Making the Grady

Mike Sciacca

It was the end of an intense week of two-a-day football practices

held in the equally intense heat in Fresno. Temperatures had crept up

to 103 degrees, yet you could still hear a fresh enthusiasm in Jeff

Grady’s voice on this late Friday evening.

Despite having days that began at 7 a.m. each morning and

concluded at close to 11 p.m. each night, Grady was not heading for a

night out on the town; instead, he was at home -- still ready to talk

football.

The bumps and bruises, aches and pains, not to mention just plain

exhaustion, were put on the backburner. His enthusiasm was unbridled.

“This is really an exciting time in my college career,” the former

Edison High football standout said. “I know I should be tired -- and

there are times when I feel it, but I’m just too pumped up about

this.”

Jeff Grady is just one day away from getting his first career

start as quarterback of the Cal State Fresno Bulldogs.

He has taken over the starting spot vacated by 2001 Johnny Unitas

Golden Arm Award Winner David Carr, the No. 1 selection in the 2002

NFL Draft by the expansion Houston Texans.

Carr started all 14 games last year and became just the sixth

quarterback in NCAA history to throw for 4,000 yards and 40

touchdowns in a season.

His 4,839 passing yards and 46 touchdown passes last year were

both tops in the nation.

But Carr has moved on, and now Grady inherits the starting spot.

It’s been a long time coming for the talented Grady.

“Three-and-a-half years, to be exact,” he said, to become the

Bulldogs’ offensive leader on the field.

“First of all, I have been behind two pretty darned good

quarterbacks in David Carr and Billy Volek since I’ve been here at

Fresno,” he said. “Second, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot

from these guys.”

Grady will get his first starting snap at quarterback on Friday

when he guides unranked Fresno against the 23rd-ranked Wisconsin

Badgers.

The 2002 season opener for both teams, to be played in Madison,

Wis., will be televised live by ESPN.

The host Badgers will be backed by some 80,000 fanatics who are

certain to rock one of college football’s most storied and lively

venues, Camp Randall Stadium.

Will all the commotion rattle Grady? Not likely.

After all, he has seen Camp Randall in all its glory -- last fall

he was in Madison with the Bulldogs when they surprised the college

football world and Wisconsin with a 32-20 upset win in the 2001

opener.

“It gets pretty nuts in Wisconsin, but it’s a great environment,”

he explained. “I don’t think their fans will bother me -- I’d say it

it’s more of my nerves coming on in my first start more than anything

else.”

Indeed, it is a new game at Fresno and Grady is certain to leave

his mark on the program.

“Jeff is a very intelligent quarterback. He makes great decisions

and knows the offense as well as the coaches do,” said Fresno head

coach Pat Hill.

As an understudy these past few years, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound

Grady has become an accurate passer with an extensive knowledge of

the Bulldogs offense.

In 1999, his first year in Fresno, he was the understudy to Volek,

an All-Western Athletic Conference quarterback. Grady saw action in

six games that season and threw only three passes in that time. He

completed only one pass but it turned out to be a big one: a 23-yard

touchdown pass in the San Jose State game.

In 2000, he appeared in four games and was 10 of 20 for 159 yards

with two touchdown passes, one of which accounted for Fresno’s only

score in a loss at Ohio State.

Last season Grady redshirted so as not to lose a year of

eligibility.

He enters the 2002 season as a redshirt junior with two years

eligibility remaining.

Last week, while Grady was in the midst of preparations for his

first career start in the sweltering heat of Fresno his younger

brother, Tommy, was returning from a trip to hot and humid Baton

Rouge, La., home of the Louisiana State Tigers.

The younger Grady, who last fall posted incredible passing numbers

as a junior starting quarterback at Edison High, has caught the eye

of several Division I schools, among them, Tennessee, UCLA and LSU.

In fact, Tommy Grady has been listed among many football

publications as one of the top quarterbacks in the state and nation.

In addition to being mentioned in a July issue of Sports

Illustrated, Tommy Grady was listed in Street & Smith’s College

Football 2002 annual as one of the nation’s top seven quarterbacks

and Top 50 high school senior players in the magazine’s 21st annual

Street & Smith’s High School All-America Team.

Last fall, Grady threw for 2,791 yards and 33 touchdowns with just

three interceptions in 13 games. He helped get Edison to the CIF

Southern Section Division I championship game last December.

“He has a lot of Division I schools very interested in him,”

Edison head coach Dave White said of Tommy Grady. “He has a real

strong arm and, like his brother, is an accurate passer.”

Tommy Grady joined his Edison teammates last Monday for their

first day of two-a-days in fall practice.

Tommy Grady won’t be able to make the trip to Madison to see his

brother start against Wisconsin, but Jeff Grady knows his younger

brother will be rooting him on.

His parents, Larry and Christy, he says, will be among the

contingent of red-clad Fresno State fans making the journey to

Madison.

The Fresno State players arrived in Wisconsin on Wednesday, and

return home following Friday’s game.

“It’s a great feeling to know that I’ll have family in the stands

and the support of people back home,” Jeff Grady added. “My nerves

are starting to settle in, but in a good way. Heck, I can’t wait for

Friday.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.