THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140624
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
On the first day of football practice this season, Brian Rountree absorbed one of the hardest blows he'll ever take.
He was running through drills with the rest of the Norfolk State team when his mother and one of his brothers pulled up and told him his father had died.
Rountree dropped to one knee and then swung his fists in anger and pain. He spent a week with his family in Suffolk before returning to practice.
He didn't stay long. On his first day back, Rountree dove for a pass and landed head-first.
``It might have hurt,'' Rountree said. ``I don't remember.''
He didn't remember much of anything. Suffering from amnesia, Rountree checked into a hospital, where he spent two days recovering from a slight concussion.
Considering his painful preseason, Rountree was fortunate to be in uniform for Norfolk State's opener against Virginia State on Sept. 3. Not only did he play, he was a lot busier than coach Darnell Moore would have liked.
With Virginia State scoring almost at will, Rountree spent most of his time awaiting kickoffs. He returned six for 168 yards, a 28-yard average. His performance was one of the few highlights in Norfolk State's 54-6 loss.
Saturday, in the Spartans' 26-24 victory over North Carolina Central,
Rountree returned two more kicks, for 29 yards.
``They were kicking away from me,'' he complained.
Maybe they were. Rountree has been one of the CIAA's most dangerous return men since joining the Spartans in 1991. He averaged 23.7 yards per kickoff return last season, and broke one 93 yards against Winston-Salem State, the first Norfolk State return for a touchdown since 1989.
Rountree says his approach to returning kicks is simple: ``You've got to catch it and go. North-south. Ain't no east-west running.''
Rountree's approach to life is much the same. He's always looking straight ahead.
The smallest Spartan at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Rountree is probably the most relentlessly upbeat as well. In practice he's constantly smiling, talking, pumping up teammates.
``He's a motivator,'' said Rountree's brother Greg, a teacher and coach at Lakeland High in Suffolk. ``He comes out to help me during track season, motivating the guys.''
Rountree says he inherited his disposition from his father, George, who was an undersized tailback at Booker T. Washington High in Suffolk in the late 1950s.
``Always being a small player, he told me not to be scared of anything,'' he said. ``If something happens, it happens.''
Like his brother Greg before him, Brian Rountree was a two-sport star at John F. Kennedy High in Suffolk. During his senior year, he was part of Kennedy's state champion 4x100-meter relay team.
He began his Norfolk State career as a tailback but pulled most of his duty on special teams. He made the CIAA's all-freshman team as a kick returner in 1991.
Last season, Rountree moved to wide receiver and worked his way into the rotation in Archie Cooley's run-and-shoot offense. He had 17 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns before an ankle injury against Hampton ended his season four weeks early.
Moore says he plans to use Rountree at wideout, at least in a limited role.
``He's so short that it's kind of hard to find him,'' Moore said.
Rountree never had any trouble finding his father in the stands during games. George Rountree had a history of heart trouble before his death on Aug. 15 at age 51, but he never missed any of his son's games.
``I was surprised to see him sometimes, but he was always there,'' Rountree said.
Not only was he there, George Rountree was an active participant.
``My dad would send Brian messages,'' sometimes during the game, Greg Rountree said.
Greg was the messenger. He'd relay his father's advice to Brian, and often throw in some of his own.
``They'd come right down to the gate and tell me what I was doing wrong,'' Brian said.
For Brian and Greg, it was strange not to have their father at the game Saturday.
Greg Rountree says his father would have been proud.
``He would have been at the game smiling,'' Greg Rountree said. ``But he still would have had something to say.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
IAN MARTIN/Staff
The smallest Spartan at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Rountree is
probably the most upbeat. ``He's a motivator,'' says his brother
Greg.
by CNB