Pasco: Land O'Lakes' reluctant quarterback

Land O'Lakes' reluctant quarterback

THE GUNNER: Drew Weatherford would like to play defense, too, but his coach has other ideas about the starter's role.

By JAMAL THALJI

THE GUNNER: Drew Weatherford would like to play defense, too, but his coach has other ideas about the starter's role.

LAND O'LAKES -- Drew Weatherford loves to play quarterback. He just hates being a quarterback.

It is a crucial distinction, one Weatherford fights every day he dons shoulder pads. To him, one can't be a football player just throwing the football.

But being the best passer in Pasco County has its price: Land O'Lakes can't afford risking injury to its star by playing him on defense.

So what's a football player to do?

Complain. Frequently. Constantly.

"I want to play linebacker," he said. "I just feel if I did, I would be in the game more. I hate coming off the field for five minutes. It's hard to be out of the game. I come to the sideline and all I can do is scream.

"I hate it. I hate it."

Still, Weatherford loves playing quarterback, because he gets to take on the responsibility of running the Gators' offense -- and the fun.

Coach John Benedetto installed the spread formation specifically to take advantage of the 6-foot-3, 180-pound, cannon-armed sophomore. So Weatherford gets to throw far more often than other prep QBs, who operate run-oriented offenses.

But the coach can't deny that Weatherford's athletic ability would make him one of the team's best linebackers, or safeties -- if the coach were to lose his mind, that is. And he's come close.

"He drives me crazy about it," Benedetto said. "He just wants to play defense, and there's no doubt about the fact that if he played on both sides of the ball, he would be a very good defensive player.

"He's just a good football player. He just happens to be a quarterback, and he excels at that position."

Yet the debate never ends. It has worsened, going beyond just playing defense. Weatherford doesn't even want to play quarterback the way his coach, and nearly everyone else, envisions the position.

What Weatherford really wants to do is play fullback, throwing the halfback option on first, second and third down. Maybe fourth down, too.

"I honestly think I'll play better if I play both ways," Weatherford said. "But who cares if I get hit? I get hit every time I get back there and throw."

Benedetto sees a future in which Weatherford will one day call his own plays. Well, the ones Benedetto will want him to call.

"Sometimes, he has a tendency to want to throw for the big yardage," Benedetto said, "when he has a chance to throw a completion for a 10-yard gain in front of him."

Said Weatherford: "If I ever did call my own plays, I'd have to figure out what he wants because our theories are a little different."

Benedetto also wants to see his quarterback run the ball more often. To gain yardage, that is, and not just to try and stick every defender coming his way.

"He has a tendency to want to put his head down and run over someone," the coach said, "where I think if he would use some of his finesse and juke out people, he would be a pretty darn good running quarterback."

Again, they agree to disagree.

"I think it's easier on a quarterback to deliver the hit than take the hit," Weatherford said. "Every time I don't try to deliver the hit, I'm getting hit, and that's when you get hurt."

Heavy is the burden of he who plays one way.

"I don't feel like I'm contributing enough," Weatherford said. "It sucks when the other good players like Tyrone Tomlin can play both ways, but I can't just because I'm a quarterback."