COMMENTARY : Time Catches Up to Titans’ Graves

FULLERTON —  Mike Pringle and Obie Graves first crossed paths long before 1989 and the quest to become the most-traveled Cal State Fullerton running back in history.

It was the spring of 1988 and Pringle, preparing to suit up as a Titan for the first time, went on a numbers search, trying to find the proper jersey designation for a runner of his stature.

He wound up getting a history lesson instead.

“He was looking at all the running back numbers--24, 26, 27, 28,” Graves remembers. “But he wanted 25. He kept saying, ‘Where’s No. 25 at?’

“One of the coaches had to tell him that 25 was in a cabinet, getting dust on it.”

It had been there since 1978--to date, the only Fullerton football jersey to have been retired.

And it belonged to Graves--to date, the only Fullerton football player to have led the nation in rushing.

“That’s when I was introduced to him,” said Graves.

And was Pringle impressed?

Mainly with himself, according to Graves.

“He told me, ‘I can play here. I can break records here,’ ” Graves said, laughing at the recollection. “He said, ‘This is my type of offense. I’ll do well here.’ ”

Graves took an immediate liking to the youngster.

“A young, small back . . . and a little cocky,” Graves said. “Just like me.”

Now that Pringle is closing in on Graves’ other number--1,789 rushing yards, the Fullerton and Big West Conference single-season record--Graves can’t help but let the memories come rushing back.

He remembers the conversation he had with Pringle following the Titans’ 1988 spring game, when Michael Moore was the incumbent at tailback and Pringle just another challenger.

“He came to me and said, ‘Obie, I’m better than him,’ ” Graves said. “He said, ‘I can outrun him. I’m sweeter than him.’ ”

Graves remembers saying the same thing about Dwayne Sims more than a decade earlier, when Sims was still the only Fullerton player who had rushed for 1,000 yards in one season.

“Eleven years ago, I told Dwayne Sims I was going to break his record--in seven games,” Graves said. “He told me his record (1,071 yards) was going to last 20 years. I told him him I was taking him down in seven games.

“After seven games, I was 40 yards short.”

Most of all, Graves remembers the time Fullerton’s football coach pulled his star running back from a game only yards shy of a rushing record.

In 1978.

“I was going for 300 yards against Long Beach State,” Graves recalls. “No one at Fullerton had ever done that. I had 291 yards in the fourth quarter but we were winning big and the coach took me out.

“He told me, ‘We’re not here to break records.’ ”

History’s mistakes apparently go unheeded at Fullerton. Eleven years before Pringle and Gene Murphy and New Mexico State, the Titans had Graves and Jim Colletto and Cal State Long Beach.

At this school, running backs are pulled more often than offensive guards.

Graves, however, defends Murphy and the Substitution That Shook Santa Ana Stadium two weeks ago. Graves, who describes himself as “a diehard Titan fan,” still gets a sideline pass for Fullerton home games and was there on the fateful afternoon against New Mexico State.

“To be honest, I don’t think Coach Murphy knew he was that close to the record,” Graves said. “At the time, I didn’t know what the record was. And the situation he was in--Mike was tired after making a long run, (New Mexico State) fumbled the ball, we were up by almost 40 points and there were kids who’d been practicing all year he wanted to get into the game.

“I don’t think Coach Murphy seriously knew. He’s too good of a coach to let something like that happen. . . . In my case with Colletto, he wanted to play the other kid, Jay Bennett. Bennett was his guy.”

That’s another controversy, best saved for another time. But in short: Bennett had been Fullerton’s leading rusher in 1977 and in 1978, Graves always felt as if he was ruining Colletto’s best-laid plans by outrunning Bennett.

“The first 3 1/2 games of that year, I was trading off with Jay Bennett,” Graves said. “I had 500 yards in three games and I was still trading off.

“If I’d played all season long, I know I would’ve gotten over 2,000 yards.”

As it was, Graves finished with 1,789--then the fourth-highest total in NCAA history, behind Tony Dorsett (1,948 in 1976), Ed Marinaro (1,881 in 1971) and Ricky Bell (1,875 in 1975). Today, Graves’ total stands at No. 12.

After outrushing the entire nation in 1978--Oklahoma’s Billy Sims and USC’s Charles White were among his contemporaries--Graves embarked on a professional football odyssey that dragged him through two countries, three leagues and seven organizations in six seasons.

Too small (5-feet-9, 178) and too slow (4.7 in the 40) to be drafted by the NFL, Graves wound up trying out as a punt returner with the Raiders in 1979. He was cut. Then came a tryout with the Rams in 1980. He lasted until the next-to-last cut.

After that, Graves says, “I got pulled up to Canada,” where he became the unofficial trial sample of the Canadian Football League. Everyone had to have one. In four years, Graves played for four teams--Hamilton in 1980, Winnipeg in 1981, Toronto in 1982 and British Columbia in 1983, when he was released.

Finally, there was a desperate stab at a new position, wide receiver, in a new league, the USFL. Graves didn’t make it through training camp with the Denver Gold and in 1984, with no more leagues to turn to, he called it a career.

Today, Graves is 32 and an employee of South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach. His position? “I’m the director for the Department of Environmental Service Engineers,” he says.

And in 1978, Graves was Cal State Fullerton’s director for the Department of Oblong Projectile Transportation.

To put it another way, Graves heads the hospital’s janitorial department.

“A nice, easy job for an old running back,” he says, laughing.

At least, he has Saturday afternoons off, which enables him to hang out with old buddy and teammate Dale Bunn, the Titans’ linebacker coach, and watch Pringle chip away at his claim to fame. Right now, Pringle is within 180 yards of the record--giving Graves’ presence on the Fullerton sidelines the air of impending occasion.

Wayne Gretzky had Gordie Howe, Mike Pringle has Obie Graves. Entourage for a countdown.

Graves claims he’s pulling for Pringle to reach 1,790 at San Jose State Saturday afternoon.

“I hope with my heart he does it,” Graves said. “I’ve had my fun. He’s played a hard schedule and he’s run hard for every yard he gets. He deserves it.

“And, if he gets it, that’ll put more money in his pocket. To the pro scouts, those stats look good.”

As will Titan jersey No. 27, destined for the same cabinet as old No. 25, if and when.