By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Claiming his three-day absence from the team last week was a result of homesickness only, Charles Frederick said he plans no further AWOL stints from the Washington Huskies.
In his first comments since he bolted from practices last week, Frederick said he had no quarrel with anyone on the team, but that he had to reassess his decision to come to Washington from his home in Boca Raton, Fla.
“I wanted to spend some time by myself and got my mind righted,” said Frederick, one of last year’s hottest-recruited high school players in the nation.
Frederick said he seriously considered returning home, but that family, friends and teammates persuaded him to remain in Seattle. Frederick left an afternoon practice Monday, Aug. 27 following a tiff with a teammate. He remained away from Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practice, but returned to a scrimmage Thursday after multiple pleadings from all sides, mostly from kicker John Anderson and tailback Rich Alexis, two of Frederick’s high school teammates who preceded him in coming to the UW.
“I think I’m over it,” Frederick said. “I’m just here to have fun.”
Frederick, a wide receiver, denied that he became unhappy during two-a-days because UW coach Rick Neuheisel approached him about possibly switching to cornerback, a position hit hard by injuries. There had been speculation that Frederick, a superb athlete with blazing speed, could play both offense and defense for the Huskies at some point.
Frederick later told Neuheisel that he’d rather not play cornerback, but said the suggestion had little to do with his decision to leave the team.
“I would have played cornerback if they needed me over there,” Frederick said.
Frederick, listed as the team’s fourth-team flanker and backup punt returner, may play Saturday against Michigan, Neuheisel said.
Stevens misses practice: Tight end Jerramy Stevens missed practice Tuesday for what Neuheisel said was “an excused absence for personal reasons.” Neuheisel said Stevens would be back to practice today.
It was speculated that Stevens missed practice and would miss Saturday’s opener against Michigan as part of his penalty for his legal problems last spring. Neuheisel, however, said that was not the case. Neuheisel has said that any punishment of Stevens would be treated in-house.
No Williams: Injured former Husky Curtis Williams will not be at Saturday’s game with Michigan. Neuheisel said several people volunteered to supply aircraft to transport Williams from his Fresno, Calif., home to Seattle, but that appears impossible.
“Unfortunately, the specifics of Curtis’ wheelchair require a much larger door than the aircrafts that were volunteered,” Neuheisel said. “We then had to go and try to charter a plane that would work with Curtis’ unique demands. Unfortunately, the cost there became something that Curtis and his brother, David, decided were a bit too much.”
Neuheisel said ABC has plans to get Williams involved with the television broadcast in some fashion.
Williams injured his spinal cord in a game Oct. 24, 2000 against Stanford.
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