Hungry to Win

The appetite of a massive tight end is bound to be prodigious.

So Mike Seidman’s daily diet of mountains of chicken and rice, forests of broccoli and rivers of protein drinks is familiar terrain.

But as the UCLA senior learned in the human behavior classes required for his sociology degree, deeper hungers exist.

Belonging, fulfillment, that type of thing.

He’s even added to the syllabus--a longing for the football and a yearning for a bowl game someplace more exciting than El Paso. Seidman’s definition of belonging is getting featured in the passing game. His idea of fulfillment is for the Bruins to win a championship.

“The year before I got here, UCLA won the Pac-10 title, and I’ve missed out on all that,” he said. “I want to win. The Sun Bowl [in 2000] was OK, but I want to go to the Rose Bowl.

“And I believe a way to get there is for me to catch passes and make things happen with the football.”

In the last two games, Seidman’s cravings were satisfied. He had 14 catches for 272 yards and two touchdowns in victories over San Diego State and Oregon State, the on-field equivalent of his daily intake of eight chicken breasts, six eggs, a steak and assorted carbohydrates, fruit and veggies.

The breakout occurred shortly after he’d spoken out. After UCLA’s loss to Colorado on Sept. 21, Seidman said he was tired of being a sideshow.

“This isn’t what I expected,” he had said. “The only time I complain is when we lose, and if I’m not getting the ball, I can’t contribute as much. Give me a shot. I’ll make a big play if they give me a chance.”

The results were so immediate, it was as if quarterback Cory Paus was following the leader in a game of Seidman Says.

In UCLA’s 43-7 victory over San Diego State, the tight end had six catches for 134 yards, one for 64 yards and a touchdown. He broke several tackles and gained 29 yards on a key third-down play, one of four catches that resulted in first downs.

In the Bruins’ 43-35 victory over Oregon State, he had eight catches for 138 yards, both career highs. It was the most catches by a Bruin tight end in 39 years.

The attention was four years in the making. Seidman’s 21 receptions are one more than he had his first three years combined. Maybe he should have spoken up sooner, but it goes against his nature.

“Like any great player who can contribute, he wanted to win,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “It’s not that we weren’t trying to get him the ball. We’ve called a lot of plays for him and for whatever reason the ball wasn’t thrown to him.”

Paus is finding the 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end now. It’s no coincidence that the last two games have been the best back-to-back performances of the senior quarterback’s career.

“Cory and Mike Seidman have some kind of telepathic communication,” said Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, whose team plays UCLA on Saturday. “On film I saw Seidman break a route, and the ball got to him. So there is something there. He is as impressive a tight end as I’ve seen this year.”

NFL scouts are noticing too. Seidman is projected to be the first Bruin drafted.

“A lot of tight ends think the only way to get recognized is to catch passes,” Toledo said. “Mike Seidman will get his chance at the NFL even if he doesn’t make another catch because he is an excellent blocker. He’s one of the best tight ends in the country.”

Seidman appreciates the praise but says there’ll be no more begging for the ball.

Letting opponents know he is a receiver to be reckoned with is another story. Against Oregon State, he hung onto a ball down the middle for a 32-yard gain despite getting sandwiched by safeties Mitch Meeuwsen and Lawrence Turner.

Seidman bounced to his feet, handed the ball to Turner, pointed to each defender and said, “I caught that on you, and on you.”

Later, he once again felt sheepish for drawing attention to himself.

“They had been saying some things to me and I was fired up at that moment,” Seidman said. “I have a hard time explaining some of the things I do on the field.”

So he looks to those human behavior classes to shed light on the apparent contradiction between his reserved nature and narcissist outbursts.

He recalls spending time at the school for severely disabled children where his mother teaches, seeing 6-year-olds unable to swallow and 20-year-olds requiring constant care.

He thinks about the 8-year-old girl he befriended after her mother died of cancer, how he carried her on his shoulders through the Bruin locker room, how her voice brightens when he calls on the phone.

He thinks about the heart attack his father had last spring and how their weekly dinners this fall have strengthened their relationship.

It’s enough to make Seidman curb that ravenous appetite for the football, to appreciate who he is and what he’s done.

“I’m lucky even if I never catch another pass,” he said. “Sometimes, I stop and remind myself of that. I try to be modest. I don’t want to stand out. I just want our team to win. I want to finish my UCLA career the way all seniors do, with our best season yet.”