The New Mr. Big At Bc

"Can't you see their offensive coordinator on the phone up to the booth?" says Orf with relish. "The guy's saying, 'Who made the tackle?'

'Uh, the noseguard, coach.'

'Not on the fullback, on the tailback.'

'The noseguard, coach.'

'Who got the quarterback?'

'The noseguard, coach.'

'Geeeeeeezzz.' "

BC's noseguard is as ornery in practice as he is in games. Says Bicknell Jr., "There are times when we just have the look squad [a scrub team that runs plays of an upcoming opponent] in there, and I see Mike all riled up, going full bore. I'll have to tell coach Collilouri, 'Better get Ruth out of there. He's going to kill someone.' " So Orf has to pull Ruth aside and say, "Look, how 'bout calling it a day?" Orf may be the only coach in the country who has to remind his player not to practice too hard. When SI needed a set of burly arms to adorn the cover of our 1983 College & Pro Football Spectacular, we called on Ruth, who, without prodding, flung himself to the earth at least 30 times to get just the right mud-and-blood effect.

Despite Ruth's enormous talent, the NFL holds no particular charm for him. Truth is, he doesn't even much care for football. "It isn't that much fun for me," he says. "Now, if I could get the ball, run with it or catch it once in a while, pass it, that might be fun. But I never get the ball. Even if I get a fumble, I can't advance it in college. I'd rather fish." Ruth's druthers for a Saturday afternoon: 1) fish, 2) catch fish (a rarity), 3) lift weights, 4) catch fish big enough to keep (rarer still), 5) drive his Jeep. "Besides, I'm not much for money," he says. "People think it's baloney, but if you just let me have the Jeep and $10, I'd be happy."

Ruth wouldn't have much trouble with the vow of poverty. As for the two other vows of priesthood, obedience and chastity, he's doing his best with those, too. The reason he chose BC, he says, was that it was the only one of the schools that heavily recruited him that didn't cheat. He says that one offered him $400 a week to clean a pool twice a week, two hours a day.