New Wildcats gear up for start of camp
by John Moredich on Aug. 02, 2008, under Sports
R.J. Young struggling to get into his jersey with the help of Ben Hulka.
Freshman offensive lineman Trace Biskin was first in line to get fitted for his equipment for the Arizona football team.
All-America cornerback Robert Golden arrived to try on his gear a couple of hours later as newcomers officially checked into the Wildcats’ program on Saturday.
Although most already had taken part in voluntary workouts and met with coaches, they needed to complete one more important step before camp opens at 6:15 a.m. on Monday:
Get their game-day uniforms ready.
Like kids trying on school clothes for the first day, newcomers and walk-ons picked out their gloves, pants and knee pads, and got their new Riddell “Revolution IQ” helmets fitted perfectly and snugly.
Then they moved to different stations to choose shoes, get their pads tightened and select a face mask.
Equipment managers oversaw every aspect of the process, pounding on the players’ pads to adjust the shoulder protections properly.
“The tighter you get them, the more protection you will get,” Wendell Neal, UA’s director of equipment operations, stressed to every player that walked through as he pulled laces and had every snap pulled snug.
But it sometimes took two or three equipment managers to pull jersey over players’ heads.
That was especially true for 6-foot-5, 355-pound offensive lineman Vaughn Dotsy when staff fitted him his No. 70 jersey.
“It should be a real pain to get it on and off, but you don’t want people grabbing and pulling that jersey,” Neal told Dotsy as he reached for the skin-tight uniform.
Safety is the first concern.
“We have to make sure everything fits properly,” Neal said. “We have a responsibility to make sure it fits correctly, but the players have a responsibility to wear it correctly.
“It’s like Volvo puts seat belts in a car. As passengers, we have to wear the seat belt. With these pads, which are the best on the market, they have to wear the belts tight and proper.”
Appearances are meaningful, too, as the players try on their jerseys for the first time.
Freshman linebacker R.J. Young put on No. 51. That numeral belonged to Pac-10 leading tackler Spencer Larsen a year ago.
No pressure there.
