Ready to serve wherever needed

MARTY COOK
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Nathan Ball stood tall in the pocket, football cocked by his ear and looked downfield for a receiver.
It was only a pass-blocking drill Tuesday for offensive linemen and Ball was merely standing in as a quarterback, but Ball has changed positions so often in his two years at Arkansas, one can never be too sure. For the time being, Ball will remain Arkansas' starting right tackle with no further moves planned in the near future.
"I was watching Jared Lorenzen from Kentucky, and I was telling them, 'I have a chance,' " Ball said jokingly, referring to the Wildcats' 260-pound quarterback. "I was a pitcher in high school, and I have a real strong arm. First, I need to get back there at fullback, then I'll work my way to quarterback."
Ball was a tight end at Rogers when he signed with Arkansas two years ago and was moved to left tackle as a freshman in 1999. After Shannon Money sustained an eye injury last season, Ball started one game at left tackle.
This season, Arkansas moved Ball to tight end, where he played several games before another injury to Money forced the Razorbacks to move him back to left tackle. When right tackle Gary Hobbs was suspended for the Auburn game this past week, Ball was on the move again.
Through it all, Ball soldiered on without a complaint.
"The main thing I want to do is get on the field," Ball said. "If it means playing right tackle, left tackle, tight end, whatever, that is what I'll do. I made it clear that I want to play tight end, but that's only when they need me to play tight end, not when they need me to play somewhere else.
"What the team needs is for me to play wherever they need me. That's simple, but it's true."
Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt knew he was getting an athletic big man in Ball. But he has been more impressed with Ball's endless dedication to get better and his team-first attitude, especially considering his frequent moves.
"He has handled everything very, very good and very unselfishly," Nutt said. "Very few people could do that and stay team-oriented and have a good attitude. A lot of people would say, 'Coach, I want to play tight end, throw me the ball.' He has really been exceptional."
Ball has also managed to play solidly at all three positions. Nutt and offensive line coach Mike Markuson said Ball made some errors in the Auburn game, but graded out well.
"You can't go in there and say he has played everything just right but, I'll tell you what, he's fighting on every single play," Nutt said. "There were two or three plays he busted, where we would have had bigger plays, but it's hard to fault him when he's going 100 mph. Plus, he has only been there three or four days."
Markuson said he had few complaints about Ball's play after the position switch. Switching from left tackle to right is difficult because of the different stance and new blocking assignments.
"The one thing he gives you is a competitive spirit," Markuson said. "He's going to go out and block his man with fanatical effort."
Ball's ability to switch positions without a drastic falloff in performance has impressed his teammates. Center Josh Melton knew Ball, who was a standout basketball player in high school, was a great athlete but said he handled the tricky nuances of each position.
"He's Mr. Flexibility," Melton said. "My hat's off to a guy any time he can play left tackle and move to right tackle after coming from tight end. That's three completely different worlds. The logistics of taking a pass set is completely different.
"He has been gifted with a lot of athletic ability and he can do a lot of things at a lot of different positions. If you look in a dictionary under athlete, you might think Carlos Hall or Cedric Cobbs. But I think Nathan is right there with them."
Ball said he wishes he was still right there with the tight ends. He wore No. 82 as a tight end before switching back to No. 79 when he moved back to tackle and hopes his tight end number will be his again.
"I hope they still have 82 back there somewhere," Ball said. "I miss tight end. That's where I want to play. Where we want to play and where we play are two different things. If everyone plays for themselves, we're not going to do anything as a team. It only matters what we do as a team."
Still, Ball's individual ambitions show up in the post-practice conditioning runs. Ball consistently finishes well ahead of his fellow offensive linemen because, he said, he runs the sprints as fast as the tight ends.
"Isn't that amazing?" Markuson said about Ball's conditioning runs. "He does everything the right way. He's always going to be a guy who takes coaching well, he's going to listen and he's going to give you great effort in everything he does. He's not a guy who questions."
But Nutt questions himself about Ball's dilemma. Ball has proved that he is versatile enough to play, on short notice, wherever the Razorbacks need him, but playing one position would allow Ball to blossom more fully as a player.
"Right now, we're going to keep him right where he is at," Nutt said. "I think it would be unfair to move him again if we can keep from it. We didn't plan it this way, I assure you."
Ball is not without a sense of humor about his multiple roles on the team. Markuson told Ball in team meetings this week that he would be squaring off against Mississippi's best defensive player, end Derrick Burgess, and it would be a tremendous challenge.
Ball had one question.
"What position?"

This article was published on Thursday, November 2, 2000

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