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Room To Grow: Alexander HAD To Come Back
8/25/2005 1:00:00 AM | Football
By John Roth, Blue Devil Weekly
One of the most spectacular moments of the 2004 Duke football season was also one of the most disheartening.
Late in the first quarter of the Blue Devils' second game at Connecticut, young cornerback John Talley picked off a Dan Orlovsky pass and raced downfield 62 yards for a score ? the key play in Duke's 13-3 halftime advantage.
But just before Talley crossed the goal line, one of his defensive teammates went to the ground in agony. Running the field to block for Talley, senior defensive end Phillip Alexander sustained a broken leg and dislocated ankle. The injury cost Duke one of its top talents for the remainder of the season while further taxing a depleted front line.
"When someone gets an interception, the first thing that goes through your mind is to pick up somebody to block so you can go to the end zone," Alexander recalled just before the start of preseason training camp. "It was a big play in the game because we needed a momentum swinger. Then the next thing I know ? pop! ? and I'm out for the season.
"I've watched it a lot. It was kind of a freak accident. I see it as one of my lower points, so I have to revisit it every once in awhile to know what can happen. But it's past me now and I'm ready to play."
This time a year ago, Alexander might have been projected to spend August 2005 in an NFL camp. Blessed with size, speed and athleticism, the New Yorker had a breakout 2003 campaign with 18.5 tackles for lost yardage and was headed for stardom. But after suffering the broken leg, Alexander says there was no question about applying for a medical hardship and returning to Duke for a fifth year.
"I've spent close to five years here at Duke, and when you go through trying times the only thing you can really count on is your teammates, because they're going through it with you," he said. "We could have some good times this year and I definitely wanted to be here for that. But regardless, even if things went wrong and I could only play two games, I still would have come back because I wanted to finish what I started."
Alexander spent most of the 2004 season in crutches watching from the sideline as a small corps of defensive linemen had to play an overload of snaps with little relief off the bench. He was unable to participate in contact drills during the spring but started running with his teammates during the summer and was cleared to participate fully in preseason camp.
Now he's one of the front line veterans, along with fellow senior Justin Kitchen and juniors Casey Camero, Eli Nichols and Brian Sallee, who are competing with a tremendous freshman class in one of the team's deepest position groups.
But none of the newcomers could be as hungry for success as Alexander, who had played in all 37 Duke games from the beginning of his freshman year until going down at UConn.
"Football is weird because you train 12 months for 11 days," he said. "When it's taken away from you and you're watching classmates you came in with on recruiting trips in their senior year and you want to be out there with them, that's real tough. But going through all that and watching spring practice made me work even harder trying to get back. Now I'm just ready to go."
Alexander ramped up his upper body while his lower body recovered from its trauma. After he got off crutches and was fitted with a walking boot last fall, he and some of the other injured players headed to the weight room with strength coach Will Stephens while the rest of the team was in daily meetings.
"We figured that since we couldn't play on Saturdays, our games would be in the weight room, " he said. "So we dedicated ourselves to improving our bodies and getting as strong as we could until we got released medically back to the field. I happened to stay in there longer than others and put on about 25 pounds of muscle."
Alexander is now listed at 6-4 and 265 pounds ? quite a load for offensive blockers to handle as he charges off the end of the line.
"I had no doubt Phil was going to come back," said linebacker Brendan Dewan. "He loves the game just like I do and he wants to play. He's been working his butt off during the offseason, and he's huge now along with the rest of the D-linemen. He's put on weight and we need that size."
"For the defensive guys he's a big inspiration," added senior Demetrius Warrick, Alexander's roommate for four years and a fellow D-lineman before his recent switch to offense. "I think he brings that added edge to a defense that would otherwise be extremely young. I think that older presence will help a lot of the young guys out there."
Warrick said Alexander's positive attitude also inspired him in his own return for a fifth year after suffering an injury and being asked to change positions. Coach Ted Roof is sure that Alexander's perseverance will be noticed by the youngsters who hope to eventually replace him in the lineup.
"It's getting to the point now where our older players are taking a more active role, not only just telling them the way it's supposed to be but then showing them, because we all learn from pictures a whole lot easier than we learn from words," said the coach. "It's one thing to teach and to talk, and it's another thing to be like, ?Okay, that right there, that's what it's supposed to look like.' That's what not only Phillip but a lot of our older players are starting to do now, which, to me, that's what successful programs have."
The source of Alexander's inspiration, though, is not on the football field but back home in the Bronx. His mother Cleodora has raised him as a single parent since his father died when Phillip was 8 years old. She suffers from multiple sclerosis but nevertheless travels nearly week to watch her son suit up for the Blue Devils.
"She got me and my sister through high school and into college and through several sports," Alexander said.
"She's like my strength. When I have trying times, I'll call her up and she'll give me the words I need to get through that day. She's a real big influence and a major factor on why I'm here and the type of guy I am today. She's my motivating factor; if I can do anything for her, I'll do it.
"She's a regular at Wallace Wade," Alexander added. "She wants to make every game this year. She has been behind me on my comeback from injury and she doesn't want to miss a game on this last tour at Duke."
Her son feels exactly the same way.
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