MORGANTOWN —
We all know about the guys who play, how they are out there on the field before 60,000 fans, being isolated on by ESPN television cameras.
These are Saturday’s heroes.
But what of the shadow squad that you sometimes get a glance of on the sideline, standing there watching, wearing a West Virginia jersey but no shoulder pads.
Maybe they are balancing on crutches, one leg in a cast. Or perhaps they have an arm in a sling.
What of them, the walking wounded?
See, the hardest part of playing football is not playing football.
That’s the lesson West Virginia offensive tackle Chad Snodgrass has learned during his career that reaches his redshirt junior year this fall.
Ask him what his last two years have been like, years during which this 6-4, 296-pound offensive tackle from Nitro has twice broken the same bone in the same foot and once torn his labrum. Ask him what it’s like to watch while others play.
The picture he draws is vivid.
“It’s almost indescribable,” he answers when asked about the feeling. “You feel like you’re letting everybody down — your coaches down, your family down, your state down. It’s a hard feeling to overcome.”
That’s just about everyone but Uncle Sam and the man in the moon that you feel like you’ve let down.
It’s that way on a game day, just as tough at practice.
You may walk the perimeter of the field, if you can, or ride an aptly named stationary bike, aptly named because no matter how hard you pedal, you are going nowhere.
While the saying goes that no man is an island, that is exactly what you become, a lone player surrounded by teammates who at the end of the day retire to the locker room to talk about the aches and pains from the day’s practice, the tough moments and the lighter ones.
You have nothing to offer and it hurts when you hear what they say.
“It was extremely hard to swallow. You feel like you’re not part of the team. Deep down you know you’re supposed to be out there practicing, hitting,” he said. “In all, I think I’ve dealt with it pretty well.”
With Chad Snodgrass, if there wasn’t pain he’d have no feeling at all.
It started after an uneventful freshman year on the scout team, showing promise as they had hoped.
His redshirt season was supposed to get him some experience, but he had to sit out the year after tearing the labrum in his shoulder, forcing surgery.
“That,” he explained, “was a nine-month process.”
Ready to go in the spring, he was making progress when he broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in the spring game.
He rehabbed diligently, rebuilt his strength and had progressed enough that last year he saw action in four games but prior to the Pitt game he broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot. That put him out of the dramatic victories in the Backyard Brawl and against Rutgers, along with the loss Gator Bowl defeat to Florida State.
The led to surgery, where doctors put a four-inch titanium screw in the foot, a reminder of which is given him each time he sets off a beep as he goes through airport security.
“The doctors promised me it will never break again, but there’s a little doubt there,” he admits.
Meanwhile, he is now working through what many are describing as a really tough summer of conditioning.
“It’s been long, hard and hot,” Snodgrass admits.
And he loves it, for now he can see himself getting playing time as a backup at left tackle or, perhaps, at center.
“I’m hoping so. Since I’m 100 percent, rehabbed correctly, worked hard, I’m ready to fulfill my responsibilities as a football player,” he said.
The idea is to be ready to do all he can, along with his teammates, as soon as the season opens.
“Start strong, finish strong. That’s on our weight-room shirts and what we’re trying to live by this summer,” he said.
Meanwhile, he no longer is hanging around watching his teammates play while he remains stagnant on the sideline.
“I have to get over it and look to my future, not everyone else’s,” he said.
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
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HERTZEL COLUMN: Snodgrass works his way back
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