Huober | All they can be now is fans

No more afternoon practices. No more Saturday games. No more road trips, no more victories and no more losses.

No more football.

You likely won't see this year's graduating seniors in the NFL, so with the close of their Penn careers comes the close of their football careers.

When these players made the decision to don the Red and Blue, Penn had won the past two Ivy titles, and three of the last four. There was every expectation that this trend would continue, that Bryan Walker, Joe Anastasio and their classmates would leave West Philadelphia with at least one ring.

That never panned out.

"We came here with a mission to win an Ivy League championship, particularly our senior year, and we didn't accomplish that goal," said Anastasio, a captain on this year's 4-6 squad. "I'll put it on myself, I'll put it on everybody; it's definitely disappointing."

As difficult as that realization is for the Quakers' fanbase, it must hurt all that much more for these seniors.

If Penn were to win next season, those fans would likely forget all about the past few disappointing seasons. But a turnaround would offer little consolation to the group of departing players whose careers are defined by them.

Though the bitter taste will linger for some time, the beauty of having players that rarely move on to professional teams and adopt new loyalties is that they will now join that fanbase. The program will go on, with them as a part of it.

"I'm really proud that I played here for four years," Anastasio said. "I love the program, and I'm looking forward to being a fan and following it, and someday hopefully I'll be able to give back."

That kind of loyalty is nothing to scoff at. These seniors toiled for four years with the intention of winning. But failing that, at least the empty hands have something to grasp as they move on.

"The work ethic could never be questioned for this group of guys," Walker said. "That, you hope, translates to success on the field but not everything always goes in your favor."

"There's nothing I love more than . to go out and compete with guys that you work so hard with everyday," he added. "That's what I'm going to miss the most. I have a lot of great memories, but that's all they are at this point - memories."

No more football. Time for them to help make new memories with the next generation of Quakers.

Ilario Huober is a senior international relations major from Syracuse, N.Y., and is former Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is ihuober@sas.upenn.edu.

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