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The Delicious Irony
9/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
“The Delicious Irony”
By Bruce Wood
Sitting on the back steps of Davis Varsity house on a glorious late-summer morning, All-Ivy League receiver Ryan Fuselier was watching workers put the finishing touches on Memorial Field's new FieldTurf surface and thinking back to those heady days when college football coaches started their courting dance.
The delicious irony of how things played out how hasn't been lost on the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Californian.
It was then-Dartmouth assistant John Perry who first spoke with Fuselier after he quarterbacked the San Pasqual High School Eagles against Helix High in the CIF Division II section championship game at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego at the end of his junior season.
It's hardly a knock to note Fuselier wasn't even close to being the best player on the field (that would have been future Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush of the Helix High team). Nor was he even the best quarterback on the field (that would have been Helix QB Alex Smith, who would go on to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft a few years later).
But while everyone was looking at Bush and Smith was starting to draw some attention, Perry saw something in the strapping quarterback of the San Pasqual team.
Fuselier's numbers hadn't been all that great that fall. But he'd been playing in a triple-option offense that didn't give him much of an opportunity to showcase his passing talent. And he'd been splitting time with a running quarterback, coming in mostly when everyone — including the other team — knew the Eagles had to throw the ball.
“Coach Perry came up to me after the game because I had a pretty good day passing-wise,” said Fuselier, who threw a TD pass to brother Chris in the contest. “I had never even heard of Dartmouth, so he told me about it and said I might want to think about coming up to their camp.”
Fuselier saw the college for the first time when he attended the camp that summer and it was love at first sight. But because talented athletes with smarts — Fuselier was a 1,500-point scorer in basketball, a jumper in track and an accomplished soccer and baseball player when he was younger — don't go unnoticed for long, other Ivy League suitors were falling in line with Dartmouth.
“I heard from them all,” Fuselier said. “In the end it came down to Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell and Harvard.”
Dartmouth will always win its share of recruiting battles with Brown and Cornell. While it's no secret that beating out Harvard for a talented student-athlete in almost any sport can be more of a challenge, it really wasn't a problem this time and for one very simple reason.
“I told no to Harvard because they said I was going to play receiver,” a smiling Fuselier explained. “I said, 'No, I'm going to play quarterback in college and that's it.'”
Fuselier let out a short laugh as he recounted the story because he never did take a snap as a Dartmouth quarterback and it was his choice.
“I honestly thought I was going to play quarterback,” he said. “Then I got here and I remember seeing Charlie (Rittgers '06) and thinking, 'This guy is just so far ahead of me in the passing game. I mean, I'm bigger than him but his arm is so much better than mine.'
“So after a week or so I went in to Coach Perry and Coach (John) Lyons and told them I feel like I'm athletic enough that I can play here, but I don't think I can get that playing time at quarterback. They said, 'Well, do you think you can play receiver?' That was it.”
Not that the transition from quarterback hopeful to wide receiver was without its challenges.
“Sophomore year I tore my hamstring and was out the whole year,” Fuselier said. “It was kind of a bad situation how it happened. I came in and didn't pass the conditioning test. When Coach Lyons was here and you didn't pass you had to run it the next day. So I ran it the next morning and passed it. At practice that afternoon the first route on air — where you are just running routes — I went on a slant and it just popped.
“That year was really hard. It was my year to show I could play wide receiver but I couldn't play with this torn hamstring. I was miserable. The reason I came out here was for academics and football. When I tore my hamstring, football was out the door and it was really depressing.”
So depressing, it turned out, that he started to consider his options.
“My brother was still playing football back west,” Fuselier said. “I seriously thought about going back there to play. I felt I could play quarterback where he was because it's a D-III school.”
In the end, he decided to give wide receiver — and consequently Dartmouth — another go after missing his entire sophomore year.
“My brother and my friends and my family pretty much all told me to stick it out,” he said, clearly glad that they did. “They said when you get into a place like this, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They said it would work out.”
Work out it has, thanks in part to the arrival of Teevens before last year.
“I liked Coach Lyons and his staff, but when Coach Teevens came here it was like a fresh start,” Fuselier said. “It was a clean plate. The offense he brought in, and the style of football he plays, suits my ability.”
After grabbing 24 passes two years ago, Fuselier blossomed into Dartmouth's leading receiver in Teevens' first season with 51 catches for 501 yards. He led the team in scoring with five touchdowns and 32 points while making the All-Ivy second team.
Because he missed an entire season due to injury, the onetime quarterback-turned-wide receiver who thought seriously about transferring opted to come back this fall for a redshirt season in Teevens' offense. After walking with his class at graduation last spring (but not graduating) he began his final campaign against Colgate 12th on the all-time Dartmouth list for career receptions. If he catches at least one more pass per game this fall than he did last fall, he could finish as high as third on the ledger behind only Jay Barnard '04 and Casey Cramer '04.
That kind of season, ironically, could lead to him making yet another position change.
Fuselier, who has lowered his 40 time from “the high 4.8's” to the “low 4.7's,” has been tabbed by some publications as a potential NFL prospect. Not at quarterback, of course. And not at wide receiver.
At tight end.
“That's not something I'm worrying about and won't think about until after the season, but it has popped up,” he said. “It would be a dream come true to have a chance but it would definitely be at tight end. I'd have to get bigger and stronger and improve my blocking. It's something I've always wanted to do since I was a little kid.”
Quarterback to wide receiver to tight end? No doubt, it has been a winding road for Ryan Fuselier, but he's not complaining. Quite the opposite, actually.
“I have no second thoughts at all,” he said. “The people I've met and the opportunities I've had at Dartmouth are unbelievable. Everything has just worked out for the best.
“Freshman year was OK. Sophomore year was a little rough but going through that taught me I can go through anything. For a lot of reasons, Dartmouth is the best choice I made in my life so far.”
A veteran writer and observer of Dartmouth athletics, Bruce Wood launched a web site last year, www.biggreenalert.com, specializing in Big Green football news coverage.
By Bruce Wood
Sitting on the back steps of Davis Varsity house on a glorious late-summer morning, All-Ivy League receiver Ryan Fuselier was watching workers put the finishing touches on Memorial Field's new FieldTurf surface and thinking back to those heady days when college football coaches started their courting dance.
The delicious irony of how things played out how hasn't been lost on the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Californian.
It was then-Dartmouth assistant John Perry who first spoke with Fuselier after he quarterbacked the San Pasqual High School Eagles against Helix High in the CIF Division II section championship game at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego at the end of his junior season.
It's hardly a knock to note Fuselier wasn't even close to being the best player on the field (that would have been future Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush of the Helix High team). Nor was he even the best quarterback on the field (that would have been Helix QB Alex Smith, who would go on to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft a few years later).
But while everyone was looking at Bush and Smith was starting to draw some attention, Perry saw something in the strapping quarterback of the San Pasqual team.
Fuselier's numbers hadn't been all that great that fall. But he'd been playing in a triple-option offense that didn't give him much of an opportunity to showcase his passing talent. And he'd been splitting time with a running quarterback, coming in mostly when everyone — including the other team — knew the Eagles had to throw the ball.
“Coach Perry came up to me after the game because I had a pretty good day passing-wise,” said Fuselier, who threw a TD pass to brother Chris in the contest. “I had never even heard of Dartmouth, so he told me about it and said I might want to think about coming up to their camp.”
Fuselier saw the college for the first time when he attended the camp that summer and it was love at first sight. But because talented athletes with smarts — Fuselier was a 1,500-point scorer in basketball, a jumper in track and an accomplished soccer and baseball player when he was younger — don't go unnoticed for long, other Ivy League suitors were falling in line with Dartmouth.
“I heard from them all,” Fuselier said. “In the end it came down to Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell and Harvard.”
Dartmouth will always win its share of recruiting battles with Brown and Cornell. While it's no secret that beating out Harvard for a talented student-athlete in almost any sport can be more of a challenge, it really wasn't a problem this time and for one very simple reason.
“I told no to Harvard because they said I was going to play receiver,” a smiling Fuselier explained. “I said, 'No, I'm going to play quarterback in college and that's it.'”
Fuselier let out a short laugh as he recounted the story because he never did take a snap as a Dartmouth quarterback and it was his choice.
“I honestly thought I was going to play quarterback,” he said. “Then I got here and I remember seeing Charlie (Rittgers '06) and thinking, 'This guy is just so far ahead of me in the passing game. I mean, I'm bigger than him but his arm is so much better than mine.'
“So after a week or so I went in to Coach Perry and Coach (John) Lyons and told them I feel like I'm athletic enough that I can play here, but I don't think I can get that playing time at quarterback. They said, 'Well, do you think you can play receiver?' That was it.”
Not that the transition from quarterback hopeful to wide receiver was without its challenges.
“Sophomore year I tore my hamstring and was out the whole year,” Fuselier said. “It was kind of a bad situation how it happened. I came in and didn't pass the conditioning test. When Coach Lyons was here and you didn't pass you had to run it the next day. So I ran it the next morning and passed it. At practice that afternoon the first route on air — where you are just running routes — I went on a slant and it just popped.
“That year was really hard. It was my year to show I could play wide receiver but I couldn't play with this torn hamstring. I was miserable. The reason I came out here was for academics and football. When I tore my hamstring, football was out the door and it was really depressing.”
So depressing, it turned out, that he started to consider his options.
“My brother was still playing football back west,” Fuselier said. “I seriously thought about going back there to play. I felt I could play quarterback where he was because it's a D-III school.”
In the end, he decided to give wide receiver — and consequently Dartmouth — another go after missing his entire sophomore year.
“My brother and my friends and my family pretty much all told me to stick it out,” he said, clearly glad that they did. “They said when you get into a place like this, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They said it would work out.”
Work out it has, thanks in part to the arrival of Teevens before last year.
“I liked Coach Lyons and his staff, but when Coach Teevens came here it was like a fresh start,” Fuselier said. “It was a clean plate. The offense he brought in, and the style of football he plays, suits my ability.”
After grabbing 24 passes two years ago, Fuselier blossomed into Dartmouth's leading receiver in Teevens' first season with 51 catches for 501 yards. He led the team in scoring with five touchdowns and 32 points while making the All-Ivy second team.
Because he missed an entire season due to injury, the onetime quarterback-turned-wide receiver who thought seriously about transferring opted to come back this fall for a redshirt season in Teevens' offense. After walking with his class at graduation last spring (but not graduating) he began his final campaign against Colgate 12th on the all-time Dartmouth list for career receptions. If he catches at least one more pass per game this fall than he did last fall, he could finish as high as third on the ledger behind only Jay Barnard '04 and Casey Cramer '04.
That kind of season, ironically, could lead to him making yet another position change.
Fuselier, who has lowered his 40 time from “the high 4.8's” to the “low 4.7's,” has been tabbed by some publications as a potential NFL prospect. Not at quarterback, of course. And not at wide receiver.
At tight end.
“That's not something I'm worrying about and won't think about until after the season, but it has popped up,” he said. “It would be a dream come true to have a chance but it would definitely be at tight end. I'd have to get bigger and stronger and improve my blocking. It's something I've always wanted to do since I was a little kid.”
Quarterback to wide receiver to tight end? No doubt, it has been a winding road for Ryan Fuselier, but he's not complaining. Quite the opposite, actually.
“I have no second thoughts at all,” he said. “The people I've met and the opportunities I've had at Dartmouth are unbelievable. Everything has just worked out for the best.
“Freshman year was OK. Sophomore year was a little rough but going through that taught me I can go through anything. For a lot of reasons, Dartmouth is the best choice I made in my life so far.”
A veteran writer and observer of Dartmouth athletics, Bruce Wood launched a web site last year, www.biggreenalert.com, specializing in Big Green football news coverage.
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