Still standing

Mike Sciacca

Tommy Grady’s journey through the Edison High School football

program reaches back eight years ago, well before he ever donned a

Charger uniform.

It was in his fifth-grade year, he recalls, that he first served

as an Edison ball boy.

A few years later, he still held those duties when his older

brother, Jeff, was a record-setting quarterback for the Chargers.

As those who follow local high school football know, Tommy Grady

has grown from ball-boy status to become one of the school’s

record-setting quarterbacks.

The senior is also considered to be one of the top quarterbacks in

the state and nation.

“He’s the best of the best,” said Edison coach Dave White,

referring to a long list of top-notch quarterbacks who have gone

through Edison’s illustrious program.

White, himself a former Edison quarterback, should know -- he’s

been around those former quarterbacks as either an assistant or head

coach.

“Tommy has such a strong and accurate arm,” White said. “He throws

a great long ball and knows how to take just enough off when he

throws the short ball.

“What’s more, he’s terrific in the pocket,” White said. “And he’s

got great height to top it all off.”

Ah, Grady’s height.

At close to 6 feet 7 inches, it’s hard to miss this young man who,

despite being relentlessly pursued by several top, major college

programs, remains humble and unchanged since arriving at Edison.

He just knows the offensive system a whole lot better.

The numbers he posted last year, as a junior, were staggering.

He re-wrote school records for most passing yards in one game and

in a single season, most touchdown passes in one game and in a single

season, most completions in a season and best completion percentage

in a season.

Surrounded by a cast of veterans, Grady helped guide Edison last

December to the CIF Southern Section Division I title game.

In this, his senior year, a season in which he was surrounded by a

new cast and with Edison in somewhat of a rebuilding mode, Grady has

picked up where he left off in 2001.

One of the best statistical games he had this season came Sept. 13

against San Clemente.

Grady threw for 276 yards in a 13-10 loss, but those numbers were

wiped away when the Tritons were forced to forfeit that victory.

Official CIF season statistical records do not count forfeited

games.

Still, by the halfway point of the current season, Grady had

established a new school record for career passing yardage, and he

now holds the record for most career touchdowns -- which is 47 and

counting.

He kept the Edison record for career passing yardage in the

family, however, as he supplanted his brother, Jeff, as the school’s

all-time leader.

Tommy Grady is closing in on 5,000 career passing yards and could

reach that incredible figure tonight when Edison plays Los Alamitos

in a key Sunset League showdown.

It could be his last game in an Edison uniform, too.

“I’ve had a great time playing here. It seems not so long ago when

I was just a ball boy and my brother was playing quarterback,” Grady

said. “We had an awesome season last year and we’re still battling

for a playoff spot this season. I’ll be giving it my all against Los

Al. It could be the last game for us seniors, and that is my

inspiration.”

Grady entered the 2002 season as a marked quarterback. Get to him,

opponents knew, and they would cut off Edison’s lifeline.

They went right at him, too, punishing him with blows to his

entire body, sacking him, on average, five or six times a game.

He sustained injuries to his ankle, hip, knee, even his head,

White said, and was so banged up at one point that the Edison

coaching staff considered holding him out of the Servite game.

“We had an inexperienced line and lost a couple of key players to

injury, and teams were getting to Tommy early in the season,” White

said. “He was pummeled.

“But even when he was beaten up, he had a great attitude. He kept

his head up and pushed through,” White said. “With his attitude and

will to play, there was no way he was going to be kept out of the

lineup. That’s a tribute to his character.”

Through this gauntlet, a killer schedule that included San

Clemente, Mater Dei, Servite and Esperanza, Grady was still standing.

Servite assistant coach Tim Rosencranz, a former Friar quarterback

who went on to play at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, was impressed by

Grady’s ability and toughness.

He called Grady “the real deal.”

Major college programs knew this, too.

The recruiting battle for Grady began in earnest early in his

junior year.

One of the first schools to recruit him, and eventually offer him

a scholarship, was Oklahoma. That alone would be enough to fill any

young player’s head with grandiose dreams, as the Sooners were coming

off a national championship season -- the school’s seventh.

The recruiting trail included five, sometimes six, calls per night

from various coaches, he said.

He whittled his list of prospective schools down to his top nine

picks, among them USC, UCLA, Tennessee and Washington State. He took

unofficial trips to the campuses of Louisiana State, Miami, Florida,

Florida State and Oklahoma.

His visit in late summer to the Oklahoma campus in Norman -- where

football is king -- left a lasting impression on Grady. A few days

after returning home, gave a verbal commitment to the Sooners.

He joins a long list of former Edison quarterbacks who have played

Division I football.

“Oklahoma wasn’t my first choice, but after my visit, I knew that

was the place for me,” he said. “They, by far, had the best coaching

staff. The way the coaches conducted themselves in team meetings

carried over to the practice field.

“The school also has some awesome facilities, and being around the

players gave me a great sense of how much fun everyone seemed to be

having in this program.”

Chuck Long, the former Iowa quarterback and current offensive

coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma, came to Huntington

Beach in September to watch Grady and Edison take on Capistrano

Valley.

Grady had to have made Long proud, as he threw for 261 yards and

two scores in a 44-20 Edison victory.

He will see Long and the Sooners’ offense live for the first time

when he travels to Norman for the Texas Tech game on Nov. 23.

“It’s been amazing to watch Tommy grow into this incredible

quarterback,” White said. “I remember when he was this tall, gangly

kid. I watched him grow into his size, work hard and make great

strides to get to where he is today.

“I thought he’d be good, but never, really, did I think he’d turn

out to be the outstanding quarterback that he has become,” White

said. “I really feel he’ll make his mark at Oklahoma and, if he stays

healthy, five years from now, you’ll be seeing him play on Sundays.”