University of North Carolina Athletics
For Heels, it's in the Game
August 20, 2004 | Football
Aug. 20, 2004
By Adam Lucas Jarwarski Pollock has misunderstood the question and is giving the politically correct answer. "I don't consider myself the best of the wide receivers," he says. "All of us have different qualities we bring to the table. We're all equal." When told he's being questioned not about the receivers' proficiency on the field, but about their skill level at the popular video game NCAA Football 2005, any semblance of political correctness vanishes. "Oh, playing the game?" Pollock says. "I'm the king! College football, any kind of football there is, I'm the king. I'm the man, point blank." Such is the hold the game has on college athletes, who have been known to spend hours playing it. Former Tar Heel Dexter Reid, who preferred the PlayStation 2 version, once said he could easily spend up to six hours playing during the summer. The game goes well beyond simple runs and passes---this year's version of the franchise includes players that break team rules and need to be suspended, recruiting budgets, unhappy young players who transfer to other schools, and more. Reid lived with Carolina quarterback Darian Durant last year, pairing two of the most devoted fans of the game. Reid once built a formidable dynasty with Purdue, but most Tar Heels prefer to spend two or three "seasons" with one program before moving on to another squad. "You have to switch teams every two to three years," cornerback Jacoby Watkins says. "You take over a team, get them good, and then move on to somewhere else." Watkins--who claims superiority in his apartment, which includes Tommy Richardson and Derrele Mitchell--is typical of most of his teammates, who say they don't usually control the Tar Heels when they play. It's a quirky superstition that seems to be widespread. "I don't play as Carolina," Ronnie McGill says. "I don't want to mess our team up." "You definitely can't play as yourself," Pollock confirms. "It's a jinx." The time to challenge any of the Heels might be now, since they are coming off a week of PlayStation inactivity. None had a television in their dorm during training camp, providing a rare seven-day respite from the game. Back in more familiar surroundings, however, it won't be unusual during two-a-days for some players to attend the morning practice, eat lunch, play a quick game of NCAA Football during the scheduled free time, and then head back to the practice field for the evening session. Some players believe the game has tangible benefits for their on-field performance. "You can learn from the game," Watkins says earnestly. "On this one you learn how important play action passing can be, because that's really the only way to get your passing game going." Not surprisingly, head coach John Bunting--who presumably didn't play much video game football during his days as a Tar Heel--isn't quite as sure. Asked if the games have any impact on his players' production on the field, his response is a quiet stare. "Ah, no," he says firmly. That's unlikely to deter the PlayStation addicts on the team, who usually have at least one dynasty, and sometimes a handful, going at all times. Some of the games can be intense, sometimes going so far that McGill has said he's reluctant to play against some teammates who he describes only as "crazy." One of those crazy players might be Pollock, who isn't shy about proclaiming his video game superiority. "My closest competition is probably Durant," he says. "But he's scared to play me in the new game, he says he has to practice. "But that's OK. I consider myself to be like Lennox Lewis. I can pick and choose who I want to play." Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
