2 The Daily Tar Heel Saturday, October 11, 1975
5?
John Daw: diminutive but deadly
-V...-SS-
5. ---
by Jim Thomas
Assistant Sports Editor
"The Longest Yard," starring Burt
Reynolds, was playing at the local movie
theater in Columbia, S . C. on the eve of the
Tar Heel's game with the 'other' Carolina.
The long line was waiting to get into the 9
o'clock show as Charles Waddell, Ken Huff,
Mark Cantrell and John Daw emerged from
the darkness dressed in Carolina blue. Up
and down the line people could be heard
whispering to each other, "Aren't they
Carolina football players?" As Daw passed,
one old lady with her husband pointed at
him and said in a grandmotherly voice,
"Look at that little boy. Isn't he cute?"
At 5-7, 155-pounds, with his boyish face
and red hair, Daw looks more like a kewpie
doll than a starting defensive back on a
major college football team. But Daw takes
such comparisons in stride. Ever since the
eighth grade, when he announced at the
breakfast table "I'm going to play with the
big boys some day," he has been chided
about his lack of size.
"A lot of people said I was too small to
play high school football," Daw said
Thursday in his Ehringhaus dormitory
room. "When I said I wanted to play college
football a lot of people turned their heads
and snickered and thought 1 would get hurt
so much that I would lose interest and quit. I
did it because I wanted to prove you don't
have to 6-4, 230-pounds to play major
college football."
Encouraged by his parents and his coach,
who told him "If you try and fail you have
nothing to be ashamed of," Daw reported as
a walk-on his freshman year. He managed to
raise a few eyebrows on the junior varsity
squad, intercepting a few passes, and earned
a scholarship. But then, just when he began
to feel he had made it, he was red-shirt ed his
sophomore season.
"I thought about quitting," said Daw. "It
looked like I would be on the team for four
years and never get a chance to play. It was
enough to discourage anybody. But 1 made
myself a promise the harder and tougher it
got the more I would try."
As a member of the varsity last fall. Daw
practiced behind Ronny Johnson at
cornerback, learning the defense, and lifting
weights to improve his strength. When the
coaching staff moved Johnson to strong
safety, he was given a shot at the first string
job. He was running ahead of Francis
Winters in spring practice when he separated
his shoulder. By the time he returned
Winters had taken over the position.
"Francis was looking a lot better than I
had been," said Daw, "but then he was ruled
academically ineligible. My first thought was
it will hurt the team but then I started
thinking I'll just have to take up the slack.
The coaching staff has faith in me. 1 hope I
don't disappoint them."
Although he admits he had a poor game
against Virginia last week. Daw has been
able to hold his own this season against
opposing tight ends who sometimes
outweigh him as much as 100 pounds.
'Against Ohio State he led the team in tackles
with 14.
"I play scared all the time," Daw said of
the weighty proposition. "If I'm scared its
easier to get psyched up and I can do the job
better. I know they're thinking 'I'm going to
smash him' because of my size, but if they're
overconfident that's in my favor."
Daw has had his share of bumps and
bruises but now, he said it all seems worth it.
"I've had some trying times, but I wouldn't
give up the friends I've made or the
experiences I've had for anything," he said.
"It's been a great thrill to play with these
guys. I can't wait to play Notre Dame. I've
been dreaming about it ever since I was a
little kid."
111!
"I play scared ail the time. If I'm
scared it's easier to get psyched up
and I can do the job better. I know
they're thinking 'I'm going to smash
him' because of my size, but if they're
overconfident that's in my favor."
Billy Murphy disillusionedwith jock image
by Jim Gentry
Staff Writer
"The majority of people don't like football
players because they don't know them. They
think we have things easier..." Billy Murphy
said little can be done to change that "jock
image."
Murphy, however, a 6-1, 215-lb.
linebacker from Lincolnton may be a
counter-image to the stereotyped football
player. The easy-going junior admits the
publicity he has received for his defensive
performances this season are nice but has
reservations about talking football.
"Everyone gets a bad feeling about you,"
he said, "and I'm afraid I might offend
someone and get them pissed off at me.
People don't get to know us (football
players) as well as they do the basketball
players, because there' re more of us. Besides,
Carolina is a basketball school for the most
part and we aren't looked up to as much."
In fact, a major reason in Murphy's
decision to attend Carolina came from
seeing Tar Heel basketball games on
television.
"1 used to watch the basketball team play
on TV," he said, "and I liked the way they
hustled and fought. Plus, when other schools
were recruiting me, they were always
knocking Carolina, telling me I'd never get
to play here. Carolina didn't do that. They
always had something to say about other
schools 1 mentioned.
I have a hard time going to class," M urphy
said with a broad grin. "It's tough to be a
student-athlete and that may be a reason
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UNC linebacker Billy Murphy
some people don't like football players. They
don't understand how tough football is on a
person. Sometimes it's two or three days
before l recover from a game."
Murphy went on to say that most
professors at Carolina are understanding of
the situation and let football players make
up missed work.
"Maybe we have it easier in that respect,"
he said, "but any student that's sick can talk
to a professor and get t'he same treatment. I
usually talk to teachers at the beginning of
the semester and tell them I may miss some
classes."
Admitting that "football gets old,"
Murphy tries to leave the sport on the field
and forget about football at night. "A lot of
talk gets on my nerves," he said. "It's a long
season."
Murphy is responsible for calling
defensive signals relayed from the sideline
during the game. "There's some pressure in
calling defenses, because if they don't hear
me I get blamed," he said.
Turning to the Notre Dame contest,
Murphy appreciates the opportunity to play
against a team of the Irish's caliber. "It'll be a
great thing playing against them," he said,
"and will be my only chance to face them. I'm
looking forward to it.
Murphy contends football has made him a
better person. "I've had to change some," he
said, "from being around people of dilferent
backgrounds. You have to adjust to the ways
of people you meet and playing football has
given me the chance to meet a lot of people."
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