It’s really nothing more than a rite of spring, but to
UCLA tailback Jason Harrison, it must have meant so much more.
The first padded practice of the calendar year came Monday, and
late in the day, the coaches set up one of those training-camp type
drills that test the raw desire of their players.
Even Bruin fans from the bleachers were allowed to gather on the
field, along with amped-up teammates, to witness the sight of
running backs running behind three offensive linemen blocking three
defensive linemen, who after about three months without tackling
were ready to rip off limbs.
When Harrison took his handoff, he hit the hole hard and was
stopped for a second, but he kept on pumping his legs and
surgically repaired knee.
Just before being driven into the dirt, he gritted his teeth,
held onto the ball with two hands, reached out,
and …
He broke through.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Harrison said,
sporting a wide smile. “My next goal is to get back in a
game.”
Monday was just another mark off the calendar to the day when
Harrison, a junior, will once again get a touch of the ball on the
field in an actual game.
The last time he got one of those was as a redshirt freshman,
when he tore up two ligaments in his right knee during a
garbage-time kickoff return, in a 48-27 loss to Washington State at
the Rose Bowl in December 2002.
Harrison underwent two knee surgeries and was unable to walk
without crutches for the next 13 months.
At this time last spring, Harrison watched from the sideline as
tailback after tailback lined up to impress and fight for playing
time under new coach Karl Dorrell.
Harrison, meanwhile, was spending his time fighting off thoughts
of quitting football altogether and setting goals for his
comeback.
The Washington State game in November seemed like a nice return
date, tinged with irony and all.
But the game came and went. No Harrison.
Then in the following month came what seemed like the perfect
comeback setting ““ the Silicon Valley Classic in his hometown
of San Jose, where in his days at Gunderson High School he starred
as a prep All-American.
Coaches said all during bowl week they expected Harrison, who
was about 90 percent healthy, to get a touch or two.
But it rained in that night game against Fresno State, and
rather than risk injury running in the mud, Harrison did not play
““ much to the disappointment of the 70 family members and
friends in attendance.
It was as if the football gods were crying in laughter at
Harrison and all that he had gone through.
Not that a happy-go-lucky Harrison saw it that way.
“It must have been a sign,” he said.
A sign that this was not the right night, and that there would
come an even better day for an eventual comeback.
Even if Harrison were to return, however, he faces long odds for
any significant playing time. Manuel White and Maurice Drew have
proven themselves, and Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year
Derrick Williams is emerging.
But when asked about this predicament, Harrison’s smile
grows wider to the point where he is laughing uncontrollably.
“This is football,” Harrison said. “I love
this game. That’s why I play, sweat and bleed.”
Harrison said his goal now is to simply return to where he was
before the injury.
He suffers from chronic tendinitis and must rehabilitate his
knee for about six hours per week just to get it ready for practice
and the battles ahead.
All this, so that he can make the pain of not playing all go
away.
Leung was a football beat writer in 2002. He can be reached
at dleung@media.ucla.edu.