Under Dave Ball’s picture in the UCLA Football Media
Guide, next to hobbies is the word “drawing.”
Dave Ball is an artiste. And not just in the way he artfully
dives over running backs and crawls on all fours to sack opposing
quarterbacks.
Dave Ball likes to doodle in class.
“It’s not like I have an easel at home,” the
senior defensive end said.
Ball’s propensity for outlandish statements and
interesting extracurriculars has earned him a reputation as the
class clown of the UCLA football team. Ball said that some of the
media attention he garners comes because he is willing to say
things outside of the typical clichés athletes spew in
interviews.
But he’s also getting some attention for his on-field
abilities.
Ball leads the nation with 11.5 sacks this season, and is
closing in on the UCLA single-season record, held by Carnell Lake
with 13. With 25.5 sacks on his career he is just one sack away
from the school record held by Eric Smith. With four regular-season
games left, it is only a matter of time before Ball eclipses the
mark.
The Bruins face a weak Stanford team (2-4, 0-4 Pac-10) this
Saturday, a perfect opportunity for the Dixon, Calif. native to
etch his name into the UCLA record books. Ball said he does not
think too much about the records, but someone who knows him quite
well ““ his twin brother, teammate Mat Ball ““ knows how
important they are to him.
“It is important to the defense and to Dave,” said
Mat Ball, who plays alongside his brother at defensive end.
“Dave is a great player and he wants to be remembered as
such.”
Dave Ball came very close to a sack in UCLA’s victory over
Arizona State last Saturday. Late in the game, Ball got two hands
on Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller and was about to bring him
to the ground when Keller threw the ball away.
“He felt warm and smushy,” Ball said of Keller.
Last season, Ball blossomed ““ or “went through
puberty,” as he has said ““ and was named second-team
All-Pac-10 as he recorded 11.5 sacks on the season. For his efforts
this season, Ball has been named one of 12 semifinalists for the
34th Rotary Lombardi Award, an award given to the nation’s
top lineman.
In regard to the honor, Ball told The Los Angeles Times,
“The main part is I’ve got to get ready for the
swimsuit competition. That’s what I need to work
on.”
Ball makes sacking a quarterback look simple, but in reality, it
is not just the effort of one player, but a coordinated assault
““ with everyone from the cornerbacks to the linebackers
participating ““Â that makes a sack possible.
Oh, and a sack feels nice.
“It’s nice to have you do something that’s
good,” Ball said.
“If you were a newspaper man, it would be like getting the
article of the week award,” he said.
If there is a knock against the 6-foot-6, 275-pound Ball, it is
that he is not fast enough to be a successful pass rusher in the
NFL.
“That sounds more like a professional scout type of
assessment,” UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell said. “I
think he’s fast enough. He’s proven he can rush the
passer. He’s been able to do that consistently. Sometimes
when you make measurements on a kid ““ height, weight, speed,
jump ““ that doesn’t measure how good of a football
player he is. And I can tell you that Dave Ball is an excellent
football player. The kid can play.”
For Ball, playing in the NFL has been a lifelong dream. While
that might be the kind of cliché that Ball loathes, he is
unsure about what career he would pursue after the NFL, something
many successful young athletes don’t bother to ponder.
“I don’t look down the road, I don’t know what
is coming,” said Ball, a history student that enjoys
contemporary United States history.
“I tell people I am going to be a historian.”
While playing in the NFL could be a reality for Ball, if he
needs some career advice, teammate and friend Blane Kezirian thinks
Ball could make some excellent, weird television commercials.
Years from now, whether Ball is a historian, commercial guru or
an NFL star, he said he would get a kick out of seeing his name on
the Rose Bowl big screen in a trivia question about UCLA’s
sack record-holder.
“Unless some other joker has gotten it,” he
said.
Ball may set records, but it is a safe bet that one day, they
will be broken.
But probably not by another joker.