Post by rainman on Sept 12, 2007 11:37:46 GMT -5
Andrews the ‘teeth’ of WVU defense
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Any time an offense challenged West Virginia’s freshman safety Quinton Andrews last year it was going into the teeth of the Mountaineer defense.
Literally.
Andrews was known for two things then, the ability to deliver among the most vicious hits seen in a Mountaineer football game since the days former WVU players Gary Thompkins and Barrett Green were terrorizing ball carriers and for the grill he wore in his mouth that topped even the menacing grill displayed by the character Jaws in the 1977 James Bond thriller “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
If Jaws was terrifying at 7-feet, 2-inches, his grill was even more so as the stainless steel set of overlays could bite through virtually anything.
Andrews’ grill may not have been as menacing, but considering that it was crafted from 18 karat gold it had a far superior cosmetic effect, enough so that he seldom was seen without it.
So it was somewhat surprising that Andrews, who has been in and out of coach Rich Rodriguez’s doghouse since coming onto campus Opa Locka, Fla., which is outside Miami, showed up at Monday night’s interview session sporting nothing but the original-issue enamels that God had given him.
Andrews was invited to chat with the media because he had made his first appearance of the season as a starter against Marshall, after having been asked to sit out the opener against Western Michigan, perhaps because of an off-season arrest that is still pending when he tried to come to former teammate Jason Gwaltney’s aid during an early morning traffic stop.
When asked why he had decided to approach society with a far less shocking face, Andrews‚ offered what was in this sometimes out of line world of ours a rather unexpected answer.
“As a young guy, I want to present myself in a more positive way,” he said. “There are not too many adults you see with gold teeth.”
This concession to conformity is something that oddly turns Andrews into a non-conformist.
In his world, baggy pants that expose one’s posterior are the dress of the day; rap is the music, the more violent, the better; hair styles range from shaved to dreadlocks, and to wear a grill is something more than just a fashion statement.
On the field, the story is different.
Andrews inserts his grill and he does to make the kind of football statement he fancies.
“It gives you something on the field, so I still wear it on game day,” he said. “It makes you someone who wants to be vicious, someone who scares people.”
That, as a jackhammer safety, is acceptable, such is the society between the end zones of football life.
Off the field, however, Andrews is a also a kid with a purpose, and he saw the golden grill holding him back.
The revelation came to him this summer, and it may have some correlation to that arrest and the image he wanted to project in court, but he didn’t go so far as to admit that.
He claims that without the mouth jewelry he projects a more rational image, a more acceptable image.
“The way they view you changes from one person to the next person,” he said.
To take such a step was, in a way, a break with his background. Indeed, back in the neighborhood in which he was raised, image is everything and the tougher the image, the more acceptable you were.
“Everyone has them back home,” Andrews admitted.
He also realizes that when he goes home and doesn’t wear the grill, he’ll become something of an outsider.
“I will feel a little out of place,” he admitted.
But that he sees as a positive, not a negative, because he has come to understand what he wants out of life.
“I’m trying to get someplace better,” he said.
As it is, Andrews is one of two players who wear such a grill. The freshman sensation Noel Devine, a running back from across the state of Florida in Fort Myers, also sports a grill but at 5-foot-7 he is hardly as menacing looking.
And besides, Andrews maintains that his is the better grill.
“Mine,” he notes, “is 18 karat. Hopefully, his is only 14 karat.”
What is certain is that Andrews has learned a huge lesson and taken a difficult personal step forward to help attain acceptance in general society — and that’s saying a mouthful.
By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Any time an offense challenged West Virginia’s freshman safety Quinton Andrews last year it was going into the teeth of the Mountaineer defense.
Literally.
Andrews was known for two things then, the ability to deliver among the most vicious hits seen in a Mountaineer football game since the days former WVU players Gary Thompkins and Barrett Green were terrorizing ball carriers and for the grill he wore in his mouth that topped even the menacing grill displayed by the character Jaws in the 1977 James Bond thriller “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
If Jaws was terrifying at 7-feet, 2-inches, his grill was even more so as the stainless steel set of overlays could bite through virtually anything.
Andrews’ grill may not have been as menacing, but considering that it was crafted from 18 karat gold it had a far superior cosmetic effect, enough so that he seldom was seen without it.
So it was somewhat surprising that Andrews, who has been in and out of coach Rich Rodriguez’s doghouse since coming onto campus Opa Locka, Fla., which is outside Miami, showed up at Monday night’s interview session sporting nothing but the original-issue enamels that God had given him.
Andrews was invited to chat with the media because he had made his first appearance of the season as a starter against Marshall, after having been asked to sit out the opener against Western Michigan, perhaps because of an off-season arrest that is still pending when he tried to come to former teammate Jason Gwaltney’s aid during an early morning traffic stop.
When asked why he had decided to approach society with a far less shocking face, Andrews‚ offered what was in this sometimes out of line world of ours a rather unexpected answer.
“As a young guy, I want to present myself in a more positive way,” he said. “There are not too many adults you see with gold teeth.”
This concession to conformity is something that oddly turns Andrews into a non-conformist.
In his world, baggy pants that expose one’s posterior are the dress of the day; rap is the music, the more violent, the better; hair styles range from shaved to dreadlocks, and to wear a grill is something more than just a fashion statement.
On the field, the story is different.
Andrews inserts his grill and he does to make the kind of football statement he fancies.
“It gives you something on the field, so I still wear it on game day,” he said. “It makes you someone who wants to be vicious, someone who scares people.”
That, as a jackhammer safety, is acceptable, such is the society between the end zones of football life.
Off the field, however, Andrews is a also a kid with a purpose, and he saw the golden grill holding him back.
The revelation came to him this summer, and it may have some correlation to that arrest and the image he wanted to project in court, but he didn’t go so far as to admit that.
He claims that without the mouth jewelry he projects a more rational image, a more acceptable image.
“The way they view you changes from one person to the next person,” he said.
To take such a step was, in a way, a break with his background. Indeed, back in the neighborhood in which he was raised, image is everything and the tougher the image, the more acceptable you were.
“Everyone has them back home,” Andrews admitted.
He also realizes that when he goes home and doesn’t wear the grill, he’ll become something of an outsider.
“I will feel a little out of place,” he admitted.
But that he sees as a positive, not a negative, because he has come to understand what he wants out of life.
“I’m trying to get someplace better,” he said.
As it is, Andrews is one of two players who wear such a grill. The freshman sensation Noel Devine, a running back from across the state of Florida in Fort Myers, also sports a grill but at 5-foot-7 he is hardly as menacing looking.
And besides, Andrews maintains that his is the better grill.
“Mine,” he notes, “is 18 karat. Hopefully, his is only 14 karat.”
What is certain is that Andrews has learned a huge lesson and taken a difficult personal step forward to help attain acceptance in general society — and that’s saying a mouthful.
