Pitch Is the Same; Only Return Addresses Differ

With his mailbag slung over his shoulder, he weaves his way through the Seal Beach neighborhood. Past Bayou Way, down Coral Place, then back up Bayside Drive, his load lightening at each mailbox.

But no stop is better on this route than the large gray-and-white, two-story house at the end of Crestview Avenue.

He pulls out one letter, then another, and another. By the time he’s finished, he has seven letters, all addressed to Tim Carey, one of the most sought-after high school quarterbacks in the nation.

Each weeknight, Carey comes home from football practice at Los Alamitos High and opens the stacks of mail waiting in the family den. Hundreds of others, already opened, are filed in a nearby box.

He gets letters, postcards, media guides, NCAA rule books, flyers, questionnaires, magazines and game reports.

They’re postmarked from Madison, Wis., Coral Gables, Fla., South Bend, Ind., Norman, Okla., Lawrence, Kan., Boulder, Colo., and Austin, Tex.

They come from head coaches, many of whom are three times his age and whose futures could depend on a decision this 17-year-old boy will make sometime in the next four months.

What college football team do I want to play for?

Everyone has an answer.

“Think Wisconsin,” wrote the Badgers.

“Keep thinking Colorado!” said the Buffaloes.

“Think Aztecs,” said San Diego State.

They invite him to their campuses. Carey has scheduled two visits for December--Stanford and Washington State--and is considering several schools for his other three.

And the letters keep coming--assistant coaches, recruiting coordinators, players and former players all write about the benefits of becoming a Trojan, Bruin, Sooner, Longhorn, Sun Devil or Cougar.

They come from UCLA’s team nutritionist, Colorado’s sports information director. There are personal notes ranging from Stanford Coach Bill Walsh to “Texas Angel” Kim Ford, a Longhorn football hostess.

In less than a year, Carey has received 603 letters from more than 40 universities, with at least six more arriving each day.

Any coach who can lick a stamp knows how important it is to sign Carey to a letter of intent Feb. 3.

Carey, 6 feet 4 and 175 pounds, established himself as one of the nation’s best quarterbacks last season, passing for 2,501 yards and 21 touchdowns in leading the Griffins to the Southern Section Division III championship. He has completed 64% of his passes this season for 1,195 yards and 11 touchdowns, and the Griffins are off to a 5-0 start.

SuperPrep magazine ranks Carey sixth in the nation among quarterbacks.

Max Emfinger’s scouting service lists him third on the West Coast at his position.

Several recruiters have told Carey he’s the nation’s best at his position.

Some schools write him often--Stanford, USC, Colorado, Texas, Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

Others rarely write. Yale, Columbia, Occidental and UC Davis each mailed only one letter, Nebraska three.

Some are typed. Some are handwritten.

Some are form letters, others personal notes or postcards. Some are signed. Some are rubber-stamped.

“Go Bruins!” wrote UCLA.

“Go Blue,” wrote Michigan.

“Hook ‘em Horns,” said Texas.

“Sic ‘em Bears,” wrote Baylor.

“Aloha!” wrote Hawaii.

Some promise success.

“This is a great year for the ‘Dogs,” wrote Fresno State.

“Spell fun the Aggie way: W-I-N,” wrote Utah State.

“You’re an NFL guy if you continue to commit to it,” said Cal.

Others can’t survive without him.

“We need players like you to win the Rose Bowl,” wrote Washington State.

“We had only two scholarship quarterbacks in the program this spring,” wrote Texas.

“UNLV is the best kept secret in the West,” said the Rebels.

They shower him with praise.

“Congratulations on being selected to Athlon’s Pacific 10 area elite 50,” wrote Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez.

“We enjoyed watching you throw the ball during 7th period,” wrote Colorado.

“We’ll be pulling for you and your team to have a super season in 1992,” said LSU.

“We are always looking for talented student-athletes such as you,” wrote Oregon.

They invite him to summer camps, practices, receptions, academic fairs.

They even mail him plays.

Arizona State coaches scribbled diagrams outlining the “949 quarterback sneak,” the “split rip” and the “bullet pass” on several personal notes.

A stroll through the rest of Carey’s mail bag:

COME SEE THE SIGHTS

Everyone has the best of everything. At our campus, we have it all . . .

Notre Dame’s student body president wrote Carey about the South Bend campus’ warm atmosphere: “Rocket Ismail used to laugh that even the squirrels are not afraid to approach people on campus!”

Wisconsin offered a great city--Madison: “Enclosed is a recent article from ‘Money’ magazine in which Madison is rated as the number eight city in the United States.”

Washington offered an even better city--Seattle: “Money magazine ranked Seattle the No. 1 city in America.”

Arizona State offered a great library: “Our library has been ranked the 26th best in the nation.”

Texas offered great sites in Austin--the governor’s mansion, state capitol building and, of course, the state cemetery: “It’s the impressive resting place of many of the state’s most notable historical figures, including former governors and numerous veterans of the Confederate War.”

The Longhorns also offered great food: “Our dining hall is rated as one of the best in the country.”

UCLA offered great weather: “Average temperature is 72 degrees!”

Oregon offered “more than 100 miles of jogging and biking trails.”

Kansas offered improved facilities: “New locker rooms, coaches offices, meeting rooms and a lounge for athletes.”

So did Colorado: “Our new strength complex is the envy of the Big Eight.”

So did Washington: “More than $35 million worth of facilities improvements . . . the Husky weight room is the biggest and best in the West!”

Wisconsin offered a great stadium: “Camp Randall Stadium is one of the top 10 places to watch a college football game . . . it’s another reason why it’s great to be a Wisconsin Badger.”

Washington offered great bowl gifts: “Besides the game and travel, all Husky players receive a package of bowl gifts ranging from watches and rings to warm-ups, bags, shoes, sandals, shirts, shorts, sweaters and jackets.”

PROMISES, PROMISES

If you want to be a star, you had better come here . . .

Notre Dame has the tradition: “Since the days of Knute Rockne and George Gipp in the 1920s through more recent highlights that feature names like Ara Parseghian, Joe Theismann, Joe Montana, Allen Pinkett, Tim Brown and Rocket Ismail.”

Texas promised great statistics: “In our offense, the quarterback will have stats, whether we win or lose.”

Houston offered a great schedule: “We always feature some of the most competitive teams in the nation.”

Colorado offered a winning conference season: “We haven’t lost a conference game in three years.”

Wisconsin dangled the NFL: “The Badgers have 15 former players on NFL rosters.”

So did Hawaii: “Ten active NFL players!”

UCLA boasted more: “Forty-two former Bruins appear on NFL rosters.”

Texas kept it in perspective: “Only 8% of the college players available each year make it to the NFL . . . get your degree, then pursue the NFL.”

Washington State has a great quarterback tradition: “Mark Rypien of the Redskins, Timm Rosenbach of the Cardinals and present quarterback Drew Bledsoe.”

So does Stanford: “We’ve had All-Americans such as John Elway, Jim Plunkett, Steve Dils, John Payne and Guy Benjamin. Our present quarterback, Steve Stenstrom, is destined to follow this tradition.”

So does Oklahoma: “You will have the opportunity to meet great people like Jack Mildren and J.C. Watts.”

LSU boasted about its Olympians: “There were 87 Southeastern Conference athletes in the Barcelona Olympics, including 12 from LSU.”

So does UCLA: “Overall, UCLA’s 41 athletes and three coaches won a total of 16 medals. UCLA would have finished ninth in the world with its eight gold medals.”

Washington reminded Carey of last year’s national title: “The honor of meeting President Bush and being recognized as the champions of college football was a great experience for all of our players and staff.”

Michigan boasted of its famous alumni: “Gerald Ford, TV commentator Mike Wallace, actor James Earl Jones and U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum.”

A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

Did you catch our big victory last week?

Since the season began, the teams have mailed Carey weekly updates on each game. Packages include statistics, photos, local newspaper articles and coaches’ comments.

USC defeated Oklahoma, 20-10, on Sept. 19. Each school mailed Carey different accounts of the game.

USC’s headlines: “Victory over Oklahoma is unforgettable for USC,” “Conway shows a streak of greatness” and “USC picks up the pace.”

Oklahoma’s headlines painted a different picture: “OU victory stolen away,” “Sooners put up best defense” and “We can compete with anybody--OU freshman Collier.”

Carey regularly thumbs through the stacks of articles and nearly three dozen media guides sent to him. Wisconsin sends him postcards reminding him to watch a televised game against Ohio State. Some envelopes are stamped “BEAT IOWA,” “BEAT NORTH TEXAS STATE” and “BEAT RICE.”

From Colorado sports information director David Plati: “Recruiting coordinator Mike Glynn invited me to write you this week because his hands are still shaking from our spine-tingling 21-20 victory Saturday night at Minnesota.”

From LSU Coach Curley Hallman, who kept a recent loss in perspective: “Watching films of our loss to Auburn has been tough today--we always regret those missed opportunities.”

FROM ONE PLAYER TO ANOTHER

From Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer: “I’m writing this letter to share with you The University of Notre Dame from a player’s prospective (sic).”

From Oklahoma quarterback Cale Gundy: “I wanted to play for a winning team who played for championships, whether it be for conference or national championships. I have had the opportunity to play for both.”

FROM THE HEART

Carey has received only four letters from Utah, including a nine-page, handwritten one from recruiting coordinator Russ Bolinger.

Some excerpts:

“I have been told not to waste my time and recruit you because they (I won’t say who) say I’m too late, Utah isn’t big enough, that you will go to a passing school, it (campus) is too far away, and why play in the Western Athletic Conference when you can play in a bigger one. I don’t believe any of those statements.”

“I was told to type this letter, it’s more professional. But this is more personal. You know I wrote it. Football is not a business, it’s family.”

Russ Bolinger

“P.S. Could you ask (Los Alamitos Coach John) Barnes to please send the videotape back?”