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By Vickie Speek
Patience is Key to Football, Says Returned Missionary Quarterback
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- A fourth-string walk-on quarterback at San Jose
State says patience is the key to playing football with the Spartans. Clint
Carlson, 24, the second-oldest player on the team, will receive significant
playing time in the Western Athletic Conference, Spartan Coach Fitz Hill said.
Carlson, a three-sport star at Dobson High in Mesa, Ariz., began his
football odyssey six years ago at Dixie College in St. George, Utah. The
young man's football days were interrupted in 1996 when The Church of
Latter-day Saints sent him on a two-year mission to Portland, Ore.
"We worked from 9:30 in the morning to 9:30 at night," Carlson said about
his mission. "Still, it was the highlight of my life because it taught me
there's more to life than football."
After completing his mission two years ago, Carlson returned to school and
football, this time at Scottsdale College in Arizona. After passing for 13
touchdowns and more than 2,000 yards, he received several scholarship offers
from Division I-AA and Division II schools but chose San Jose State.
Carlson completed the only two passes he tried last season, but former coach
Dave Baldwin found another role for his third-string quarterback - that of
holder. San Hose's kicker is now 5 for 6 this year.
Carlson has even more incentive to do well with the Spartans. If things work
out, he'll petition the NCAA for a sixth season based on a bout with
depression after his close friend and roommate died last year in an auto
accident.
"I tend to think of this as the beginning of my career," Carlson said. "I've
had my goal set for so long. I have this stubborn ability to never give up,
I've been here a long time and I simply refuse to ever let down."
Source:
Spartans' Carlson will get early chance
San Jose CA Mercury News 13Oct01 S2
By Ron Bergman: Mercury News
Backup Quarterback Will Be on the Field Within Four Series
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