Looking for a chance

Carolina QB Curry hopes to rediscover his golden touch

MOBILE, Ala. -- Four years ago, when Ronald Curry was the hottest recruit in the nation, it would have been easy to assume that the quarterback would be at the Senior Bowl here this week, the crowning moment of a regal college football career.

Curry did arrive at the Senior Bowl on Wednesday. But he arrived only to watch. As the North half of the best senior players in the nation worked, Curry stood on the sideline, wearing a blue Carolina Football T-shirt. "Of course, you want to be out there," Curry said, acknowledging the obvious. Instead, Curry is training in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, La., with Tom Shaw, the speed coach who annually works with NFL prospects looking to shave fat off their 40-yard-dash times. Curry drove over to Mobile with a few other guys who weren't invited or were ineligible for the Senior Bowl, among them Washington junior tight end Jerramy Stevens and Virginia Tech wide receiver Andre Davis . They stood on the sideline and watched and hoped that NFL scouts or coaches would talk to them.

The Senior Bowl is more than a place to eyeball the best seniors in the nation. For unemployed coaches and wannabe players, the week is a job fair. You can't walk 10 feet in the public areas of the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Mobile without bumping into an NFL head coach or general manager. It's easy to spot the guys looking for jobs: They're the ones not wearing shirts with NFL team logos. Over there is Ed Lambert, out after 10 years on the Vanderbilt offensive staff. And there is former Duke defensive coordinator Bob Trott. Down the sideline are Lance Thompson and Danny Crossman, formerly of the Georgia Tech defensive staff.

And there is Curry. Greatness eluded him in the same way that he eluded defensive linemen. Curry was a can't-miss prospect who somehow missed. The reasons have been well-chronicled: His basketball career limited his football practice time. Three offensive coordinators in the last three years flattened his learning curve. A torn Achilles tendon cost him half of the 1999 season and all of the following spring. Last year he shared the job with freshman Darian Durant ; the quarterbacks rotated every two series. Curry threw only 140 passes all season. He completed 67 for 1,030 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions.

As if he didn't already have enough to overcome, Curry is attempting to attract interest amid one of the deepest class of quarterbacks in years. In Mobile, the South team features David Carr of Fresno State and Rohan Davey of LSU. As Curry stood watching the North team quarterbacks, Kurt Kittner of Illinois, David Garrard of East Carolina and Josh McCown of Sam Houston State (a replacement for the injured Joey Harrington of Oregon), the former Tar Heel said he remains confident.

"I know I can play quarterback in the NFL," Curry said. "I don't feel like there's any quarterback in the NFL who can do what I can do. Now, it's about me getting repetitions that I didn't get when I was playing basketball. I don't feel like anybody has got a stronger arm than I do. I feel like my feet are with the best of them. I just need the repetitions."

He spoke of how he could feel himself improving daily because he is focused solely on football, and of how, last season, under veteran quarterback coach Gary Tranquill, he began to learn to read defenses for the first time in his life. "All the other guys," Curry said, meaning his previous offensive coaches, "planned [their strategies based] on my athletic ability. I always studied film. This year I learned there was so much more I could have been looking for."

When North Carolina earned his commitment over Virginia and Florida State, Curry looked like a sure thing. He never made All-America. He didn't get invited to the Senior Bowl. None of that matters now. "It happens," he shrugged. "At the end, I'll be the one standing."

Figuratively speaking, perhaps. For now, Curry is standing on the sideline.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

 

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