Commentary: There are six ways to make seven
Let’s not close the door on E.T.
By: Richard Linde, 23 April 2002

According to quotes in the press, Rick Neuheisel is leaving the door open for Charles E.T. Frederick, so he can return to the team for fall practices. "I'm not ruling that out, but we're moving on," coach Rick Neuheisel said yesterday. It’s my guess that Frederick will be playing football for the Dawgs next fall.

In the current situation and the one last August, the pattern is much the same. Last week, after suffering an injury and missing a scheduled therapy, Frederick was disciplined by the coach and forced to do extra running. Then he skipped two practices and was suspended indefinitely from the team. Last fall, after incurring an abdominal injury, he had a ruckus with tight end Jerramy Stevens. After he'd missed three practices, Rich Alexis and John Anderson, both high school friends of his, persuaded him to return to the team. The weather was cold and rainy in early April and it rained most of the time at Olympia last August. Most likely, both times, Frederick was in a funk that was brought on by bad weather, discipline, an enervating injury, physical weariness and homesickness. 

Assuming that the coaches give E.T. a suitable punishment—and I’m not speculating on what that may be—letting him return to the team next August wouldn’t be giving him a free pass. A suitable punishment, one that his teammates agree upon, allows the coach to save face with the players and fans and maintain a consistent pattern of discipline.

But how many passes should the coaches be willing to give him?

Frederick should make that decision, not the coaches. With each incident, the punishments—conditions for his return—will become more severe and will begin to hurt his football career measurably. At that point, Frederick will have to make a decision as to whether he really wants to play football for the University of Washington or not.

According to one of his friends, Frederick may have not communicated his true feelings to the coach and should have handled the situation much differently. 

In the interim, we should all remember that everyone is different. 

During the depression, I remember my mother making sandwiches for men who were out of work, for guys who came begging at our door. They were proud, spirited men whose luck had fallen on hard times—men whose financial state had fallen into penury. They couldn’t roll a pair of dice without crapping out, couldn’t make a blackjack if there were just tens and aces left in the deck. Never dealt a fair hand, they were always going bust.

My best friend, raised in a foster family, always wanted to be a Marine. We competed in the classroom and on the playing field. He couldn’t roll a seven or eleven either. He was killed in Korea.

Some of us were born into fortunate circumstances; others have not been as lucky. The guys who always crap out never seem to take the right path; somehow the yellow brick road that seems so easy to find, always eludes them. For them —the less fortunate—everything can be a challenge, like living 3,000 miles away from home, going to scheduled therapies and competing in two sports.

From a selfish standpoint, I want to see E.T. play football for the Huskies next season. He’s a superstar in the making, a guy who can take it to the house. He did that against Idaho last season by returning a punt 87 yards for a touchdown. I expect more of the same out of him during this upcoming season—that is, if Coach Neuheisel should let him return to the team.  

On the come out roll, you don't always have to roll snake eyes. After all, there are six ways to make seven.