Are you a number one or two?
Fans are lining up on both sides of the ET issue
By: Malamute, 21 April 2002

Fans are lining up on both sides of the latest incident involving wide receiver Charles “E.T.” Frederick. Frederick has been suspended from the team because he missed scheduled therapies for a shoulder injury and skipped two practices last week. Some fans want the two sports athlete to stay with the football team; others think he should quit and play basketball.

Coach Rick Neuheisel said Frederick was indefinitely suspended from the team and it is unlikely he’ll return. He wouldn’t comment on what conditions would be necessary for his return. 

Frederick says that playing two sports, football and basketball, has taken a toll on his body. He’s burned out. On Monday, he failed to show up for a treatment for an injured shoulder, and was forced to do some running after practice as a disciplinary measure. Frederick then skipped practice on Tuesday. Frederick and Neuheisel talked after that, and Neuheisel told Frederick he had to attend a treatment session Wednesday morning. E.T. skipped it and then skipped practice Thursday, after which Neuheisel decided to announce the suspension.

"If we stand around and wait for him it holds up the whole train, so we are moving on," Neuheisel said.

Frederick, 20, was used primarily as a punt and kick returner last season. He averaged 14.6 yards per punt return while taking 13 kickoffs for 214 yards.

He was highly recruited out of Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, Fla., where he was a Parade All-American.

Fans have lined up on both sides of the issue. Call them the ones and twos. Those fans in the first category want the coaches and team to give E.T. a pass and let him back on the team if he should want that. The twos say that there is no place on a team for a man with the disposition of a Charles Frederick. If he wants to be a Husky, then he should act like a Husky. Walking out on the team and skipping practices is not what being a Husky is all about. 

Here are both sides of the coin.

1. These fans, the ones, want to give “E.T.” a break. He’s young, just 20, a free spirit, and 3000 miles away from home. The demands of playing two sports have caught up with him. His body is worn out as he said, and he did suffer a shoulder sprain on Friday. Although he missed the scheduled therapies, he iced his shoulder after practice on Monday and may have thought that was the required therapy. As a point guard, he did gut it out on an 11-18 basketball team, playing 31 minutes in six games. Although he didn’t play much, Husky basketball practices are grueling. Sure he walked out on the football team in the midst of last August’s practices, but remember he was home sick, had suffered an abdominal sprain and it rained cats and dogs in Olympia, something he was not used to. And then there was the ruckus with tight end Jerramy Stevens. Also, the coaches wanted to try him at corner back, and he resisted. Let’s not forget that the Huskies are getting a two-sports star for the price of one.

2. These fans, the twos, want to kick “E.T.” off the team. They say he used up his last chance in 2001 after walking out on the team during August and skipping three practices. He returned after teammates Rich Alexis and John Anderson, who also played at Pope John Paul II in Boca Raton, convinced him to come back. He’s no better than anyone else on the team. If Neuheisel recants and lets him back on the team, he will show a lack of leadership. Playing two sports is too demanding. He should settle on basketball, since apparently that’s his first love. "There's too many guys out there that gave too much blood, sweat and tears for this program to just let guys have free passes," Neuheisel was quoted as saying.

In the current situation and the one last August, the pattern is much the same. After suffering an injury, Frederick was disciplined by the coach (forced to do extra running last week after practice) and was disciplined by another player (last August).  Also, the weather was cold and rainy in early April and it rained most of the time at Olympia last August. Most likely, both times, Frederick was in a funk that was brought on by the bad weather, discipline, an injury, body weariness and homesickness. 

But why give him a break, since other players on the team are in similar situations and are gutting it out?

I guess I’m a number one, and here’s why.

Assuming that the coaches give E.T. a suitable punishment—and I’m not speculating on what that may be—letting him return to the team next August wouldn’t be giving him a break. A suitable punishment, one that his teammates agree upon, allows the coach to save face, appease the fans in the number one category, and appear tough at the same time, satisfying the number twos. It allows Neuheisel to maintain a consistent pattern of leadership for the team as a whole.

But how many passes are the coaches willing to give him?

Frederick should make that decision, not the coaches. With each incident, the punishments will become more severe and will begin to hurt his football career measurably. At that point, Frederick will have to make a decision, as to whether he really wants to play football for the University of Washington or not.

From a selfish standpoint, I want to see E.T. play football for the Huskies next season. He’s a superstar in the making, a guy who can take it to the house. He did that against Idaho last season by returning a punt 87 yards for a touchdown. I expect more of the same out of him during this upcoming season--that is, if the ones should win out.