Size an obstacle, but coaches say back has heart to play as a pro

ROBERT TURBEVILLE
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

LAS VEGAS -- Jeremi Rudolph hangs out with hometown buddy Warren Sapp, knows Peter Warrick well enough that he just calls him Pete and has a heart that one of his coaches compares to Marcus Allen's and Charles White's.
He left high school in Florida second only to Emmitt Smith in career touchdowns, was runner-up to Daunte Culpepper for a player of the year honor, then became the first UNLV player to rush for more than 1,000 yards since Ickey Woods in 1987.
He very well could have been playing for the national championship this season as a Florida State Seminole.
Yes, UNLV's leading rusher is mentioned in the same sentences with some mighty big names. Now he's just hoping his performance Thursday against Arkansas in the Las Vegas Bowl can help him hang with more big names, specifically in the NFL.
"I'm ready to play," Ruldolph said. "Ready to ball, ready to get this bowl game on and hopefully play in an all-star game and get picked up by someone."
There's just one problem.
While Rudolph has an impressive resume, he's also a mighty mite, meaning that at 5-9, 175 pounds, he doesn't look like much of a football player.
That is, until he hits you, then runs over you or through you.
"He's 4-foot nothing, 100-and-nothing, but he just does not give up," UNLV tackle John Greer said. "You look at him and he's an Energizer bunny type guy, a lot of heart."
Whether a lot of heart and determination can get Rudolph into the NFL remains to be seen. Arkansas, which hasn't given up an offensive touchdown in 10 quarters, will be his biggest test of the season.
It's also a test Rudolph is ready to take.
A Florida State signee out of Apopka (Fla.) High School in 1995, Rudolph has seen his former high school all-star teammates move on to greatness.
He's seen Culpepper throwing touchdown passes to Randy Moss and Cris Carter with the Minnesota Vikings.
He's seen Warrick win a national championship at Florida State, then become the Cleveland Browns' top draft pick.
He's seen Jevon Kearse become known as "Freak" with the Tennessee Titans and wreak havoc on NFL quarterbacks.
He's seen Ronney Daniels play in the SEC Championship Game with Auburn.
"It all makes me work a little harder because I know I'm supposed to be there now with Pete, Daunte and Jevon," Rudolph said.
While his buddies moved on to greater things after high school, Rudolph opted to try his hand at professional baseball. A seventh-round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1995, Rudolph spent two years playing center field in the Toronto organization, first for its rookie team and then in Class A ball.
Two years was all he needed to know he should have stuck with football.
"Football was always on my mind," he said. "I was always wishing I had the pads on."
Toronto released him, and Rudolph headed to Southwest Mississippi Community College, where his former high school coach was coaching. After rushing for more than 800 yards in two seasons, Rudolph said he was offered scholarships at Florida State, Alabama, Georgia and Houston.
Then he visited UNLV, met the team and Coach John Robinson and made up his mind to become a Rebel.
"I liked the environment out here," Rudolph said. "When I talked to Coach Rob, he wasn't like most head coaches I met. He said I can get the job, but I've got come up here and prove myself, nothing's going to be handed to you. That's what I did.
"I earned the trust of Coach Rob. ... That's what brought me here to Vegas."
Rudolph rushed for 693 yards and 4 touchdowns on 155 carries in 1999 despite battling leg injuries, then blossomed this season.
A first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection by the coaches and the media, Rudolph has rushed for 1,005 yards and 9 touchdowns on 178 carries even though he has played through a groin injury and split time with Kevin Brown, a transfer from Washington State who rushed for 828 yards.
"He's a guy that we just did not know a whole lot about coming from junior college and he turned out to be a blessing," Robinson said. "Just a wonderful runner and a great player on this team."
UNLV running game coordinator John Jackson was the offensive coordinator and running backs coach under Robinson at Southern California from 1976-82 and coached Heisman Trophy winners Allen and White.
"I have never tried to make comparisons [of players]," Jackson said. "They all had different strengths and different personalities. One ingredient all have is all are tough guys -- physical, tough guys, not wimpish. They'll take you on if that's what you choose to have happen."
Jackson said there is a chance Rudolph could be reunited with his old buddies in the NFL.
"I think he has a chance," he said. "Obviously, there are size limits. Jeremi's going to have to fight and scratch, but that's what he's done all his life. It's nothing new."

This article was published on Tuesday, December 19, 2000

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