QUINCY Jacobs bidding a fond farewell to the University of Hawaii football team cut to the very heart of what head coach Fred vonAppen is all about. Jacobs pushed vonAppen
just a little too farLoyalty is a word he honors as deeply as the knights of the mythical round table. If you stand by his side and follow his code of conduct, there is very little he wouldn't do for you.
With that in mind, you can imagine how the second-year head coach felt after Jacobs went AWOL from vonAppen's football family last Wednesday. Granted, vonAppen had suspended him for breaking team rules on the plane ride home after the 25-15 loss at Nevada-Las Vegas.
But if Jacobs had followed the letter of his law, it would have been for only one game. Instead, Jacobs didn't return to practice for several days, forcing vonAppen to have the starting tailback's locker cleaned out late last week.
It pained the head coach to take such action, but for the sake of the team, it had to be done. Friendship aside, and there's little doubt how much vonAppen liked the Stanford University transfer, the head coach couldn't show favoritism. It's not good for the troops.
JACOBS finally came in from the cold on Tuesday. He told vonAppen that he had lost the desire to play football. Not only was he checking out on the team in midstream, he was withdrawing from school as well.
What could vonAppen say? Should he have reminded Jacobs how far out on the shoulder he went to keep him from running head-on into a tree last year? Not once, but twice vonAppen backed up Jacobs for his part in two well-publicized fights.
The second altercation took place late in the fourth quarter of the BYU game in the Aloha Stadium stands, and was shown on national television. UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida went to committee to determine Jacobs' fate. They left the decision in the hands of vonAppen, who promptly came to his running back's defense. He would perform community service, but no games would be missed in 1997.
Despite so much history, VonAppen said there was no trip down memory lane in their brief meeting earlier this week.
"I don't believe in talking anyone in to our out of anything," vonAppen said. "This was a decision he had obviously mused over for several days. He doesn't want to play for whatever reason.
"He said he's at a crossroads in his life, he feels like. And he said he wasn't pleased with his level of play. He felt like he wasn't contributing sufficiently, and was tired and worn out with playing, so he decided he'd hang them up.
"At that point in time, you don't need to go into all the other extended dialogue. That's just it. He said he understood the suspension. He was at peace with it. He just didn't choose to continue."
A few years ago, one of David Letterman's catch phrases was, "I do and do and do for you kids, and this is the thanks I get." It's not as famous as, "Elvis has left the building" but just as appropriate.
VonAppen did a lot for Jacobs. When things didn't work out at Stanford, vonAppen and assistant coach Guy Benjamin took him in. Last spring, the senior worked hard in practice and earned a starting spot at tailback.
It was over the summer when Jacobs began to stray again. First, he barely kept himself academically eligible. And second, he came back to camp overweight. It was evident to him that he couldn't turn the corner on the football field, but can he still turn it and take it up field in real life?
VonAppen certainly hopes so. Through it all, his loyalty for Jacobs remains intact. One day, you hope the UH running back fully appreciates what vonAppen risked for backing him in tough times. Maybe then, he'll realize the consequences of his actions.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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