Picture This: Small-School Qb Is Big News
The Pantagraph Bloomington, IL › April 10, 2006
Linked as:
Summary
DanNolan will tell you he is not a professional photographer. Yet, as he pointed out Tuesday, "I can actually say I had a photo published in Sports Illustrated."Granted, it appeared initially in the program for Monmouth College football games. When youre co- sports information director at an NCAA Division III school, youre not above snapping preseason head shots.To Nolans credit, his close up of senior quarterback Mitch Tanney was a winner. That is, in focus and in color.How it ended up in the nations leading sports magazine is a bit of a mystery, even to Tanney.He certainly did not alert Sports Illustrated to his staggering season statistics: 2,587 yards passing, 33 touchdowns, three interceptions and a Division III- record 73.6 completion percentage.Neither Nolan nor his co-workers contacted the magazine. Similarly, no one in Tanneys family submitted the news.Still, there it was in last weeks "Faces in the Crowd" section: Tanneys photo and a summary of the exploits which earned the former Lexington High School star Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors.At least Tanney had a heads-up on the whole thing sort of.Sports Illustrated called the Monmouth sports info office in December, requesting the photo and verifying the stats. The voice on the other end told Nolan, et al, that Tanney would appear in a January issue, but was unsure which one. The word was passed on to Tanney."I was pretty surprised," he said Tuesday. "Weve had Sports Illustrated in our house (in Lexington) as long as I can remember. I subscribe to it myself, too. I read it every week."I think first and foremost, its a team accomplishment. I had a lot of guys catching the ball, guys making plays for me. We had a lot of good receivers. Its just nice the school got recognized like that."Indeed, a Division III college of 1,340 students does not expect ink in Sports Illustrated, even when the football team goes 10-1. Sixth-year coach Steve Bell called the publicity "neat," and said mention in Sports Illustrated likely is unprecedented.Nolan did not rule out Monmouth making the magazine at some point in the past, saying, "Sports Illustrated has been around 50-some years, and weve been around 150-plus. Its a possibility, I guess. But we just dont know."Regardless, Tanneys appearance is big stuff, particularly in Lexington.His parents - Lexington football coach Don Tanney and his wife, Crystal - have been inundated with e-mails and extra copies of the magazine, a community response Don Tanney called "overwhelming.""Crystal and I have been very humbled by it," he said. "You always hope athletics can provide some lifetime memories. Mitch has been very fortunate."Bell feels like the fortunate one. He recruited the younger Tanney while he was quarterbacking Lexington to the Class 1A state championship game in 2001. Tanney chose to follow his brother, Matt, to Wabash instead, but prior to his junior year, transferred to Monmouth."More than anything, he is a very intelligent player," Bell said. "If you have that high of a completion percentage, you definitely understand whats going on. A lot of it comes down to hes a coachs son and hes been around the game."Likely, Tanney had heard of the draw play by the time he could draw, a background he said "helped a lot." He also carries a 3.96 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, with a double major in math and Spanish.Of all the numbers, Tanney is most proud of his teams 10-1 record and the 3.96 GPA - a refreshing perspective in a "me" generation of sports.He embodies his fathers belief that "any time you receive individual recognition, its because someone else gave you the opportunity.""In high school, I had narrowed it down between Monmouth and Wabash. Coach Bell said if things didnt work out for me (at Wabash), the door was always open," Tanney said."I really appreciated that. Im happy with the way things worked out."Randy Kindred is a Pantagraph columnist. To leave him a voice mail, call 820-3402, By e-mail:rkindredyayaypantagraph..
CUTLINE: Mitch TanneySee the full content of this document
Extract
Picture This: Small-School Qb Is Big News
PUB:...
See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
