Bankhead Shows His Worth in Debut : CLU Receiver Whom Nobody Wanted Is Honored as WFC Player of Week

John Bankhead might be the best college receiver who--initially, at least--nobody wanted.

USC, UCLA, San Diego State, San Jose State, Fresno State all pretty much chuckled when Bankhead sent letters inquiring about the availability of a football scholarship. “I sent to every one,” he said. “Every school I could think of.”

Bankhead’s self-esteem slipped through his hands and dropped to the turf when not even Liberty University, the Jerry Falwell-led Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., would offer compassion in the form of a scholarship to a God-believing brother, albeit with unproven hands. Even worse, then-Liberty Coach Tom Dowling wouldn’t let Bankhead join the team as a walk-on.

“It was weird,” Bankhead said. “I called the coach during the summer of 1983, after I graduated from high school, told him I wanted to walk on, and he straight out told me ‘no.’ I couldn’t believe it.”

Part of the problem was that Bankhead played high school football at tiny Chula Vista Christian near San Diego. Eight-man football. No matter that his time in the 40-yard dash was 4.5 seconds and that he scored 34 touchdowns as a running back, receiver, kickoff and punt returner during his junior year. Unbeknown to Bankhead, he broke his wrist that season and by the time the injury had been correctly diagnosed three games into his senior year, the wrist required surgery and a bone graft from his hip.

Liberty’s lack of faith in him notwithstanding, Bankhead the Baptist decided to become one of Jerry’s Kids, anyway. He skipped his freshman season, then attended spring drills, trying to earn both a place on the roster and financial aid. Bankhead’s speed was surprising, indeed, but not as impressive as that of receivers Fred Banks, who ran a 4.35 in the 40 and is now with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, and Kelvin Edwards (4.4), who became a New Orleans Saint.

Beaten out and burned, Bankhead came home to San Diego’s Southwestern College where he caught 23 passes and led the team in scoring during the ’84 season--his first in 11-man football. But too many dropped balls and too much self-doubt caused him to leave college football for two years in favor of a job as a ceramic-tile setter.

“I had no intentions of going back,” Bankhead said. “But the coaches talked me into it.”

In 1986, Bankhead started for Southwestern along with receiver Robert Claiborne and, he said, “I finally learned to be a receiver--to run pass routes, to read defenses, to use my speed and how to catch the ball.”

Combined, Bankhead and Claiborne caught 114 passes and drew a lot of attention from Division I recruiters. Claiborne went on to sign with San Diego State, but Bankhead’s status was clouded by eligibility rules. If he was to play for a Division I school, he would be eligible for only one year.

Representatives from San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State, San Jose State all came to see Bankhead but were scared off when they discovered he could play just one more year in Division I. Western Michigan and Northern Illinois went ahead and offered Bankhead two-year scholarships for one year of football. He turned them down in favor of playing two years in Division II, where the five-years-to-play-four eligibility rule does not apply.

Bankhead eventually called Cal Lutheran to see if the Kingsmen had any interest--and a week later, after showing coaches his game films, the receiver had a scholarship in hand.

“John is abnormally fast for our kind of football,” CLU Coach Bob Shoup said this week. “I don’t know how good he can be. He could be a pro prospect because he has the speed and he’s a smooth, fluid receiver.

In his first start for the Kingsmen last week against San Francisco State, Bankhead caught 8 passes for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. He subsequently was named offensive player of the week in the Western Football Conference.

The two touchdown catches came on broken plays and revealed Bankhead’s new-found perspicacity as a receiver. The first score, a 39-yard play, came after Bonds scrambled and Bankhead faked as if to come back toward the quarterback, then broke sharply toward the end zone. The second touchdown, of nine yards, was a fingertip grab in the back of the end zone. Bankhead noticed the defender watching him instead of the ball. As the pass spiraled toward him, Bankhead acted as if the ball were thrown elsewhere and at the last second he flicked his hands up and cradled the ball.

“I now feel confident in what I can do,” he said. “Last week was good, but I can do more.”

Clearly, Bankhead, the one-time unwanted man from the “Pop Warner” high school, has taken an in-your-face stance regarding those who never gave him a chance. And he speaks candidly about his goal of making it in the National Football League. “I’m not here at Cal Lutheran to be a college star, that isn’t going to pay me any money. I’m here to work hard and get noticed by the NFL. I want two good years here and then the NFL.”

Shoup seemingly agrees. When asked about Bankhead recently, the coach said: “I thought the Cowboys coaches were going to take him back to Dallas with them when they were here for training camp. After seeing him, they told me, ‘We wish we had a receiver like that.’ ”

So does everybody else, including Liberty U.