His Claim to Fame Rings True : College football: Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer manages to stay cool despite the firestorm of Heisman publicity.

Ring!

The telephone. It kept . . .

Ring!

Ringing.

All through the day, and into the night.

Women. Men. Kids. Wanting to hear that voice. Ty’s voice.

Usually, Ty Detmer and his four roommates would take the calls in stride. The Heisman Trophy hype had started during the summer, and they were still young. None of them had ever been through anything like this before. How bad could it get, really?

There were times they were amused by the whole scene. It was fall. They liked fall. It was football season, and this Heisman stuff was kind of a kick.

Until they tried to sleep in on a Sunday after getting back from a road game late Saturday. These were the times they felt like ripping the phone off the wall and tossing it out the window.

It never stopped. Having their phone number became a status symbol in Provo, Utah.

“A student-teacher at a high school told us he saw a girl walking down the hall saying, ‘I got Ty Detmer’s phone number,’ and passing it out,” said David Henderson, one of Detmer’s roommates and a second-team defensive back.

At its peak, the house answering machine was taking about 100 calls a day. Incredibly, BYU student information was giving out Detmer’s phone number to anyone who asked. Henderson said the roommates had to ask the campus operator to stop giving it out.

That was a couple of days before BYU stunned then-No. 1 Miami in Provo. By the end of that game, it was apparent that this would not be a normal year in Provo. Ty Detmer became the Heisman front-runner.

A couple of days after the Miami game, Henderson said they again called BYU information. This time they simply asked for Ty’s number. They got it.

Two weeks ago, it finally got to be too much. Detmer and his roommates, a bit older and wiser, had their phone number changed and didn’t list it.

But they couldn’t change their doorbell.

Ring!

The five of them--four football players and a wrestler--live in a rented house in what once was a quiet neighborhood. Lots of families. Lots of kids.

“The kids go to school and tell their friends they know where Ty Detmer lives,” Henderson said.

Ring!

“According to them, the other kids don’t believe them, so they want autographs.”

They also want to play football in the front yard. During the season, Detmer and Co. rarely had time to do so. Once the season is finished, Henderson said, they play more frequently.

Soon, there will be games in the front yard again. This week, however, the neighborhood turns its attention from the house down the street to San Diego and the Holiday Bowl.

Not only does the Holiday Bowl have a history of nail-biting finishes, it now has a Heisman history. Barry Sanders two years ago, now Detmer. Two winners in three bowl games. And Detmer played last year as well.

Not bad.

Thanks to a shy, polite and mischievous 22-year-old quarterback, this has been one of the craziest seasons in BYU history. According to BYU’s sports information people, no other athlete in BYU history has generated so much interest. Not Jim McMahon. Not Steve Young. Not Robbie Bosco or Michael Smith or Danny Ainge. No one.

The madness began during the summer, with the manufacturing of Heisman “ties” and the preparation of a media campaign. It was the Miami game that turned Provo inside out. But Detmer’s solid-gold season opened a week before Miami, in his native Texas.

Sept. 1, in El Paso.

BYU 30, Texas El Paso 10

Imagine. You are a shy college student who loves playing football. You also love to hunt, because it gets you into the woods, away from the daily grind and limelight. You are the focus of your team, and nearly every time you step into a room, people know who you are.

You are in El Paso, and these wacky BYU fans are wearing blue ties with your name and No. 14 on them. Heisman Tys.

You are getting ready to open the season in the midst of all this madness. And then, while standing in the lobby of the team hotel, you see your mother heading toward you . . . and she is wearing a big button on her blouse. The button has your picture on it.

“A head shot,” Henderson said.

Betty Detmer had flown in from the family home in Mission, Tex. What with her husband and another son involved in high school football, and one daughter in school and the other married, it would be her only chance to see Ty play in person this season.

It was an interesting opening, and not only because Detmer passed for 387 yards. He surprised BYU Coach LaVell Edwards by getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Later, there was a brawl, and one of the Texas papers splashed a big picture of Ty in the middle of the fight.

“Mild-mannered Ty was pictured fixin’ to slug someone,” Betty said. “He had some guy by the face mask. Koy (Ty’s 17-year-old brother) loved it.”

Today, that picture hangs on the bulletin board of Koy’s room.

Heisman Tour ’90 was off to a rousing start.

Sept. 8, in Provo

BYU 28, Miami 21

Nighttime. There is a big, white ‘Y’ on a mountaintop overlooking Provo. Somebody makes his way toward it and plants a T in front of the Y. All set for game day.

“Half the people thought this was our first game,” Detmer said. “It was really big. Students on campus wished you good luck everywhere you went.”

This was a turning point as far as the Heisman race was concerned. Detmer completed a season-high 38 of 54 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns before a sellout crowd and an ESPN audience. He did this despite suffering a cut on his chin that took six stitches.

Ring! In Mission, the Detmer family’s phone rang all that night and the next day. Friends, relatives . . . excitement.

Ring! Ty called the next day.

“He was just elated when we talked to him,” Betty Detmer said. “I don’t think his chin even hurt.”

Sept. 15, in Provo

BYU 50, Washington State 36

To win the Heisman Trophy, you need several things: Talent. Publicity. Statistics. And maybe a little bit of magic.

Against Washington State, Detmer had it all.

Miami week was over, and talk about letdowns: BYU trailed at halftime, 29-7. But Detmer threw for three fourth-quarter touchdowns, finishing with 448 yards passing and five touchdown passes. His legend was sealed.

The Heisman is also timing. The Cougars were scheduled to appear on CBS against San Diego State the next week, and because of that, CBS had a crew there for this game.

“The CBS crew was there, and they kept feeding updates back to the stations,” Edwards said. “You couldn’t have written a better script.”

Meanwhile, no need to worry about Detmer’s ego with his roommates around. They kid him so much there is no way Detmer can get a big head. Hubert, they call him. That is Ty’s middle name. Hubert. After his grandfather.

“It’s really good for Ty to live with those guys,” Betty Detmer said.

Sept. 22, in Provo

BYU 62, San Diego State 34

An hour before game time. Detmer is loosening up by taking snaps and rolling right and then left. You’ve heard of the two-step drop? Well, a CBS cameraman is about two steps from Detmer, filming everything.

Interest in Detmer is so high that CBS decides to show this game, originally scheduled for regional showing, to about 80% of the nation.

Meanwhile, it turns out, Detmer’s roommates aren’t the only ones who get on him about the Heisman stuff. His father, Sonny, usually lets him have it during his one or two calls home each week. When Ty calls, Sonny answers the phone, “Stud.” That always gets a laugh.

There have been quite a few serious moments, too. Ty had been depressed after the Texas El Paso game. He didn’t think he had played well. Imagine passing for 387 yards and a touchdown and not thinking you played well.

“If it is not any fun anymore, you need to find something else to do,” Sonny told Ty then.

After playing well against Miami and Washington State, Ty shredded San Diego State for 514 yards.

Now, it was fun again.

Sept. 29, in Eugene, Ore.

Oregon 32, BYU 16

His hand ached. His right hand. The passing one. He had banged it on a helmet against Washington State, and then dinged it again against San Diego State. Detmer didn’t practice all week. It showed. Five of his passes were intercepted.

“Ty died in Eugene,” screamed the broadcasters.

By the end of the season, 28 of Detmer’s passes had been intercepted, and each Heisman watcher had his own opinion. Detmer may have handled the predictions better than his mother.

“One day it’s ‘St. Ty of the Football,’ so much glory he could do no wrong,” Betty Detmer said. “The next day, it’s ‘He’s only 5-11 and can’t throw the football more than 20 yards, and it’s all wobbly.’ I’d be so mad I could just spit.”

As if the loss and five interceptions weren’t enough, one of Detmer’s roommates, Rick Evans--the wrestler--is from Oregon. All week, he had been talking about Oregon.

“Oregon guys are tougher than guys from Texas,” he told Detmer and Henderson, both of whom are from Texas.

When Detmer returned to the house, Evans simply sat there. Grinning.

Oct. 6, in the mountains

By mid-December, many of the weekends would become a blur to Detmer. Not this one.

“Got an elk that weekend,” he said.

With a week off, Detmer had his hand was fitted with a removable cast. He removed it long enough to go hunting.

The Detmer family joke is that one reason they don’t go to a psychiatrist is that they spend time in the woods. Quiet time, where they can sort out their thoughts and feelings.

Oct. 13, in Provo

BYU 52, Colorado State 9

The sign appeared on their door the night after the game. Some young women had left it, asking Detmer and Henderson to go out with them. Detmer and Henderson read the sign and thought, why not?

They went out to eat. They played miniature golf. They took a picture. Next thing anybody knew, Ty and his blind date were pictured on wedding announcements distributed around campus.

If there’s anything he loves as much as football and hunting, it’s a good prank. A few teammates got him on this one.

No wonder Henderson talked Detmer into going. He knew it was a set-up all along.

Oct. 20, in the mountains

Another bye, another weekend clearly in focus.

“Got a deer that weekend,” Detmer said.

By now, with the telephone ringing and the media hounding, the woods and mountains were the only place he could get any rest. His cousin, Freddie Buchholz, was with him, and Buchholz got a real eye opener when a local television station did a live remote and showed Ty building a fire and telling hunting tales.

So much for Detmer’s peace.

Buchholz, meanwhile, spent the night at Ty’s house.

So much for Buchholz’s peace.

“Freddie said the phone never stopped ringing,” Betty Detmer said. “He was glad to get out of there, he said.”

By now, things were going well off the field as well as on. It was about this time that Detmer began going with Kim Herbert, who is 22. She and Detmer like to spend time at her house or in the mountains.

Eric Mortensen, a teammate, had a pretty serious relationship for about two years. “Ty always used to talk about it,” Henderson said. “About how he was spending so much time taking her out to eat, and how much money he was spending.

“Now it’s all swung back to Ty.”

As for Detmer’s family, Herbert has already passed inspection. Sonny saw her playing softball in July.

“He said she could hit hard and run well,” Betty Detmer said. “Is that a coach’s impression or what?”

Oct. 27, in Provo

BYU 55, New Mexico 31

Homecoming. Pep rallies. Sharks.

Sharks?

Ty Detmer, Mr. Heisman Trophy candidate, took three stitches in his left hand a few days before the game when he punctured it dissecting a shark .

The way Evans tells the story, one of the girls in class couldn’t cut through the shark skin, so Detmer decided to help.

Ring!

When Detmer called home, Sonny answered while humming the “Jaws” theme.

The wound wasn’t serious enough for Detmer to skip the game. He passed for 464 yards.

Nov. 3, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

BYU 54, Air Force 7

You play football in the East, you see all kinds of weather. You play football in the West, you don’t worry so much about the elements. Until now.

“First time I played in snow,” Detmer said. “It was a lot of fun. It’s a lot better than playing in rain. The ball doesn’t get wet.”

Not many could tell he had never played in snow. He passed for 397 yards and three touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Detmer’s parents watched the game on television via satellite. This is how they saw most of his games. A friend had his television hooked up to a satellite dish, a local cafe in Mission also had one and near the end of the season, the booster club had a satellite dish installed at Koy’s high school. The only game they missed was the Hawaii game. As it would turn out, that was probably for the best.

Nov. 10, in Laramie, Wyo.

BYU 45, Wyoming 14

The game had long since ended. Detmer had had another Detmer game, passing for 484 yards. Edwards was on his way home. Suddenly, he was struck by a thought: Ty Detmer was going to win the Heisman.

Edwards had called Detmer into his office several times in the past few months to talk to him about the Heisman. How to handle all of the media requests. How to handle all of the appearance requests. How are you doing, Ty? Is it too overwhelming? You OK?

He always was. And now, for the first time, Edwards allowed himself to think in terms of Ty winning.

“It wasn’t until then that I thought it might happen,” Edwards said. “I remember going home and telling my wife, ‘You know, I really think Ty is going to win the thing.’ ”

Nov. 17, in Salt Lake City

BYU 45, Utah 22

The numbers continued to get larger. Detmer passed for 451 yards, increasing his career total to 10,106 and becoming the first junior to pass for more than 10,000 yards. By season’s end, he would hold 42 NCAA records. This game was also noteworthy because BYU clinched the Western Athletic Conference title.

The crunch on Detmer had become so strong during the season that BYU eventually quit setting up one-on-one telephone interviews. There was a weekly conference call, two if called for. Ralph Zobell, BYU sports information director, figured that by the end of the season, more than 100 had interviewed Detmer via the conference calls.

“Saturdays have been fun,” Detmer said. “Other than that, it’s been hectic. Each week, we got better and better and stayed in the spotlight.”

Nov. 24, in Provo

BYU 45, Utah State 10

Relief. The week before the Heisman ballots went in. Finally, the speculation was about to end.

Disaster. Five interceptions.

Against Utah State?

“Didn’t go as well as we wanted it to,” Detmer said.

Said Edwards: “We’d won the championship and really had a hard time coming back.”

Dec. 1, Honolulu

Heisman Day

Hawaii 59, BYU 28

You don’t describe the feeling of something like winning the Heisman Trophy in words. You do it through tears and laughter, and smiles and hugs.

The Detmers had a feeling this would be a good day. Lori, 10 1/2 and the only girl playing in an organized flag football league in Mission, had a game that morning. After three earlier losses, her team finally won.

Then, the Detmers got on their game clothes and drove to Kingsville for a playoff game. They got there early enough for a television hookup with Ty in Hawaii. Word came. He won. Sonny cried.

“Sonny broke down,” Betty Detmer said. “He bawled. Our friends were laughing. He had told me, ‘You’re going to have to talk. This is getting to be too much for me.’ ”

Oh, what a day. Later, Koy’s team won its playoff game.

Oh, what a week. Everyone except Koy went to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Betty and daughters Dee Dorman, 21, and Lori flew in Dec. 6. Sonny went the next day. Koy stayed behind so he wouldn’t miss football practice during the playoffs.

Everyone else met Ty and Kim and a few BYU representatives.

His mother had not seen him since the first weekend in September in El Paso. His father hadn’t seen him since early July.

They picked up two trophies. One is at BYU. The other is in his grandparents’ house.

It hasn’t been an easy year for them. Ty’s grandfather, Hubert, has cancer, and the Detmers know he probably will not be with them next football season.

Ty’s grandparents are the ones who kept his scrapbooks last fall. Betty’s brother in St. Louis, sister in Corpus Christi, and friends in Indiana, Ohio and Florida would all send clippings, and his grandparents’ house became one of the biggest fire hazards in Texas.

There will be more clippings. This winter: Will Ty apply early for the NFL draft? If not, next fall: Can Ty repeat his Heisman?

Edwards said Detmer will forgo the NFL draft and return for a senior season at BYU.

“And if he said he’s coming back, you can just write it down,” Edwards said.

The months have worn on Detmer. It hasn’t shown in public. There have been no reports of him losing his temper or being rude. But those who know him well have noticed a subtle change. They say he seems a little quieter, a little more worn out.

After the Holiday Bowl, he will return to Mission with his mother and father in the family van. They figure to get home on New Year’s Eve, and Ty will stay there for a week or so. He has asked his parents not to plan anything during that time. He would like to rest.

First, however, there will be Saturday’s game, when BYU will try to avenge last year’s Holiday Bowl loss to Penn State. A couple of Ty’s cousins from Texas will meet the Detmers in San Diego. And a few nights ago, Betty Detmer spoke with Ty on the phone.

“Ty,” she told him. “It’s going to be awful hard here in Texas if you don’t beat A&M.;”

Ty Detmer has taken the attention and the publicity this year and thrown them 50 yards downfield, and then been ready for more. And now, his mother was telling him how difficult it would be to live in Texas if BYU loses.

He simply laughed.