Shrine All-Star Football Game : McDaniels Leads South Against North Tonight

When the South team’s defense takes the field tonight at 6 in the 38th Annual Shrine all-star football game at the Rose Bowl, Terry McDaniels, a Pasadena native, is sure to stand out.

The first thing you notice about McDaniels, an All-American lineman at Pasadena High last fall, is his size. At 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, McDaniels is hard to overlook. He was heavily recruited by many of the top 20 college teams in the nation last year, ultimately choosing USC.

And McDaniels does not confine his talents to football. He also starred for Pasadena’s track team last spring. With his massive build, it is easy to imagine him dominating the shotput and discus throw.

As has often been noted, however, appearances can be deceiving. Although McDaniels does have strength to match his size--he has bench-pressed 390 pounds--he reminds spectators more of Roger Kingdom than Randy Barnes.

See, McDaniels does not put the shot nor throw the discus. He is a hurdler. In fact, he was Pasadena’s top hurdler, with an impressive best time under 15 seconds in the 110-meter highs. He also ran the intermediate hurdles and was an alternate on the mile-relay team, with a fast split of 50.1 for 400 meters.

“I am more of an athlete than a football player,” said McDaniels, who will line up at defensive end in the Shrine game. “People see me, and they always think that I am a shotputter, but I have always been a hurdler. I was pretty much a state contender in the highs, before I pulled my right hamstring.”

McDaniels may consider himself a complete athlete, but when it comes to football, opponents probably wish he were playing some other game.

Last season, while playing both tackle on offense and nose tackle on defense, McDaniels dominated. On offense, he rarely allowed his opponent access to the Bulldogs’ backfield and on defense, he was even better. He finished with 75 unassisted tackles, and recovered eight fumbles.

In one game, he caused two fumbles and scored two touchdowns in a span of 1 minute 20 seconds.

“That definitely is the highlight of my football career,” he said. “On the first touchdown, I tackled a running back and made him fumble into the end zone, which I recovered. Then, on the next series, a different back had the ball and when he saw me coming he dropped the ball near the end zone. I just picked it up and strolled in for a score.”

Like most linemen with great agility, McDaniels has envisioned himself as a ballcarrier.

“I became a lineman because I was just bigger than everyone else,” he said. “And, I have always been kind of clumsy.”

When it came time for McDaniels to choose a college, his first choice was Penn State, but only as a fullback.

“I wanted to go to Penn State and play for Joe Paterno,” McDaniels said. “I would really fit their mold of fullbacks. I know that I am big, fast and strong. I can pretty much do whatever is asked of me.”

Unfortunately for McDaniels, the Nittany Lions never called, so he decided to follow his heart.

“It was easy to decide on SC,” McDaniels said. “I love the history of its football program and it was a childhood dream for me to stay close to home and have a chance to play in the Rose Bowl.”

With almost two weeks to go before participating in his first official college practice, McDaniels has made the most of his opportunity to play with college-type competition. In the practices leading up to the Shrine game, he has impressed the South team’s coaches with his work ethic.

“He really looks like he is going to be an outstanding player,” said Bill Redell, the former coach of Crespi who will coach the South with Tim Burroughs of San Bernardino. “Because we have been holding off on the contact in practice, it has been hard to tell how good he really is. I am looking forward to see him go all out.”

Tonight, McDaniels will get his chance.

Shrine Game Notes

During the practice for the South at UC Irvine, Erik Simien of Serra High in Gardena, who will attend Notre Dame in the fall, has made his presence felt. “Erik has been like a man among boys,” Coach Bill Redell said about the outside linebacker who stands 6-3 and weighs 225. “I knew he would be good, but not this good. (Notre Dame Coach) Lou Holtz really has himself a player in him.”

The South also has a pair of outstanding linebackers playing inside, in UCLA-bound Carrick O’Quinn of Agoura and Garrett Greedy of Servite. Colorado-bound Tamasi Amituanal and McDaniels anchor the defensive line, and in the secondary, the leader is Antelope Valley’s Tommie Smith, who will start at strong safety. The Washington-bound Smith, will also play running back, the position he is expected to play for the Huskies.

The expected Proposition 48 backfield of Russell White of Encino Crespi, Derek Brown of Anaheim Servite and Curtis Conway of Hawthorne, all of whom missed meeting minimum scholastic requirements for college eligibility, may be missing a part in the game, as well. White, the state rushing and scoring record holder, has been slowed by tendinitis in his right knee. White, ineligible to play this fall at California, played only in the first half of the San Fernando Valley’s all-star game two weekends ago and is expected to be used sparingly. Brown, a Prop. 48 casualty at Nebraska, is expected to be the workhorse ballcarrier for the South, and Conway, who will attend a junior college this fall while not playing football after failing to be accepted at USC, will start at quarterback. He will also be used as a receiver and possibly as a running back when Crespi’s Ronnie Redell (Coach Redell’s son) or Carson’s Perry Klein is in the game at quarterback. All three quarterbacks will be nursing injuries, Conway and the Stanford-bound Redell shoulder problems, and the California-bound Klein a back injury. But they will have an outstanding receiver to throw to, Michael Moore of Beverly Hills, the nephew of former NFL receiver Ahmad Rashad.