Football passion drives Locker

Published 12:03 am Saturday, August 4, 2007

Jake Locker will be sweating through the summer heat in shoulder pads and a helmet this month instead of playing his second summer of professional baseball because, to put it simply, he loves football.

Jake Locker is also able to ignore the pressure of the position he is in – come August 31, he is expected to become the first freshman, redshirt or otherwise, to open the season as the University of Washington’s starting quarterback – again, because he loves football.

And, no offense, Husky fans (and media), Jake Locker will be ignoring the hype and expectations you heap upon him, because, well, he loves football.

“I try to stay away from the newspaper and internet,” he said. “I love all the support that people are giving me and it’s something I really appreciate, but in the end I don’t play because other people expect me to do well. I play because I love the game.”

With Washington’s first day of football practice one day away, the hope for a Husky football resurgence, fair or not – and probably not – rests largely on the shoulders of a 19-year-old who hasn’t seen game action since leading Ferndale High School to a Class 3A state championship in 2005.

Before he even graduated from high school, Locker was being called the savior of the Washington football program. The only thing that could stop him from being the next great UW quarterback were his skills on the baseball diamond.

Was he the next Marques Tuiasosopo, or the next Grady Sizemore? Fortunately for Husky fans, Locker chose football, and Montlake exhaled. And so the hype resumed.

After fighting the temptation to pull Lockers’ redshirt when injuries decimated the quarterback position last year, Washington coach Tyrone Willingham named Locker the starting quarterback prior to the start of spring football.

Washington’s coaches are confident Locker can handle the pressure and live up to the expectations.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys with potential like Jake, but some of them couldn’t handle the pressure,” said Tim Lappano, Washington’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “But with Jake, I think that’s his strength. He’s so strong mentally and he’s focused on the right things. There have been a lot of good athletes with potential that haven’t made it, but this kid has it mentally.

“There’s no reason why this kid shouldn’t exceed expectations and have a lot of success.”

Lappano, who spent a year at Purdue as the offensive coordinator and recruited Drew Brees, said Locker reminds him of the New Orleans Saints’ Pro Bowl quarterback.

“Both of them, they’ve got it,” Lappano said. “Drew was really strong mentally, a great competitor, a great athlete. Mentally they are so much alike.”

At the same time, Lappano acknowledges his quarterback’s lack of experience.

“He’s going to make mistakes, let’s make sure we understand that,” Lappano said. “He’s a freshman. It’s our job to make sure he doesn’t make too many. That’s my job to kind of ease him into this, but he can handle it.”

Both the coaches and Locker agree that not playing him last year was the right decision.

“I wanted to play at the time, but now that I look back on it, it was a really good thing,” said Locker, who also used the redshirt year to add 15-pounds to his 6-foot-3 frame. “I learned a lot and I don’t really know that I was ready to play last year. Now I have four more years to be able to play.”

Those four years begin this month. And while so much of Washington’s hopes ride on a teenage quarterback, Locker – if no one else – seems to be keeping everything in perspective.

“At the end of the day it’s a game,” he said. “It’s something I do because I love doing it. I’ve played football since I was a kid, it’s always been something I love, and I don’t want anything to take away from that. That’s how I look at it. It’s something I love doing and am passionate about.”