarterback and it was fun to kind of dance around out there a little bit when you’re usually not allowed to.”
But Fluegee doesn’t steal all the spotlight.
Tailback Noah Herron has a résumé that would intimidate many Hollywood actors. So far this season, Herron has assumed the roles of T.J. Duckett, Anthony Thomas, Ladell Betts and Randle El in practice. Even Stauss has gotten his feet wet, pretending to be Randle El, Drew Brees and Drew Henson.
The imitating of top players also occurred in 1999, when 281-pound defensive tackle George Woods practiced as Wisconsin star Ron Dayne.
“That was exciting, a lot of adrenaline was going,” said Woods, who played tailback in high school. “I had a lot of inspiration from the coaches, a lot of inspiration from the other guys to do better.”
But playing new roles each week is about the only enjoyable part of being on the scout team. Players split time between practice and the video room, where they cram their heads with plays and formations before getting them bashed in by the first-teamers.
During practice, scout team members are constantly on the field, migrating around the gridiron with few moments to catch their breath. For many players, the adjustment to the strenuous routine was a gradual process.
“You feel sorry for yourself at the beginning, you feel like, ‘All this stuff is against me, I’m not playing, I’m on the scout team,'” Herron said. “But in the fourth week of the season I said, ‘Man, since I’m out here, I might as well make the best of it, work as hard as I can because I know my time will come.”
That time came for Thompson and fullback Vince Cartaya, both former scout team members who moved up the ranks. A fifth-year senior, Thompson spent his first two seasons on the scout team, where he regularly locked horns with starters on NU’s 1996 Big Ten title-winning team.
“It was fun having Barry Gardner, (Pat) Fitzgerald, all them chasing you around,” Thompson said. “It made me feel like a part of the team.”
Cartaya came to NU as a linebacker and played on the scout team his freshman season. Unlike many of his teammates who struggled through the year, Cartaya embraced his role as a practice player, winning Scout of the Week honors three times.
“I’ve always liked being the underdog, it’s always more fun,” Cartaya said. “Most players are not that excited to be on scout team, so I always took it as a challenge to pump everyone up.”
Returning for his second year, Cartaya was nearly thrown back on the scout team but was rescued by NU’s pressing need for a fullback. Now the Cats’ starting fullback, Cartaya maintains he will never forget the scout team, labeling it “more of a blessing than a detriment.”
Running with the scrubs is a rite of passage, part of the first-year experience that started at Kenosha.
“We got to Kenosha this year and they shaved all the freshmen’s heads,” Stauss said. “At first I was kind of taken by that, but then I was like, we all do it, so it’s a good tradition and I can always look back and say I did that.”
Most of the Cats spent time as scouts, so older and younger players can relate during practice. Smashing heads two hours a day, the scout teamers have grown closer to their teammates across the line of scrimmage.
“I think you develop a stronger bond with the opposite side of the ball,” wide receiver Steve Parker said. “I think I’m better friends with the guys on the defensive side of the ball, much more than if I’d never played scout.”
Though most watch every game from the sidelines, scout teamers still feel part of NU’s success this season. The high school glory is long gone, but so is their anxiety at Kenosha. At last, the scout team can smile again.
“All of Kenosha I was like, what am I doing here?,” Herron said. “I woke up every day asking what’s my motivation and I couldn’t find one. But we go through it and now it’s paying off, we’re 7-2, hopefully about to win the Big Ten, so you let the chips fall where they may.”
