IT’S NOW OR NEVER : After Career of Injuries, Suspension, USC’s Emanuel Gets Last Chance

You’re Aaron Emanuel, you’re 17 and life’s a bowl of cherries.

After a career as a superstar running back at Quartz Hill High School that included 4,807 yards rushing, 54 touchdowns and prep All-American honors, you had to switch from fending off tacklers to fending off recruiters. They came from everywhere, even a governor’s mansion.

But the highlight had to be when Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne came calling. In a limo. Next thing you knew, you were being whisked away in a private jet for dinner with then-Nebraska governor Bob Kerrey. And his then-girlfriend, Debra Winger.

Hey Debra, pass the butter. You go to Laker games, don’t you? Maybe you could talk to Jack about a bit part in his next flick.

You’re Aaron Emanuel. You’re 20 and life is the pits.

You’re sitting in a holding tank, waiting to go to jail, having been convicted of simple battery for punching a fellow USC student-athlete, Sharon Hatfield.

It’s fitting that Emanuel is a tailback, because his life has been one long, broken-field run. Every time he sees daylight, a new problem seems to come up and tackle him. All that power and speed, mixed with all those injuries and mishaps and a few untimely fumbles.

Now, you are Aaron Emanuel at 22, facing your senior year at USC, still chasing that carrot on a stick, still trying to live up to the legend of Quartz Hill.

“When he came out of high school, he was so highly touted and there were so many expectations that there was just pressure all over,” said Trojan Coach Larry Smith. “Here was a guy who was supposed to be O. J. Simpson, Mike Garrett, Marcus Allen and Charles White all rolled into one. But high school’s a lot different than college.”

As Emanuel soon found out.

“There was just so much hype when I was coming out of high school,” Emanuel said. “Debra Winger, here with Governor Kerrey. Big deal. It was neat, but you’re always looking forward to that next thing. Who can I meet now? People had me tabbed as the No. 1 guy coming out, so I guess this is what it’s like.

“You’re holding press conferences at your high school, with 200, 300 kids looking in at you and television cameras going. It was just like a big circus.

“Then again, it was kind of a scary feeling because you say, ‘Hey, I got to live up to this.’ ”

But he couldn’t.

The first wave of injuries--a groin pull, followed by a lower back bruise, followed by a sprained ankle--allowed him to play only seven games. But he showed his potential, gaining 472 yards rushing--122 of those against Stanford--with an average of 4.9 a carry.

A season later, more yards, 495, another good average, 3.9, and more of the injury jinx, a broken toe, which limited him to eight games and a brief appearance in the Citrus Bowl.

Then came the incident involving Hatfield. Emanuel was found guilty of slugging her at a party, knocking her unconscious and causing a concussion. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail, but served less than a day.

“I was just sitting there in this holding room and I couldn’t believe it,” Emanuel said. “A couple of older guys in there with me asked me for my autograph. I just kind of looked around and thought, ‘Gosh, I never figured I’d be in here.’ ”

Nor was he for long. Emanuel served his sentence on a nine-day work-release program, helping to clean up local parks.

USC, however, was not so lenient. Emanuel was suspended from school for a year. Was it worth coming back?

“The first couple of days, I really thought about not coming back,” he said. “I was thinking I could transfer and get out of here. Then, after the initial blow, I wanted to come back and face it head on. The quicker you face your problems, the quicker they’re going to go away. I’ve got nothing to hold my head down about. It was a mistake I made and you’ve got to keep going.”

And when he returned, the welcome mat was out.

“I’m willing to give anybody a second chance on almost anything,” Smith said. “To me, he made a mistake, he had a problem, he dealt with it and he came back very positive. He wanted to be at SC. He had many chances to be at other schools. People would have taken him right then. But he showed something to me with the fact that he continued to work and follow through with his dream to get his degree at SC.”

Happy ending? Not just yet for Emanuel, who still wasn’t through riding the roller coaster.

The week before the 1988 season opener, Emanuel fumbled on the goal line in a scrimmage.

Smith was furious. And highly vocal.

“Hey, I’m not going to put you in the game in these situations if you can’t hold onto the ball,” he told Emanuel.

A week later, one of those situations came up against Boston College. Trojans in the shadow of the goal posts, scoreless game, Emanuel on the sidelines figuring he would be there all night. He was surprised he had even been allowed to make the trip.

Then the call from Smith came.

Emanuel, who hadn’t been in a game in nearly two years, nervously tried to strap on his helmet while Smith gave him a play to take in.

Emanuel was so nervous, he didn’t realize the coach had called his number.

“It just didn’t dawn on me I was getting the ball,” Emanuel said. “I ran the play all the way in and I was thinking, ‘Damn, who am I going to block? Who am I going to block?’ Because that’s all I had been doing in practice.”

Emanuel started to line up at fullback until quarterback Rodney Peete motioned for him to move to tailback.

Before he barked out the signals, Peete barked at Emanuel, “Aaron, don’t drop the ball!”

Not exactly the words of encouragement he was looking for.

Nevertheless, Emanuel took the handoff, ran through from two yards out and soaked in the joy of standing in the end zone.

He was back.

But there was yet another deep valley awaiting him.

After scoring another touchdown that night and two the next game, along with 121 yards rushing as a starter against Stanford, Emanuel and his fellow Trojans played Oklahoma at the Coliseum.

Late in the first half, Emanuel suffered a severely sprained ankle.

As he stood by the tunnel leading to the locker room, waiting for someone to take him to the doctor, tears started down his cheeks.

“It was uncontrollable,” he said. “It was just really depressing. It was a long road I had struggled up to get back on the field. I was feeling comfortable. I was feeling in good shape. Then, for something like that to happen, I couldn’t believe it. It really tested my character. ‘Lord, why me?’ You ask that question.”

There have been other, even worse, blows along the way. His mother, Vera, almost died of a brain aneurysm. His father, Anthony, had two mild heart attacks.

“I’ve had some trying times,” said Aaron, shaking his head.

He missed five games, but came back and had big days against both UCLA (113 yards rushing and two touchdowns) and Notre Dame (95 yards), but gained only 55 yards in 16 carries in the Rose Bowl loss to Michigan.

Now, he has a last chance as he enters his senior season. He is not injured, he is down to 219 pounds after ballooning to 240 in spring ball, and he has a shot at the starting tailback spot, along with Scott Lockwood and Ricky Ervins.

Emanuel, the kid who bragged that he would win two or three Heisman trophies back in those carefree days when he was breaking bread with Debra Winger, still has a shot at one.

Five years later, the carrot is still out there.