Trying to Catch Up With the Past : San Diego State Is Replacing All-American With Three Inexperienced Tight Ends

Kerry Reed-Martin and Mitch Burton had a combined total of six receptions last season. Lee Brannon, a community college transfer who converted from offensive tackle, says he’s still learning what to do after he catches the ball.

And you were wondering whom San Diego State had to replace Robert Awalt, the Aztecs’ All-American tight end.

“Right now the position is still basically up for grabs,” said Dana Bible, SDSU tight end coach. “I’d say the top three players are Reed-Martin, Burton and Brannon, but not in that particular order. It’s a competitive situation, and we’re still evaluating.”

Last season, Awalt caught 45 passes for 441 yards and two touchdowns and was an integral part of the Aztec offense. He was a third-team All-American pick by the Associated Press and Football News and was selected in the third round of the National Football League draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed him this summer.

“Naturally, when you lose an all-star player, there’s a void,” Bible said. “It makes you appreciate the value of the former player. But we’re excited about these young players stepping up and accepting the challenge.”

Coach Denny Stolz has said “we’re better at receiver positions than tight end” this season, but tight end is still a key position for the pass-oriented Aztecs. Three tight ends will travel regularly with the team. The leading candidates--with a little more than a week to go before next Saturday’s season opener at UCLA--are all inexperienced. None of them has started a game for the Aztecs.

They are:

KERRY REED-MARTIN: An outside linebacker in high school, Reed-Martin was switched to tight end when he came to SDSU.

Last season, Reed-Martin (6-feet 3-inches, 225 pounds) caught five passes for 36 yards and two touchdowns.

Now he is trying to make the transition from seldom-used backup to starter.

“Last year, I felt it was my job to try to push him (Awalt) and make him the best player that he could be,” Reed-Martin said. “It was a good learning experience. Of course, I wanted to play. I had every desire that a football player would have to want to get in the game and play, but . . .”

Awalt was around.

In spring practice, Reed-Martin and Burton battled for the top spot before Burton sprained his ankle. However, Burton’s injury did not affect their competition.

“Unless somebody has proven themselves in game situations, it’s wide open,” said Reed-Martin, who has played sparingly for two years with the varsity after being a redshirt in 1984.

Reed-Martin has thought about what it might have been like if he had gone to another school, but he refuses to second-guess himself.

“I’ve always had a lot of confidence in my ability,” Reed-Martin said. “Sometimes things happen because they’re meant to be that way. I’m thinking in terms of what my job is right now instead of what it would have been if I was somewhere else. Because I am here.”

MITCH BURTON. There are times Burton thinks about what it would have been like if he had gone to Harvard. Playing football in the Ivy League is a far cry from playing in the Western Athletic Conference and playing as a backup to a player such as Robert Awalt.

“I think in the Ivy League I would have progressed faster,” said Burton, who had a 3.7 grade-point average at El Capitan High in Lakeside and was accepted by Harvard. He decided not to go to Harvard because Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships.

“But I’m glad I stayed here,” added Burton (6-4, 225), who redshirted his first year at SDSU and played sparingly last season, when the only pass he caught was for four yards and a touchdown.

And now he’s ready to go.

“Everyone wants to be first team, that’s for sure,” Burton said, “but it’s still not settled. I can’t read the coaches’ minds.”

For Burton, this is his first clear opportunity to play. When he arrived on campus last year with his twin brother, Brad, a defensive tackle, Mitch hoped to play fairly soon, but the realities of playing major-college football hit home.

“Everybody thinks when they come out of high school that they’re going to start their first year and be All-Pro their first year in the NFL,” Burton said. “But after the initial disenchantment of being on scout (teams) and everything, I think (I’ve) progressed.”

Burton credits Awalt with helping him improve his blocking and receiving techniques. Because he was a wingback at El Capitan, Burton found his toughest adjustment to the college game has been learning to block.

“In high school, it’s just run the guy over,” Burton said. “Here, it’s take a three-inch step, a six-inch step and make contact.”

Still, he is confident heading into the season.

“I’m getting ready to start,” Burton said. “I’m practicing like I’m going to be the guy, in my mind. But, I know they’re not set.”

LEE BRANNON. Raw talent. That’s what the SDSU coaches say about Brannon. That’s what Tom Kinnard, his former coach at Contra Costa College in San Pablo in Northern California, says about him.

“Every play, he is a threat,” Kinnard said. “Two guys would line up opposite him on the line and he’d be covered man-to-man. But he’s raw for a tight end. Very raw. I’d be surprised if he had early success. We told him this when he left. We told him to be patient.”

He is patient.

“I learn a lot every day,” Brannon said. “I’m still getting the hang of the offense. I still have a long ways to go.”

But suddenly, things have started to move fairly quickly for Brannon (6-4, 235), who was the Most Valuable Player of the Bay Valley Conference for Contra Costa, where he caught 15 passes for a team with a 6-4 record.

However, that is the only season he has ever played tight end. In his first season at Contra Costa, he was an offensive lineman.

He couldn’t play with SDSU in spring practice because he was not eligible to attend the university until late this past spring when he completed academic requirements at Contra Costa.

“We’re trying to expedite his transition,” Bible said. “We’re trying to basically pack a spring practice and fall two-a-days into this period.”

Brannon missed the first week of summer camp because of a separated shoulder.

“When I first started going out, I’d catch the ball and I wouldn’t know what to do,” Brannon said. “So I’d be kind of standing there. I’d get the ball, and there I was. They’re really getting on me now, trying to help me on getting up the field. That was my biggest problem, catching the ball and running.”

Brannon said he had no illusions about moving in as a starter when he arrived at SDSU.

“I really couldn’t say until I got down here and could see what the situation was with myself and the other tight ends,” Brannon said. “There’s great competition here.”

Lots of competition but little experience.

Aztec Notes

Patrick Rowe, the freshman Parade All-American receiver from Lincoln High School, is recovering well from a broken left collarbone, trainer Don Kaverman said. Rowe was approved for further activity after an X-ray Wednesday showed the break was healing. He is permitted to run and catch with both hands but is not allowed contact. Rowe had been catching only with his right hand. Kaverman said Rowe still is doubtful for the season opener Sept. 5 at UCLA, but the trainer hopes Rowe will be ready to play in the home opener Sept. 12 against Utah. . . . The only injury to report from a brief morning scrimmage was a neck injury to middle linebacker Derek Santifer. Santifer, a transfer from Long Beach City College, has been bothered by a recurring cervical nerve problem, Kaverman said. . . . Kevin Maultsby, a community college transfer from Walnut Creek, Calif., suffered a bruised foot Wednesday in practice and sat out Thursday’s workout. . . . The Aztecs were to hold their last double session workout today. They will hold a closed scrimmage Saturday morning and begin regular afternoon workouts Monday. . . . The number of players from last year’s Aztec team that remain in National Football League camps is down to four after the Chargers cut defensive lineman Duane Pettitt and the Rams cut halfback Chris Hardy Wednesday. That leaves offensive lineman Doug Aronson with the Cincinnati Bengals, tight end Robert Awalt with the St. Louis Cardinals, linebacker Richard Brown with the Rams and linebacker Randy Kirk with the New York Giants. All except Awalt are free agents.