Greg Paulus, Quarterback at Syracuse University (for those of you who didn’t know), has an incredibly unique story, and the latest chapter is one of the biggest surprises for me so far to start the 2009 NCAA Football season. It turns out, strongly against my expectations, that Greg Paulus is a real quarterback!. He’s basically a fifth year senior who starred in basketball for Duke University and transferred to Syracuse to use his final year of NCAA athletic eligibility to play quarterback for the Syracuse Orangemen. Well, of course he hasn’t played a down of football since high school, but what the heck? Why not just be Syracuse’s quarterback? Wouldn’t that be neat? Well, as absolutely ridiculous as it sounded to almost everyone at first (though most chose not to say too much about it, including myself), Paulus and first year Syracuse coach Doug Marrone surprised the hell out of a lot of people by showing that Paulus is no joke at QB.
Off To A Great Start
Things started out beautifully for the Orangemen against Minnesota, but faded as the game went on. Syracuse took a nice lead into the half, only to see the offense sputter in the second half. But the defense stood tough, and Syracuse had a million chances to win it.
Greg Paulus showed great poise and leadership skills, along with some surprisingly good quarterbacking skills in his debut for the Syracuse Orangemen.
“We had some opportunities to put them away and we just didn’t get it done offensively, and that’s on me.” – Greg Paulus
But alas, as is so often the case, you can’t give away the chance to put a team away, and Syracuse did that one too many times. The game wound up in overtime, and on a 3rd and 5 play in the opening drive, Paulus tried to squeeze one in there and threw his only interception of the game, giving Minnesota the chance they needed to put the game away, and they did with a 35 yard field goal.
“I shouldn’t make that throw. I was trying to make a play. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn’t. I should have thrown the ball in the back of the end zone and kicked the field goal.” – Greg Paulus
A Tough Ending Still Leaves Plenty of Hope
Syracuse has been terrible for years now, and the new coach and a celebrity quarterback drew the fourth largest crowd for an Orangemen opener in Syracuse history. And as disappointed as everyone was to see the Orangemen give the game away, you can be sure that everybody is happy to see that Syracuse may actually be in position to win games this year, which is more than they could say most of the time the past few years.
Greg Paulus showed plenty of poise and maturity. He has good play-making ability with his arm and with his feet, and the pressure is definitely not going to be an issue after all the years of Duke basketball. I have no idea what Paulus will decide to do one day at the pro level. He’s got the basketball skills to go NBA, but not likely the football skills for the NFL. However, I’m saying “not likely” to the NFL, because I thought “highly unlikely” about him being a “real quarterback” for Syracuse. So time will tell,
I don’t think this story will become “one for the ages” or anything monumental that we’ll be sharing intently with our grandkids someday, but it’s a fascinating story which, regardless of the season Syracuse has, will likely prove to be a winner for all involved – Paulus gets his dream, the new coach at Syracuse gets a solid quarterback to run the show while he rebuilds the program, and the fans will likely get to see some better football for a change while they cheer for Paulus who along with his athletic prowess, is a good human being to boot.
So kudos to the Orangemen for putting up a good fight against Minnesota, and here’s a shout out to Greg Paulus and Doug Marrone. Regardless of what anyone might think of coach Marrone’s decision to start Paulus, it took a ton of guts to do it, and you have to admit that you would’ve never known Paulus hadn’t played a down of football since high school after watching his performance against Minnesota. I don’t think you’re likely to see Paulus in the NFL someday, but you’ll find plenty of inspiration in his story, and likely some good trivia questions for your beer drinkin’ buddies down the road.
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