BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer
Brian Duffy
Brian Duffy knows the future is now for him on the Rutgers University football team.
The offensive lineman from Brick is believed to be the first football player at the state university to be granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after writing what had to be a compelling essay about his injury-riddled career in which he has yet to play a full season.
"I knew I’d get it back," said Duffy of his sixth year of eligibility. "I explained my situation and my desire to still play."
That includes two shoulder surgeries and a left-knee surgery that has kept him from finishing a full college season. Ironically, Duffy says he was never injured playing football at Brick Memorial.
What keeps him coming back?
"We have a lot of good players. I want to go out a winner. You don’t get seven years," said the 6-foot 5-inch, 295-pound left guard, who started nine games before missing the last two last season with an injury on a team that had the second highest totals ever at the university for points scored (329) and total offensive yardage (4,423).
Back in the lineup are quarterback Ryan Hart, who threw a school record 2,714 yards and 15 touchdown passes, and fullback Brian Leonard, who had a team-high 880 yards and 14 touchdowns scored on a team that was one win shy of bowl consideration when it hit a slump after mid-season.
"We’ll need Duffy to play his best," said new offensive line coach Rod Holder, who must replace only the center and left tackle for next Saturday’s rapidly approaching opener at home against Michigan State. "We’ve got those [other] guys back and you can never substitute for experience, especially on the offensive line. It’ll help, but we still have a lot of work to do."
Duffy fully understands work ethic after repeatedly coming back from injuries but never packing it in, even after playing his fifth season last year.
"Each time I got hurt, I thought I was playing at a pretty good level. I wanted to get back to that level," said Duffy. "I never had self-doubt [about coming back]. I know most people would not play at this point but I feel if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger."
That outlook from Duffy, finishing his degree work in criminal justice, has caught the attention of Holder.
"The thing about Duffy is that he’s tough," said Holder emphatically. "I only know him a short time but I know a little about his history, and from what I see, he has bounced back well. He loves football. He’s capable of being a leader."
Certainly, at age 24, Duffy is the "old man" of the team, but brings the savvy it needs during the tough times of the Big East conference that starts with the fourth game of the season Oct. 2 at Syracuse. With Miami and Virginia Tech departed from the conference, Rutgers looks to compete for the title with upper echelon teams Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Boston College and Syracuse, which it beat last year.
"Some people say to me, ‘I can’t believe you’re still here,’ " Duffy said. "I think it went quick."
He’s gone through Rutgers’ doormat days when he was the first verbal recruit in the 1999 incoming class under former coach Terry Shea, and has seen the team improve under Greg Schiano, entering his fourth season.
"We definitely had to adapt, especially when he first came here," said Duffy of Schiano. "He’s more demanding. Practices are physically demanding and he pushes us really hard."
And the changes extend beyond the football field to diet and lifestyle, according to Duffy.
But he has spun adversity into a positive, and says the surgically repaired knee from the 2002 season is fully healed and that he may have better lateral mobility than any other season he’s played at Rutgers.
"Last year I played through pain. I’ve been hurt but I also started 25 games here," said Duffy, who in 2001, as a red-shirt sophomore, played the first 10 games of the season at right tackle before missing the final game and earned the David Bender Award as the team’s top offensive lineman, an unusual honor at that position for a sophomore.
It came after his 1999 red-shirted first year and the 2000 season in which he did not play a game after undergoing shoulder surgery or the second straight year. He started the first six games before the season-ending knee injury in 2002.
But that 2001 season was with a different and perhaps less talented surrounding cast around Duffy than this year’s line that is regarded, on paper, as the best group since Duffy has been at Rutgers. As far as Duffy is concerned, the only paper that matters is the one that has this season’s final record.