The Players Club   A VETERAN AND A ROOKIE FACE LIFE IN THE NFL

dURING DEFENSIVE TACKLE Seth Payne's first few days in a National Football League training camp nine years ago, when he found himself butting helmets with men who were bigger, stronger, and faster than any he had seen before, the same thought kept nagging at him: I don't belong here.

Given the statistics, it was a logical conclusion. It's tough to reach the NFL, and even tougher to stay there. The average career is less than four years. Of the 240 athletes selected in the 1997 NFL Draft (Payne '97 was number 114, taken by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round, nine spots ahead of classmate Chad Levitt), only sixty played at all last season.

Meanwhile, 2006 marks Payne's tenyear anniversary in the league. Heading into the season, he had played in 116 games, ninety-five as a starter, which means Payne has beaten the odds, particularly since he made the jump to the Big Show from the Big Red. Of the thirty-two Cornellians who have spent time on an NFL roster, only tackle Frank Wydo '50 fashioned a longer career than Payne's. In fact, in the history of the NFL, only fourteen Ivy Leaguers have played in more games than the six-foot-four 315-pounder who now wears number ninety-one for the Houston Texans (Payne spent his first five seasons with Jacksonville). As former Penn (and, briefly,New York Giants) lineman Jeff Hatch told an ESPN reporter a couple of years ago, "This is the only job in America where having an Ivy League degree can actually hurt you."

"I think I worried about it when I was younger and hadn't proven myself," Payne says. "Before anybody knows what you can do on the field, they're looking for reasons to count you out."

Which is exactly what offensive lineman Kevin Boothe '05 will have to overcome. One of the Ivy League's most highly touted NFL prospects in recent years, Boothe was picked by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round last April, becoming one of only three Big Red players (Payne, Levitt, and Derrick Harmon '84) to be chosen in the NFL draft in the past three decades.

When Boothe arrived in Ithaca weighing an unwieldy 370 pounds as a freshman, the prospect of him joining that elite list seemed unlikely. But as he lost weight, he gained explosiveness and stamina. Soon Boothe was being praised not only for his size (six-foot-five, 315 pounds) but also his toughness and versatility. He was a first-team All-Ivy selection at three positions-- right guard in 2003, right tackle in 2004, and left tackle in 2005, his fifth year of eligibility after an ankle injury caused him to miss his freshman season. The NFL took notice, with most observers projecting him as a guard in the league. "With the right coaching," Boothe contends, "I think I could play tackle as well."

That self-assurance should serve him well, but the road from college star to NFL rookie is a hard and humbling one. After graduating from the School of Hotel Administration in December, Boothe returned to his native Florida to train intensively. In January, he was one of two Ivy Leaguers who competed in the nationally televised East-West Shrine Game. A month later, he was the only Ivy standout invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where he spent eighteen-hour days being auditioned, probed, and examined. "You're paraded around like cattle," says Boothe. "They're poking at you, pulling at you, and the physicals take a whole day. But I enjoyed the experience."

As draft day approached, scouting services and pre-draft pundits reduced Boothe to a series of snippets: "good quickness off the snap"; "plays through pain"; "can anchor the ball versus the bull rush." ESPN's NFL Draft Guide described him as a "super sleeper," and the network's chief draft analyst,Mel Kiper, pegged him as a possible second- or third-round pick. But Boothe remained well aware that predraft misinformation is a staple of the NFL. "Nobody has a clue where they'll go," he says.

Indeed, unpredictability is the most predictable thing about life in professional football. Boothe need only ask Payne, who has had his share of memorable moments on the field--good and bad.Houston fans will likely never forget the franchise's inaugural game in September 2002, when Payne wrapped up Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter in the end zone for a fourth-quarter safety, clinching an upset victory. Later that season, in December, he racked up a career-high fourteen tackles against Pittsburgh. Then again, against Jacksonville last year, a Houston fumble recovery was nullified when Payne was called for defensive holding. One week later, in a loss to Indianapolis, he was called offside on a fourth-andone play, leading to a Colts touchdown.

"It's like anything in life. You have to find the right balance," says Payne. "It's a violent game, and it requires a certain level of emotion to play it well. But at the same time you have to play sixteen games plus the playoffs. And if you get too down on yourself or too high on yourself, it'll destroy you."

Remaining even-keeled is a challenge in a league where every player is just an injury away from looking for another line of work. Payne started far down Jacksonville's depth chart as a rookie, only to be catapulted into the starting lineup when three veterans were sidelined with injuries. Following that season, he marveled at the toll football inflicts on the body. "You look at a guy who's been playing in the league for ten years," he said then, "and you sort of regard him the same way you'd look at a fifty-year-old man in real life." (Nearly ten years later: "That sounds about right," Payne laughs.)

In what other profession, for instance, does a thirty-one-year-old man need both hands to count his surgeries? "I've had ten," he says. "Wait, is it ten? Let's see, one toe, two shoulders . . . "He has undergone five procedures on his left knee alone after tearing his ACL in 2003. The following year, he had surgery to repair two torn tendons in his left hamstring. To add insult, the injury occurred during the final game of the 2004 season, just before he was eligible to enter the lucrative freeagent market. So Payne spent his off-season shuffling into the weight room to work out while wearing a brace that prevented him from bending at the waist. That kind of effort--along with his frequent visits to libraries, senior centers, and children's hospitals--has earned Payne a number of honors (Unsung Hero Award, Spirit of the Bull Award, USA Today's All- Joe Team) given to hard-working but often overlooked players. The effort also earned him a four-year, $16 million deal.

"It's nice feeling like you earned it, that you did something to prove you're worth that money," says Payne, who lives in Houston with his wife, Brandi, and their one-year-old daughter. "Your rookie contract, you don't really earn. It's more of a gamble on the organization's part. It's a futures bet."

It was late in the draft when the Raiders finally took that bet on Boothe, who was picked 176th overall.He watched the draftday coverage on ESPN at his parents' house in Plantation, Florida. The dominant emotion? "Relief," he says."I'm going to a tradition- rich team and a team that values its offensive linemen because their coach [former lineman Art Shell] is one of us. I look forward to showing that I belong."

According to Payne, that need to keep proving yourself never fades. "One of the things that drives you every off-season is the fear that you're not good enough," he says. "I hope I'll never lose that fear until I don't care if I'm any good anymore."

But that day isn't coming yet. "It's nothing I want to give up too soon," he says. "They're going to have to drag me out of this league."

-- Brad Herzog '90

Sports Shorts

SHELL GAME  How do you top a national title? By going international. In June, the men's lightweight crew won its first national title since 1992 when it nipped Harvard at the IRA Regatta. A month later, the Big Red returned to the water in Oxfordshire, England, as one of 66 crews competing for the Temple Challenge Cup in the Henley Royal Regatta. Cornell posted the second-best time in the first round, cruising to a threelength win over Imperial College of London. The Big Red earned a spot in the semifinals by edging Trinity College of Dublin and then dispatched the University of California's freshman heavyweight crew in the semifinals. In the finals, they faced Oxford Brookes-- the same crew that had eliminated Cornell in the quarterfinals a year ago. Oxford Brookes took the early advantage, leading by up to a length before Cornell rallied to pull within a seat of the lead, but the Big Red could never make the pass and finished one-third of a length behind.

FLEET FEET Crew wasn't the only sport to enjoy success across the pond this summer. Members of the Big Red track and field team formed a combined squad with the University of Pennsylvania to win a pair of meets in England. In the first competition, the Ivy team defeated the University of Birmingham. Rayon Taylor '07 led the men with a first in the triple jump and second in the javelin. The women were led by the throwers, with Jamie Greubel '06 winning the javelin, Sheeba Ibidunni '06 the shot put, Maria Matos '09 the discus, and Danielle Dufresne '07 the hammer. The Big Red and the Quakers then defeated a combined squad from Oxford and Cambridge. Erik Roneker '09 paced the men with wins in the shot put, discus, and hammer. Sarah Wilfred '07 won the high jump with a sixfoot effort, and Robyn Ellerbrock '07 set a track record in the steeplechase.

TOP PROSPECT Rocky Collis '06 became the fourth Cornell player in five years to be selected in Major League Baseball's amateur draft. The righthander was a 28th-round pick of the Seattle Mariners after leading the Big Red pitching staff with 41 strikeouts. He was assigned to the Mariners' Rookie League team in Arizona.

GOING PRO This winter, the men's hockey team will have a big hole to fill on defense, as blueliner Sasha Pokulok '08 left school this summer to sign a professional contract with the Washington Capitals. Pokulok became the first Big Red player taken in the first round of the NHL draft when he was selected 14th overall in 2005. Last winter, he helped the team post a 22-9-4 record and reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.

ICE TIME In other hockey news, the incoming Class of 2010 includes two NHL draft picks among its ten members: forward Tony Romano was selected in the sixth round by the New Jersey Devils while defenseman Justin Krueger was the final pick of the draft, going to the Carolina Hurricanes in the seventh round. Krueger is the son of Swiss national team coach Ralph Krueger. Among alumni, Matt Underhill '02 was named the East Coast Hockey League's goaltender of the year after leading the Alaska Aces to the Kelly Cup title. Underhill, who was 36-10-3 with a 2.28 goals against average during the regular season, also finished third in the league MVP voting. And Charlie Cook '05 and Ryan Vesce '04 may soon find themselves playing in Central New York again--both were signed by the Ottawa Senators, the parent club for the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators. Off the ice, Vesce has joined with former teammate Ben Wallace '04 to form a clothing company called Salmon Cove; for more information go to www.salmoncove.com.

BIG RED BULL It didn't take long for Bruce Arena '73 to find a new job after being let go as coach of the U.S. men's soccer team following its disappointing showing in the World Cup. On July 18, Arena was named head coach of the New York Red Bulls, previously known as the Metro- Stars. The appointment marks a return to Major League Soccer for Arena, who coached D.C. United to two MLS titles in their first three years before he took over the U.S. national team in 1998.

STICKING AROUND Three Big Red alumni have extended their time on the Hill by joining the coaching staffs of their former teams. Lyndsay Robinson '06 will serve as an assistant coach of the women's lacrosse team she captained this past spring. In addition to being named to the North-South All-Star game, Robinson was one of 16 winners of the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Community Awareness Award. A Cornell Tradition fellow, she organized a dodge ball tournament to benefit multiple sclerosis research and worked with Helping Hands, a group of Cornell students who assist retired faculty members. Blair Corcoran '06 will join the field hockey coaching staff and serve as the team's recruiting and travel director while focusing her on-field efforts on the goaltenders. Corcoran was a three-year starter at midfield and a two-time captain of the Big Red. Tyler Baier '05 will rejoin the wrestling program as assistant coach. Baier was national runner-up at 184 pounds as a senior; he posted a 100-39 record during his four years at Cornell.