Aldrich Feels Pain of Being Sidelined

Tight end Troy Aldrich figured prominently in UCLA’s plans for the 1994 season, but in Saturday’s opener against Tennessee, he couldn’t bear to go to the Rose Bowl.

“It would just kill me to be there and not be able to play,” Aldrich said. “It killed me just to watch it on TV.”

The 6-foot-3, 232-pound junior from Canyon High was home nursing a career-threatening back injury. Aldrich, who has two fractured vertebrae, has been told the cracks will heal only with rest, and there is no time frame for that process.

The delicate bones halfway up his spine might mend in six months--or not until he reaches middle age.

He has visited the team only three times since he was sidelined for the season early in fall practice. It’s too heart-wrenching to go near a football field.

“Because, in my case,” he said, “I might be done for good.”

Aldrich was only getting started. He played one season of varsity football at Canyon (34 receptions, 330 yards, three touchdowns), where he was better known as an All-Southern Section volleyball player. One football season wasn’t enough to sell college recruiters on his abilities.

But as a freshman at Glendale College in 1992, Aldrich not only caught 25 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns, he caught the eye of UCLA recruiters and was signed after only one season at Glendale.

At UCLA last fall, Aldrich earned considerable playing time as the team’s No. 3 tight end but caught only one pass, a 15-yard reception that brings a mostly embarrassing memory.

“It was against San Diego State,” he said. “I was running a crossing pattern. The ball was a little bit behind me and I had to turn back around to catch it. I remember spinning back toward the end zone and seeing nobody between me and the goal line and thinking I had a touchdown. Then a defensive back that I never saw took my legs out at the one.”

Aztec linebacker Scott Blade, who played with Aldrich at Canyon and Glendale, was on the field covering another player when he saw Aldrich make the catch. Blade later told Aldrich he was sorry he hadn’t scored.

“If I never play again,” Aldrich said, “that’ll stick in my mind forever. Tight ends aren’t supposed to get tackled by one guy.”

The Bruins, figuring Aldrich would be a sure-handed receiver out of the backfield as well as an adept blocker, moved him to fullback during spring workouts. During blocking drills, Aldrich believes, he suffered the back injury, described by doctors as compression fractures in two vertebrae.

“I don’t remember the day it happened, but I started feeling a sharp pain up and down my whole spine,” he said. “My whole spine lit on fire every time I hit somebody.”

He practiced eight more days, not reporting the problem until mere jogging caused intense pain. After resting over the summer, Aldrich was moved back to tight end at the beginning of fall drills. But the pain quickly returned. Now the prognosis is more grave.

Aldrich said the worst-case scenario is that the back injury could prohibit him from playing contact sports for the rest of his life.

“But I don’t think so,” he said. “Obviously, I’m done for this season. But, fortunately, I don’t need surgery. A year from now, I’m going to leave the option (of playing football again) open. I miss it. But what can I do? I can’t get it out of my mind.”

*

Eliel’s Coming: Stanford’s Eliel Swinton is chomping at the bit. He’s ready to go--ready to hit somebody. By now, it seems, nearly every college football team in the country has played a game.

“It’s kind of annoying,” said the former Montclair Prep standout who started six games at four different positions in the secondary as a freshman last year. “God. When are we going to play?”

The Cardinal, ranked 24th by Associated Press, finally open Saturday at Northwestern, which lost to Notre Dame last week, 42-15. Stanford’s expectations for Swinton are running high. After he recorded 57 tackles, one sack, four tackles for a loss, four pass deflections and one interception, Swinton was named Stanford’s top freshman.

Granted, he played for a 4-7 Cardinal team that finished 2-6 in Pacific 10 Conference play. The defense allowed 465.4 yards per game.

“We should be a lot better than last year,” Swinton said. “But that’s not saying much. The mentality that I felt I saw last year was people not wanting to play football. They weren’t looking forward to the games.”

Every game was a struggle. All four Cardinal victories were by four points or fewer.

“We lost two games by three points,” Swinton said. “Other than that, we were winning by the skin of our teeth or losing big. I guess we thought we didn’t have it. I was a freshman out there having a good time. But my mentality has changed too. I’m more serious.”

Now, if they can just get him a position. Swinton still doesn’t know where he will start Saturday: strong safety or cornerback. He likely will play safety against passing teams and cornerback against running teams.

He doesn’t miss tailback, the position he played at Montclair Prep.

“Defense is my speed,” he said. “Wild and chaotic.”

*

Around the country: Pittsburgh’s Sean Fitzgerald (Agoura/Valley College) fared slightly better than Cincinnati’s Todd Preston (Westlake/Moorpark College) Saturday, when the two quarterbacks each got their first Division I start. Preston, a junior who redshirted at California in 1991 before playing two seasons at Moorpark, completed 14 of 29 passes for 185 yards and three interceptions in the Bearcats’ 28-3 loss to Indiana. One of Preston’s passes was dropped by a wide-open receiver headed for the end zone.

Fitzgerald, a junior, completed 12 of 25 for 219 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in Pitt’s 30-28 loss to No. 20 Texas. Two years ago, Fitzgerald was a defensive back at Idaho State. His performance surprised Coach Johnny Majors.

“He showed much poise and savvy and knowledge of the game,” Majors told the Associated Press. “He showed a good touch on his passes both to the left and the right, and he’s a young man with good potential. I thought he started very well.”