BOWLS ‘85-86 : FREEDOM : He Can Dish It Out : Fullback Anthony Weatherspoon’s Performance at Colorado Hasn’t Been a Snow Job

Anthony Weatherspoon hates snow. And the disgusting white stuff was coming down in bushels, piling up outside his dormitory window at the University of Colorado.

It was the winter of his discontent, Weatherspoon’s first in Boulder, and he was wondering if it would be his last. A year earlier, he had been a highly recruited fullback at La Habra High School, coveted by schools such as UCLA, Arizona and Cal.

How did he wind up in this forsaken place, where the Buffaloes had just finished 1-10, playing in a pass-first offense where fullbacks were primarily asked to block and watch quarterbacks throw interceptions?

“There were so many thoughts going through my head, like, ‘What was I doing here?’ ” said Weatherspoon, recalling that cold final month of 1984. “I was really considering whether or not I should stay.”

And Weatherspoon was serious. The reason he had come to Colorado in the first place was playing time. The Buffaloes were rebuilding, and rebuilding programs like to use new players.

As a freshman, Weatherspoon played, all right--appearing in seven games and starting one. But the price was a 1-10 record and snow up to his shoulder pads.

Maybe sitting and waiting at UCLA wasn’t so bad after all.

“One reason I came here was because they weren’t doing too well and I figured I could get a lot of experience right away,” Weatherspoon said. “But 1 and 10? Oh my God. I had to wonder if this was going to destroy my chances.”

Chances for postseason honors, chances for bowl appearances, chances for an NFL contract. Anthony Weatherspoon had come to Colorado with big things in mind.

Losing, pass-blocking and freezing weren’t part of his game plan.

But before Weatherspoon could pack his suitcases, Colorado Coach Bill McCartney pulled a fast one.

He switched offenses.

The plan for 1985, McCartney told Weatherspoon, was the wishbone. No more passing and praying 50 times a game. The Buffs were going back to basics--and a big guy called Spoon was a big reason why.

“To run the wishbone,” McCartney explained, “you need two big rock-’em, sock-’em fullbacks. And we had two in Weatherspoon and (Eric) McCarty. They were both entering their sophomore seasons. They both got their feet wet as freshmen. They were players we could build around.”

Weatherspoon liked the idea.

“It was great,” he said. “In the wishbone, the fullback gets the ball more. It was a relief. I’d actually be getting to do something with the football.

“I don’t mind pass-protecting, but not 90% of the time.”

So Weatherspoon stayed. As fall practice approached, he was fired up. The main man in the new attack.

But shortly thereafter, Weatherspoon became educated in the down side of being a wishbone fullback. He wasn’t prepared for life in a trash compactor.

“In the wishbone, the fullback takes an incredible pounding,” said Gary Barnett, the Buffaloes’ offensive backfield coach. “You need guys back there who want to get hit because they’re going to get hit every play. That’s why you need two of ‘em. They’re gonna get hit a load.”

Weatherspoon found that out the hard way. During the first week of two-a-days, he bruised a kidney from the repeated smashes his backside received. The injury was diagnosed one day after practice, when Weatherspoon spotted blood in his urine.

“It wasn’t too painful, but it was kinda scary to look down and see blood,” Weatherspoon said.

Weatherspoon sat out the team’s final scrimmage on Aug. 31, but he was in the starting lineup on opening day, his kidney protected by a flak jacket.

Through September, Colorado’s new fullback was gobbling up heaping spoonfuls of yardage--95 yards against Colorado State, 101 against Oregon, 93 against Ohio State.

But then, more injury trouble. This time, a bruised left foot.

“It was right in the arch and it really hurt,” Weatherspoon said. “I couldn’t push off with that foot. It slowed me down a lot.”

It also knocked Weatherspoon out of the starting lineup for two games, including a 17-7 loss to Nebraska.

By Week 8, Weatherspoon was back in the first-team backfield, but he was never the same. His last four starts of the regular season produced rushing totals of 27, 65, 18 and 22 yards.

Still, Weatherspoon wound up as the Buffaloes’ leading rusher with 569 yards, helping Colorado garner a 7-4 record and a berth in Monday’s Freedom Bowl against Washington. He says he’s back to 100% health--and wonders what might have been the result had that been the case all season.

“I was shooting for 1,000 yards,” Weatherspoon said. “That’s something I’ve never done, not even in high school. My junior year (at La Habra) I came close--986. But 1,000 is my goal. It’s always in the back of my mind.”

Said Barnett: “He’s definitely got a 1,000-yard season in him. He was on track the first four games this year before he got hurt. If he stays healthy next year, he’ll get 1,000, now that he’s the center of the offense.”

As for the present, Weatherspoon is enjoying the Buffaloes’ preparation for the Freedom Bowl--giving him a chance to visit his family again and talk with a potential Buffalo recruit named Chuck Weatherspoon. Yep, little brother Chuck was an all-county tailback at La Habra this year and Colorado is interested.

Wouldn’t that be something? Tablespoon and Teaspoon, united again.

That, among other things, excites Weatherspoon about his next two years at Colorado. The Buffaloes presently start 11 sophomores.

“By the time we’re seniors,” Weatherspoon said, “we could be awesome.”

And the wishbone, he says, will only get better with age.

“This year, we just installed the wishbone. It was a big experiment,” Weatherspoon said. “Next season, we’ll be more diversified. Next season, we could be undefeated.”

Anthony Weatherspoon grins a big grin. Undefeated? It’s a wild, crazy, implausible thought. But he likes it.

Anything to get you through those winters at Boulder. As far as Weatherspoon is concerned, if the Buffaloes win, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.