Poli
09-25-2006, 01:31 AM
Little Big Man On Campus
He's 5 feet 4 inches, 149 pounds and he's SU's starting punt returner
Thursday, September 21, 2006 By Donnie Webb
Staff writer
In the days following the arrival of Greg Robinson as head football coach at Syracuse University, student Max Meisel sought a meeting to ask the new boss about playing for the Orange.
Robinson's first impression: too small. That was the bottom line.
But Meisel didn't take "too small" for an answer. He convinced Robinson that his heart was in the right place and that all he needed was an opportunity as a walk-on, or non-scholarship player.
Despite being only 5-foot-4 and 149 pounds, Meisel got his chance, and now, in his second season with Robinson, he is the team's starting punt returner.
SU's office of athletic communication said the only other 5-foot-4 player on any major college roster is a walk-on running back at Texas who weighs 147 pounds.
Syracuse's roster has 10 players who weigh twice as much as Meisel.
"In a lot of instances, it's really not what you have on the outside, it's what you have on the inside," Meisel said. "I think that can weigh heavily in a lot of cases."
So what's on the inside?
"It's a lot of miles and miles of heart."
Meisel got the punt-return job when sophomore starter Bruce Williams broke his right thumb just before the opener against Wake Forest.
The junior from Weston, Conn., took over with abundant anxiety. He has five returns in three games for 39 yards, has not muffed a punt and has not been mashed by coverage teams.
"This is my dream," he said. "It's something that's
very, very, very important to me."
Meisel is listed as a wide receiver, but he is buried behind seven other players who have seen game action at receiver.
The team has two other players in Meisel's size range wide receiver Daniel Bailey (5-7, 165) and kicker John Barker (5-8, 148) but neither has seen game action.
"I guess the stigma of being smaller, I can't really escape that, it's just part of my shtick, I guess," Meisel said. "I'm a small guy that's out there that's a walk-on. There's no other way to describe it."
Robinson said the No. 1 criteria he's always had for returning punts is catching the football and not fumbling. Meisel has done his job.
"He has heldthis thing together well," Robinson said. "I never expected Max to be returning punts for touchdowns. The expectations might rise as we get more comfortable with what we are doing. Right now, we have been solid in that area.
"It has not been a negative situation . . . a year ago at this time we were struggling with that group back there. We weren't making good decisions. Balls were on the ground, and balls were hitting players. We dropped balls. I'm not concerned that we have issues there. I think that it is very steady right now."
Williams, the former Christian Brothers Academy star, praised Meisel. He said, however, there are teammates who get a little nervous when it's time for the other team to punt.
"Everybody's kind of scared back there," Williams said. "Not me, because I know he's smart and I know he's going to do the right things for the team."
At Illinois last week, Meisel got caught in no man's land on one short punt. He attempted to field the kick, then realized he couldn't get there. The ball bounced perilously close to him before hitting an Illinois player.
"I think Ihave conversations with Max after every return," Robinson said. "I just like to know what he saw. That's all. He explains to me and sometimes I really like what he said, sometimes I'm not so certain. Max is good. I have a lot of confidence in Max."
Meisel said he was not recruited out of high school, but he decided that wherever he landed, he was going to attempt to play football. After being accepted at Syracuse, he got clearance from former head coach Paul Pasqualoni to walk-on during preseason camp in 2005. He did not, however, get medical clearance because of a shoulder injury he suffered in high school.
Meisel had shoulder surgery during his freshman year at SU. During the winter, there was a coaching change, and when Robinson came in, Meisel said he marched back into the office seeking another shot.
"I got nervous," he said. "This staff didn't know anything about me. So I walked into Coach Robinson's office and introduced myself and told him, I rehabbed my shoulder the last seven months just to try out. Can I get a look? At first, he said, you're a little too small for this. I said, I know. All I need is a chance. And he said, OK."
Robinson seems to have a fondness for Meisel. Last season, Meisel did not play in any games, but Robinson brought him to Florida State as a member of the travel squad. In the team's spring game, Meisel was carried off the field by his teammates after making two catches for 23 yards near the end of the scrimmage.
Against Iowa,Meisel fielded a punt with 19 seconds left in the game. Because the Orange had a block called, Meisel was instructed to fair-catch the ball. He did, stopping the clock and eliciting groans from the crowd because the Iowa coverage was 10 or 15 yards away.
Robinson seems to be giving Meisel a cautious green light.
"If the return is there, he is to go," Robinson said. "We have had returns called for him but there are decisions that still have to be made. He has the green light to do it (smiling) until he does it wrong."
Meisel said he's not surprised he's on the field playing. He believes he's worked hard and has earned the spot. Every time Brendan Carney was punting this summer, Meisel said he was out there fielding his kicks.
But Meisel does not see himself growing so comfortable in the job of punt returner that he's starting to consider the job as his own. Meisel said he takes it day by day and will continue to work to earn the trust of his coaches and teammates.
At the moment, life couldn't be any bigger for Meisel.
"It really is worth it," Meisel said. "When I made the decision to do it, people said, it's not worth it. I knew the pot of gold was going to be so big at the end of the rainbow, there wasn't a second where I was like, maybe I shouldn't do this.
"I'm loving it. I'm living my dream. I'm helping my team, doing everything I can."
He's 5 feet 4 inches, 149 pounds and he's SU's starting punt returner
Thursday, September 21, 2006 By Donnie Webb
Staff writer
In the days following the arrival of Greg Robinson as head football coach at Syracuse University, student Max Meisel sought a meeting to ask the new boss about playing for the Orange.
Robinson's first impression: too small. That was the bottom line.
But Meisel didn't take "too small" for an answer. He convinced Robinson that his heart was in the right place and that all he needed was an opportunity as a walk-on, or non-scholarship player.
Despite being only 5-foot-4 and 149 pounds, Meisel got his chance, and now, in his second season with Robinson, he is the team's starting punt returner.
SU's office of athletic communication said the only other 5-foot-4 player on any major college roster is a walk-on running back at Texas who weighs 147 pounds.
Syracuse's roster has 10 players who weigh twice as much as Meisel.
"In a lot of instances, it's really not what you have on the outside, it's what you have on the inside," Meisel said. "I think that can weigh heavily in a lot of cases."
So what's on the inside?
"It's a lot of miles and miles of heart."
Meisel got the punt-return job when sophomore starter Bruce Williams broke his right thumb just before the opener against Wake Forest.
The junior from Weston, Conn., took over with abundant anxiety. He has five returns in three games for 39 yards, has not muffed a punt and has not been mashed by coverage teams.
"This is my dream," he said. "It's something that's
very, very, very important to me."
Meisel is listed as a wide receiver, but he is buried behind seven other players who have seen game action at receiver.
The team has two other players in Meisel's size range wide receiver Daniel Bailey (5-7, 165) and kicker John Barker (5-8, 148) but neither has seen game action.
"I guess the stigma of being smaller, I can't really escape that, it's just part of my shtick, I guess," Meisel said. "I'm a small guy that's out there that's a walk-on. There's no other way to describe it."
Robinson said the No. 1 criteria he's always had for returning punts is catching the football and not fumbling. Meisel has done his job.
"He has heldthis thing together well," Robinson said. "I never expected Max to be returning punts for touchdowns. The expectations might rise as we get more comfortable with what we are doing. Right now, we have been solid in that area.
"It has not been a negative situation . . . a year ago at this time we were struggling with that group back there. We weren't making good decisions. Balls were on the ground, and balls were hitting players. We dropped balls. I'm not concerned that we have issues there. I think that it is very steady right now."
Williams, the former Christian Brothers Academy star, praised Meisel. He said, however, there are teammates who get a little nervous when it's time for the other team to punt.
"Everybody's kind of scared back there," Williams said. "Not me, because I know he's smart and I know he's going to do the right things for the team."
At Illinois last week, Meisel got caught in no man's land on one short punt. He attempted to field the kick, then realized he couldn't get there. The ball bounced perilously close to him before hitting an Illinois player.
"I think Ihave conversations with Max after every return," Robinson said. "I just like to know what he saw. That's all. He explains to me and sometimes I really like what he said, sometimes I'm not so certain. Max is good. I have a lot of confidence in Max."
Meisel said he was not recruited out of high school, but he decided that wherever he landed, he was going to attempt to play football. After being accepted at Syracuse, he got clearance from former head coach Paul Pasqualoni to walk-on during preseason camp in 2005. He did not, however, get medical clearance because of a shoulder injury he suffered in high school.
Meisel had shoulder surgery during his freshman year at SU. During the winter, there was a coaching change, and when Robinson came in, Meisel said he marched back into the office seeking another shot.
"I got nervous," he said. "This staff didn't know anything about me. So I walked into Coach Robinson's office and introduced myself and told him, I rehabbed my shoulder the last seven months just to try out. Can I get a look? At first, he said, you're a little too small for this. I said, I know. All I need is a chance. And he said, OK."
Robinson seems to have a fondness for Meisel. Last season, Meisel did not play in any games, but Robinson brought him to Florida State as a member of the travel squad. In the team's spring game, Meisel was carried off the field by his teammates after making two catches for 23 yards near the end of the scrimmage.
Against Iowa,Meisel fielded a punt with 19 seconds left in the game. Because the Orange had a block called, Meisel was instructed to fair-catch the ball. He did, stopping the clock and eliciting groans from the crowd because the Iowa coverage was 10 or 15 yards away.
Robinson seems to be giving Meisel a cautious green light.
"If the return is there, he is to go," Robinson said. "We have had returns called for him but there are decisions that still have to be made. He has the green light to do it (smiling) until he does it wrong."
Meisel said he's not surprised he's on the field playing. He believes he's worked hard and has earned the spot. Every time Brendan Carney was punting this summer, Meisel said he was out there fielding his kicks.
But Meisel does not see himself growing so comfortable in the job of punt returner that he's starting to consider the job as his own. Meisel said he takes it day by day and will continue to work to earn the trust of his coaches and teammates.
At the moment, life couldn't be any bigger for Meisel.
"It really is worth it," Meisel said. "When I made the decision to do it, people said, it's not worth it. I knew the pot of gold was going to be so big at the end of the rainbow, there wasn't a second where I was like, maybe I shouldn't do this.
"I'm loving it. I'm living my dream. I'm helping my team, doing everything I can."