Like it is: Rutledge answers call to duty as true Razorback

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Give him an A.
A big white one, and the jacket to go with it.
John Rutledge has earned the letter jacket that was so elusive the two years he was a walk-on Razorbacks quarterback.
But that's not why Rutledge came from the intramural fields to Reynolds Razorback Stadium, where for a few seconds -- another kickoff return for a touchdown ruined it -- he appeared to be headed for an ESPN highlight film.
A week ago tonight, Rutledge was planting seed at his deer stand, but when that season opens Saturday, Rutledge will be in Knoxville, Tenn., once again a part of the Razorbacks travel team.
Last season after he was left off travel squad for the Alabama game, he decided he had to take stock.
For two years he had worked hard to realize his lifelong dream, to be a Razorback. He had swallowed the bitter pill of not lettering, but after traveling the year before, he felt lost in the sea of quarterbacks.
He was behind Clint Stoerner, Gary Brashears, Robby Hampton and Grant Sumner. Zak Clark was sitting out the year.
It was not an easy decision.
The young man from Searcy had never walked away from anything in his life.
And there was that deep desire to be a Razorback. Not necessarily a quarterback, but a part of the team.
After much soul-searching, he reached the painful decision and quietly turned in his equipment.
There's no way anyone could have known that this season would cause Josh Melton to say: "We've become the University of Adversity Razorbacks."
Brashears transferred to Tulsa (where he's now on a leave of absence) and Sumner dropped out of football.
Then Hampton and Clark got banged up and Houston Nutt made the call for Rutledge.
After three days of a crash course -- in which he picked up everything almost instantly (he will graduate next spring in four years), Rutledge found himself running onto the field less than five minutes into the game.
Clark had been hurt, temporarily.
Last Monday, Rutledge had planned on being at the game, sitting with his family. This time, they were the loudest fans in the place, his dad, Reynie, proudly wearing a Razorbacks cap with No. 13 on it. That's John Rutledge's good-luck number.
Instead of looking down from the stands, Rutledge was facing a second-and-10 against an SEC defense. There's nothing intramural about someone going for your head instead of a tiny flag.
The crowd greeted this Walter Mitty saga with a roar, and several players broke the formation to meet him.
He has always been immensely popular.
"He's so competitive you have to respect him," La'Zerius White said.
Rutledge rolled left (he's a lefty) on his first play and hit Sparky Hamilton for 11 yards and a first down.
"The cheers were nice, they make you feel appreciated," Rutledge said. "But we didn't win. When you get an opportunity, you need to take advantage of it.
"The last three days have almost been a blur. This just doesn't compare to 7-on-7."
There were no complaints about Rutledge's first opportunity. He drove the Hogs 55 yards in seven plays, completing 2 of 3 passes.
Rutledge would play another series before Clark came back in.
Then came the surprise, and the key word of the day.
With 2:22 to play in the third quarter, Houston Nutt inserted Rutledge into the game and Rutledge provided a "spark."
Nutt said that. So did Melton, Kenny Sandlin, Fred Talley, White and even Zak Clark.
"I wasn't getting the job done so Coach Nutt made a change," Clark said. "John did a great job."
Rutledge drove the Hogs to the Ole Miss 11 but on fourth down, his pass in the end zone went off Hamilton's fingers.
He would get a fourth series, too, but without much success that time.
When it was finally over and Ole Miss had won 38-24, Rutledge was not overjoyed that he had gotten to play. That maybe he should have been on that travel list last year.
"Ancient history," he said. "I just wanted us to win."
Rutledge is the type who would rather sit and win than play and lose.
When he was asked to make a comeback, a lesser person might have thought about not lettering, not making the travel squad, and said, thanks but you had your chance.
Not John Rutledge, he's always been a team man. A Razorback through and through.
For that, he's earned his A, and the jacket that goes with it.

Join Wally and Marcus Elliott live at 6 tonight, 374-9255, Comcast channel 18.

This article was published on Sunday, November 5, 2000

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