WEST TORRANCE LIONS CLUB ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME : A FALL FROM GRACE : Former Leuzinger High Quarterback Reddington Had His Last Moment in Spotlight Five Years Ago

No one knows what it’s like To be the bad man To be the sad man Behind blue eyes --Pete Townshend

Mike Reddington’s eyes are his most striking feature. They are pale blue and project an image of youthful innocence.

In reality, though, they are windows of innocence lost.

It is only one of many contradictions about Reddington, who has seen his life change in dramatic and sometimes frightening ways since his days as an all-star quarterback for Leuzinger High.

He appears fit and sober, yet he battles alcohol and drug dependency. He seems to be a genuinely caring and sensitive person, yet his out-of-control lifestyle led to a divorce. He speaks intelligently and confidently, yet he has spent much of his young adulthood in jail for breaking the law.

When he thinks about his troubled past, Reddington said, “I’m surprised I’m still alive.”

Sitting outside his parents’ Redondo Beach trailer home, Reddington--whose 23rd birthday was Wednesday--talked optimistically about the future.

“What I’m looking forward to in the next five years is to get a steady job, something really solid,” he said. “I like construction work a lot. I don’t want to sit behind a desk. I’d rather be out there working, come home from a hard day’s work, take a shower and relax.”

The hard truth is that Reddington has been mostly unemployed since being paroled in October from Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, where he served six months for grand theft.

“He continues to have problems,” said Dennis Lamar, Reddington’s parole agent. “He’s not adjusting in the community all that well. He needs some serious direction.”

Few would have predicted this type of life for Reddington five years ago. As a senior at Leuzinger, he was the most celebrated football player in the South Bay. He led the Olympians to the 1985 Southern Section Desert-Mountain Conference title and was recognized as the player of the year in the area and in his team’s CIF conference.

“He was the best I ever had,” said Steve Carnes, who stepped down last season after coaching Leuzinger for seven years. “I had some good ones who were comparable, but as far as doing it all and the ability to affect a game, Mike was definitely the best.”

In the summer of 1986, Reddington started at quarterback in the West Torrance Lions All-Star game and helped lead the West to victory over the East, passing for a touchdown and running for another.

He never played again.

Tonight marks the five-year anniversary of Reddington’s last football game. He plans to attend the Lions game at El Camino College, the scene of his final athletic achievement. He says it will bring back fond memories.

“It does seem like a million years ago at times, but then it seems like it was just yesterday,” he said. “Every time I think about (playing football), I get fired up. I enjoyed every minute of it.”

However, if there is one thing Reddington could tell the players competing in tonight’s game, it would be to keep sports in perspective.

“If you play football or whatever, that’s fine, but get your education,” he said. “Take it as far as you can.

“There’s always someone out there better than you that’s going to take your position on the field. If you go to the classroom, at least you’ll still have your education to take care of you. Sports is hyped up so big, but really it’s a small part of the whole situation.”

Reddington realizes that now. A few years ago, though, that type of advice would have fallen on deaf ears.

By the time he graduated from Leuzinger in 1986, Reddington had developed poor work habits in the classroom and worse habits outside of school. He was already using alcohol and drugs.

“It started when I was in high school,” he said. “I never did any drugs before a game, or anything like that, and that’s the honest truth. I’d never do that to myself. I’m hyper enough when I’m out there. But I was drinking and doing some drugs when I was in high school.

“It definitely affected my performance in school. I got away with a lot of stuff. I don’t want to bad-mouth Leuzinger or any of the teachers there, but I got away with a lot of stuff because I was a big football star.

“It wasn’t a good thing for me. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely change that part. It’s great being a football star, but I would rather be sat down and talked to: ‘Hey Mike, you got to get these grades up. You got to do this.’ Because that did affect me a lot. It made me lazy. I went to class, but I really didn’t do anything. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t have to or I didn’t want to, but it didn’t matter.”

Things were just the opposite for Reddington on the football field. He was the complete package as a player, starting at quarterback, defensive back and punter. As a senior, he led Leuzinger (12-1-1) in passing (1,772 yards and 23 touchdowns), rushing (948 yards and eight TDs) and interceptions (six).

“Running or throwing, he could do it all,” Carnes said. “And, boy, was he tough. I always felt if he couldn’t cut it as a quarterback (in college), he could play outside linebacker or safety because he had a big frame.”

At 6 foot 2 and 180 pounds, Reddington earned a reputation for doling out punishment as well as being able to take it.

One game, in particular, stands out in Carnes’ mind. The week before Leuzinger played rival Hawthorne, which also had a strong team in 1985, Reddington suffered a back injury that caused bleeding from his kidneys. He was hospitalized and missed practice most of that week.

“We didn’t know if he could come back the rest of the season, let alone that week,” Carnes said. “The doctors told him he couldn’t play.

“All of a sudden, Friday afternoon he shows up and says, ‘Coach, it’s Hawthorne. I’m playing.’ We put big pads on his back and he played in that game. He took some of the most vicious hits, but he got up. I remember that was the type of kid he was, so tough and so gutty.”

The game ended in a 14-14 tie. Several weeks later, Leuzinger culminated its finest season ever with a 39-17 victory over Harvard of North Hollywood for the Desert-Mountain Conference title, the only CIF football championship in the history of the 60-year-old Lawndale school.

Since high school, Reddington has made three attempts to play football at El Camino College. The most recent was last spring when he enrolled in Coach John Featherstone’s health class and began working out with the team.

“He was going to give it a go as a free safety,” Featherstone said. “He was trying to go to school, play football and work part-time.”

After several weeks, though, Reddington stopped going to class and dropped out of sight. “I had to work,” he said.

It was the same story five years ago, when, as a highly regarded recruit, Reddington enrolled for the first time at El Camino. The Warriors, in their second season under Featherstone, were coming off a 5-5 record and hoping to bolster their lineup with a talented class of incoming freshmen.

“Mike was one of our key guys,” Featherstone said. “He was an in-district athlete who we felt could help turn our program around.”

Instead, it was another ex-Leuzinger player--wide receiver Sean Smith--who made a name for himself at El Camino and later at the University of Iowa.

Reddington, competing against a strong group of quarterbacks that included future community college All-American Dan Speltz, practiced with El Camino for a week or two before dropping out of school.

“I think Mike felt frustrated,” Featherstone said. “He wasn’t throwing the ball the way he was capable and he wasn’t in shape physically. It seemed like he was distracted by other things in his life.”

Reddington admits his heart wasn’t in football or school at the time. He got a job working in a warehouse near LAX and, at 18, married his high school sweetheart and lived with her parents. But he wasn’t ready to settle down.

“After I got married, I still wanted to go out and have fun with the boys,” he said. “I regret that time in my life because (my ex-wife) is a caring and loving person. She wanted me to do good in whatever I did, but I just wanted to party too much.”

They were divorced about a year later, he said.

“She left me,” he said. “She couldn’t take what I was doing to myself and to her. She gave up, and I don’t blame her at all. It’s hard for me to accept because I’m the one who screwed it up. I’m sure if I would have had my life together and did what I’m supposed to do, we’d still be together.”

After his divorce, a depressed Reddington fell into a downward spiral of alcohol and drug abuse that eventually led to criminal activity. Before his term in state prison, he had been jailed four times, mostly for theft.

“Mainly, it was my drug problem and my alcoholism,” said Reddington, who must submit to drug testing twice a month as part of his parole. “And it was the people I was hanging around with. It wasn’t that I needed money.

“I’m an intelligent person. I’m not proud of what I did, but I did it and there’s nothing I can do to change it now. All I can do is go on with my life and pray for the best.”

Those who know Reddington and have tried to help him through the years are still searching for answers to his destructive behavior.

Carnes said he has found jobs for Reddington, only to be disappointed when the arrangements didn’t work out.

“They fell through because of his drug problem,” Carnes said. “It’s very consistent with these types of people. They try to recover, but they fall off again.”

Said Featherstone: “I think Mike has been distracted by booze, drugs and women. He’s had his priorities all screwed up.”

Carnes believes Reddington needs to rid himself of bad influences and get back to his roots.

“I want Mike to realize that he’s young and there’s always another day,” he said. “The best friends he has on Earth are the people he knew back in high school and his family. He’s strong enough mentally that he can recover from anything. That’s what I want for Mike.”

One of the best influences on Reddington has been his girlfriend, Candice Jones. The couple were classmates at Leuzinger, but were only casual friends until Jones looked up Reddington and visited him in jail about two years ago.

“She found me,” Reddington said. “When they let her in, I was shocked. I hadn’t seen her for about three years. She had a dream about finding me and finding out what I was doing.

“She became a Christian and she’s kept me out of a lot of trouble. When I’m with her, I feel secure. She’s a good influence on me, that’s the neat thing.”

Ultimately, though, it is up to Reddington to build a positive life for himself. Many people are still pulling for him, much the same way they did when he led Leuzinger to a CIF football title.

Only this time, the stakes are much higher.