Laird named R-C Male Athlete of the Year

There are those rare times in sports when all of the things done on the field of play pale in comparison to the thing that isn't done at all.

Douglas senior David Laird is a living, breathing example; A guy who established himself as the type of player who did the little things right. He could fill in a box score with the best of the them, but it was what he did away from the ball that always seemed to tip the scales of a game.

It's for that reason that we at The Record-Courier chose Laird as our 2008 Male Athlete of the Year.

There are those concrete reasons that made the choice easy. He finished his football career with the third-most passing yards in school history (His total of 1,714 only finished behind Luke Rippee and Chris Griffith).

He is one of only two quarterbacks at the school (the other is Rippee) to win a league title in the large-school classification.

He was a part of two regional runner-up basketball teams and helped lead Douglas to its first state berth in basketball in 16 years this year.

He had a cannon for an arm (he can throw a football 65 yards), prototypical quarterback size (6-3, 230 pounds) and a yeoman's work ethic.

But with Laird it was more about the intangible things.

HE DIDN'T KNOW

Walking out for his first spring session with the freshman football team, Laird wasn't quite sure where he'd fit in. He just knew he wanted to play.

"I'd never played football before because I was always too big to play in Pop Warner," he said. "First day of Iron Tiger, we showed up and were told all the skill positions should go one way and all the lineman should go another.

"I was just following all the big guys but (offensive coordinator) J.P. Albert said I should come over with the skill players. That's how it all started."

While Laird just saw himself as another big guy, coaches throughout the program saw a quarterback.

Two years later, he made his first varsity start and threw for 64 yards against Reed.

He steadily progressed from there, throwing for 134 yards against Spanish Springs and 145 against rival Carson. He led the Tigers through seven consecutive league wins, including a stellar 146-yard, one-touchdown effort to clinch the league title against Reno.

"That was a fun game," Laird said. "I was feeling pretty confident toward the end of the year and the group of seniors we had really carried us."

He came into his senior year expecting to continue along the learning curve at the position, but even for a guy who'd only played the game for three years before his talent level was already pretty high.

Things seemed to all come together for him five games into the season against Hug.

Douglas mounted one of the better comebacks in school history, coming back from 15 down to take a 32-28 win over Hug with two touchdowns in the final quarter.

Laird picked apart one of the most athletic defensive secondaries in the region for a career-high 250 yards and a touchdown on 18 completions.

"That game, I just felt 100 percent confident that we were going to win," Laird said. "I wasn't worried. We were down by two touchdowns in the third quarter and I still know we were going to win it. It was a good feeling after that game."

The feeling didn't last for long.

Pitted against Reno the next week, in a game that eventually ended up deciding the league title, the Huskies geared an entire game plan toward keeping Laird from having any time to survey the field in the pocket.

With a series of stunts and blitzes, the Huskies came up with two interceptions, one which was returned for a touchdown, andsix sacks for a total loss of 44 yards in the game to keep Douglas from getting any kind of sustained drive going. Reno went on to win 21-7.

Even so, Laird still finished with 126 yards passing to go with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Zach McFadden in the second quarter.

"They were putting the blitzes on and I just couldn't pull through it," he said. "We were looking for that same comeback that we'd had against Hug, but it just wasn't there.

After that, the book was out on Laird.

HE DIDN'T QUIT

Damonte Ranch came out the next week attempting much the same type of strategy that Reno had used.

Laird had completed both of his passes in the game for 19 yards and had run for a total of 22 yards on three carries, but the Mustangs had claimed a 14-7 lead heading into the second quarter and Douglas' next drive sputtered on a sack and an incomplete pass.

And with that, Laird's career as quarterback essentially ended after posting a 10-1 league record (11-5 overall in 17 career starts).

Junior Tim Rudnick was inserted into the offense on the next drive to try to spark the offense and after three incomplete passes he went on to throw for 102 yards and two touchdowns as Douglas took a 41-17 win.

Rudnick started the remaining four games of the season.

"It was a heartbreak, I'm not going to lie," Laird said. "I remember crying on the sidelines at Damonte Ranch. It was a killer for me."

The coaching staff reflected Laird's feelings.

"It was a tough situation for us," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "How do you pull a kid that has done everything you've asked him to do? It was a difficult experience for everyone involved, but the thing about David was he never let it change who he was or how he acted on the field.

"He wanted to contribute to the success of the team and he did that. There are a lot of kids who just would've quit at that point."

Indeed Laird kept competing during practice and even made the transition over to defense to see some time on the defensive line by the end of the year.

It was during that time that Laird made an important decision for himself that had an effect on the rest of his senior year.

"All my friends were on the team," Laird said. "I figured out that that's what high school sports are all about. You compete on a team and those teammates become your best friends off the field. That's what kept me in it, just trying to have fun."

It was an attitude that didn't go unnoticed.

"He bounced back from that experience, he refused to feel sorry for himself, he made the decision to work hard and he turned around to become one of the most outstanding players on the basketball team," Rippee said.

HE DIDN'T FLINCH

Laird took what he'd learned from his experience in football and applied it toward taking on one of the most unenviable roles on the basketball team.

"I knew I never really had the skills a guy like (Douglas guard) James McLaughlin or (forward) Jeff Nady had, the god-gifted talent just wasn't there," Laird said. "I knew everyone on the team had a role and mine was to try to get the steals and the rebounds and then get the ball in the hands of the guys who could score."

Even so, his positioning under the basket was so good on box-outs and rebounds that he still averaged nearly 10 points a game.

"It was all about the team," he said. "I just wanted to win. It wasn't about how many points I scored, or how many anyone else scored, all that mattered was us winning one game at a time. That's how we ended up at state."

As the team's top defender, Laird was often charged with guarding the other team's top frontcourt player.

It was a tough enough task on its own, but add to it that this season it meant having to go up against Duke-bound Olek Czyz, All-American Luke Babbitt or even Utah State-bound Jordan Stone, and Laird certainly had his hands full.

He kept Babbitt under 30 in the playoffs and at 32 in the regular season (anyone who saw Babbitt play knows that he could have, and often did, go for much more against other teams) and Czyz went for 18, 14 and 13 this season with most of those coming in transition. Stone only managed eight against Douglas.

"I enjoyed the defensive assignments," Laird said. "It was weird defending some of the best like Babbitt or Olek Czyz. I think it showed to me that I was a good enough player to stick with them.

"Not many people can say they've gone up against such quality guys. I'm sure it's something I'll have some bragging rights to later on like 'Hey, I guarded Luke Babbitt in high school.'

"It was a little intimidating at first but once you get out there and start playing against them, it's just another player and you just try to do your best."

HE DIDN'T TALK

Another non-action that stood out about Laird this season was that when he was on the field or the court, he just kept his head down and went about doing his job.

That held true when members of that same Reno defense stood in the bleachers just feet away from him during basketball season, reminding him constantly and in not so many words of that painful night. Still, he calmly sank all of his free throws on that side of the court and jogged back down to shut down Czyz.

"I know when I go out to play that I'm not the best out there," Laird said. "There's no use trying to put on an act like I am. It's all about having fun with my friends and just playing a game. All of the other trash talk and stuff just doesn't seem worth it.

"I'm not saying I never got myself in some trouble, but I just tried to keep my mouth shut as much as possible."

HE DIDN'T STOP

Laird was determined early on to continue playing football in college.

He had some early contact with Southern Oregon but decided that he will walk-on to the Idaho State football team in the fall.

"I've been talking to the coach there," Laird said. "We sent some letters of recommendation in and I went to one of their spring practices to talk with him. He was interested, so we'll see."

The Bengals have five quarterbacks on their roster heading into the year and did not sign any to scholarships during the recruiting period this winter.

"I'll see if there's any way I can keep playing up there," Laird said.

If not, he'll put all of his focus into his academics. He plans to enroll in the pharmacy program there.

"I always wanted to do something in the medical field," he said. "I didn't think I was smart enough to be a doctor but I'm interested in helping people and I think it's just something I kind of always wanted to do."