LINING UP IN THE CFL : Trevathan Comfortable as a Pet Rock : Humility and Hustle Have Gained Favor Among Players, Fans

Their choices have rarely coincided before or since, but two rookie receivers ran routes in 1991 that took them deep, deep, deep . . . all the way across the border to the Canadian Football League.

One, known as The Rocket, made millions of dollars with the Toronto Argonauts and has gained nearly as many detractors.

The other, let’s call him The Rock, made the starting lineup of the British Columbia Lions and has gained the respect of the entire league.

Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, household name and Heisman Trophy candidate from Notre Dame, was expected to fill stadiums and become the league’s first megastar. Instead, after a strong rookie season, he fizzled on the field and proved a public relations nightmare when he kicked an opponent in the head during a game and missed several scheduled public appearances.

Mike Trevathan, familiar only in selected households of Missoula, Mont., and Thousand Oaks, was expected to vanish the moment a decent Canadian slotback could be unearthed. Instead, after a solid rookie season, he became a star and currently leads the league in touchdowns with seven in six games.

Public relations? Trevathan is a dream, helping to start a youth football league near Vancouver and taking boatloads of kids salmon fishing on the Campbell River.

Production? During the past two seasons, The Rock outperformed The Rocket as a receiver, 116 receptions to 100.

And kicking opponents in the head is not Trevathan’s style.

In fact, he was on the receiving end of a cheap shot during his first CFL game, suffering a broken jaw when Calgary linebacker Alondra Johnson hit him with a forearm after the whistle. But by remaining in the game and making a key block at the one-yard line to spring a ballcarrier for a touchdown, he earned admiration that a million-dollar contract and press clippings can’t buy.

“I realized that this is a game guys do for a living,” said Trevathan, who graduated from Thousand Oaks High in 1986. “Hey, it’s serious.”

Johnson, for his part, said, “I couldn’t believe it. I broke this guy’s jaw and he didn’t even say anything. He stuck it out.”

It’s The Rocket who disappeared, and he is all but certain to surface in the NFL with the Raiders, millions more stuffed into his wallet.

The Rock remains, much to the delight of folks in Vancouver.

Last week in the Lions’ 55-38 victory over Toronto, he had seven catches and scored two touchdowns as quarterback Danny Barrett set a league record by passing for 601 yards.

Trevathan, in typical self-deprecating fashion, had this to say: “The offensive line played so well that Barrett had enough time to find us slow receivers.”

Once the coaches watched films, however, there was no downplaying Trevathan’s value.

“A great football player, in my view, is a guy whose contribution is not measured on the stat sheet. That’s Mike,” said Lions assistant Jeff Reinebold, who pointed to one play in last week’s game that exemplifies Trevathan’s opportunistic style.

On a short pass to fullback Sean Millington down the left sideline, Trevathan, lined up on the opposite side, was responsible only for brush-blocking a defensive back. He diligently trailed the play, however, and when Millington was stripped of the ball 40 yards downfield by a defensive back, Trevathan picked up the fumble in full stride and dashed 22 yards for a touchdown.

“Most receivers would stand around and watch that play,” said Reinebold, the receivers and special teams coach. “Mike is hustling from across the field, way on the backside.

“He does those types of things all the time. Two weeks ago on a kick return, he made a key block at the point of attack, got up, hustled downfield and made a block on the safety to spring the returner for a touchdown. You just don’t see that very often.”

Trevathan (6-feet-1, 195 pounds) often plays on every special team. He returns punts or serves as designated punt blocker, and he is a leading tackler on the punt and kickoff teams.

He also prides himself on being an exceptional blocker.

“I do a lot of blocking with the line--I like to mix it up with the big guys,” he said. “I get thrown around like a rag doll and come up with a smile on my face.”

The more roles he fills, Trevathan figures, the better chance he has of sticking around another week, another year.

Job security in the CFL, regardless of ability, is a week-to-week proposition for American players. Even for Trevathan, who had 71 catches for 1,004 yards last season and has 25 catches for 340 yards in seven games this season.

“If there is a Canadian better than you at your position, you’re history,” Trevathan said. “There’s never been a period longer than two months where I haven’t seen something in the paper saying Trevathan is going to be cut. Simply because I’m American.”

Like beer, every player in the CFL is labeled import or domestic. The import might be more appealing, but if a Canadian player can get the job done, the import is back on the shelf.

League rules stipulate that each 37-player roster must include at least 16 Canadians. Typically, more imports start on defense because that is where coaches want their best athletes.

“(Trevathan) is right when he says there is no job security. He’s not paranoid,” said Terry Bell, a reporter who covers the Lions for the Vancouver Province. “A good Canadian is protected like gold. And it can be extremely difficult for an American, at certain positions, to make the CFL.”

Trevathan, in fact, was considered expendable during training camp this year. And uncertainty about his job could not have come at a worse time because a friend and former teammate at the University of Montana, Todd McGrew, had just died in an auto accident.

During camp, Trevathan got into a shoving match with a rookie defensive back and both players were sent to the sideline to cool off.

“For a few minutes, I lost it. I sat down, took my helmet off, took a knee and shed a tear,” Trevathan said. “Then I got a sip of water, splashed my face and I was a new guy. I remembered Todd and what he would have told me, ‘If you are gonna be here, give it all you got. If not, give it up and find something you like doing.’

“Somehow I used those pent-up emotions to force my way through camp and make the team.”

Now that he is making catches and scoring touchdowns for a team that is 5-2 after finishing a dismal 3-15 last season, Trevathan occasionally takes his eyes off the ball long enough to gaze south and wonder if there could be a place for him in the NFL.

And he second-guesses himself for turning down a free-agent offer from the New York Jets that included an $8,000 signing bonus after he finished second in the nation in receptions his senior year at Montana.

“At the NFL combine, I ran shameful times and the only team that stuck their neck out was the Jets,” he said. “Looking back, I wish I would have signed. As it turns out, some of their receivers got hurt that year. I didn’t think I was ready but you never can say what would have happened.”

Reinebold believes Trevathan is NFL material.

“If he would have gone to the right situation, he could play in the NFL. Not as a star, but as a Steve Tasker type of guy,” he said, referring to the Buffalo Bills’ special teams standout.

Should Trevathan instead spend his entire career with an import label, don’t expect huge regrets. He enjoys his relaxed lifestyle too much for that.

He will finish his bachelor’s degree in small business management at Montana this winter and marry his college sweetheart, Maureen, in April. And off-seasons will continue to be spent in Missoula, a place wide open enough for any receiver to appreciate.

“When my football career is over, I’ll probably catch a few more fish, that’s all,” he said.