September 01, 2007
Aggie Game Day asked senior walk-on cornerback Ben Bitner from Round Rock, Texas, to share throughout the season insights into playing on the Work Team Defense and smashing into men up to twice his size, full bore.
Bitner's unusual college football journey began in 2004 when he appeared at open tryouts in the fall of 2005 - standing 5 feet, (almost) 4 inches, and weighing (almost)150 pounds. That first fall, he and Jorvorskie Lane, about whose physicality all you need to know is that he is nicknamed "The Train," had a couple of memorable collisions during practice of kickoffs. It is the stuff of team legends.
Since then, Ben has developed into a popular teammate who consistently delivers big hits from his safety position. He will recall those hits, hence offering a picture of what life is like for (a.) a walk-on Scout Team player, (b.) a safety and kicking team specialist called upon to stick his helmet into the big guys, and (c.) doing so against all odds, given his stature.
"I've heard that all my life, that I'm too small to play football," Bitner said. "But my parents didn't bring me up that way. I played all the sports on a high level with all my friends, and I never felt like I wasn't big."
In high school he played football at 5-3, 138 pounds. "On defense I was all over the field," he said. "I'd go flying over piles. In the fourth quarter of the last game of my senior year I was going full speed toward the ball, and suddenly there was a pile, and the whistle blew. My feet couldn't stop, so I flew over the top, and I drop-kicked a teammate. I didn't want to make a late hit. But that was my style."
Not only did Bitner make a distinct first impression when he tried out because he is small, but his individualism - now well-documented two years later - showed immediately. He had hair flowing down to his waistline in the back.
The story has since appeared widely about how the hair was in memory of his grandmother, who, dying of cancer, said to him from her hospital bed after losing her hair to chemotherapy, "Benny, grow enough for both of us." After last season Bitner cut his hair for the first time in years, and had enough for seven donations to the "Locks for Love" program to fight cancer.
Reporters also discovered his story of living "homeless" for the better part of two seasons. Coaches had noticed that when they arrived at work early in the morning, Bitner already was there, showering and preparing for the day's classes. They found that he'd had a disagreement with his roommate, another football player, and moved out. "I decided I didn't need to be paying rent," he explained.
Thus, Bitner began finding places around campus to sleep inconspicuously, or friends would offer him overnight shelter on occasion. That story circulated in newspapers last season when Bitner showed up on the 12th Man Kickoff Team and received interview requests. He has earned the respect of teammates and coaches for his dedicated, all-out effort on the field, his comradeship, and his knowledge of the game. "He's like a coach on the field," safeties coach Bill Clay said.
Bitner majors in history. His unordinary style shows up somewhere else, too - the Official Texas A&M Football Guide, distributed to media, recruits, and sold to fans through the MSC Barnes & Noble Bookstore and on-line. Each year for his photo he has worn his hair a different way.
The first year it was the long-haired hippie look. Last year he had a twirled mustache and pointy beard. This year...well, let him describe the bald-on-top, patch-on-each-side look: "It's in tribute to Kyle Gass. He's a character alongside Jack Black in the movie, 'Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny.' The hair style is the 'Rage Kage' look. They play amazing songs in that movie, like one about 'WonderBoy' that says, '...How'd you like to kill a yak from 200 yards - with MIND bullets?....'"
While he admits that the '06 photo might appear more like something evil from the film 'V for Vendetta,' it actually was inspired by his fascination with pirates. "People have said it's the Rollie Fingers look, the old baseball relief pitcher, but I really like pirates a lot. At my grandparents' house 'Blackbeard' was my favorite movie to watch. I loved the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies.
"Just the other night I watched three pirate movies on the History International channel. One was about the life of Captain Morgan. We had a senior seminar in history on pirates. Buccaneers, what a life - doing what you please on the high seas, pillaging, plundering...."
BIG BEN'S BIG HITS NO. 1: JORVORSKIE LANE
"In the fall of '05, J's freshman year, we were in kickoff drills early in the year. Coach got mad at us for not playing hard enough. He came toward me hard, I went at him hard, and we stalemated. He got yelled at because I was so small and he didn't hit me. So on the next play he ran me over.
"Well, I have a strong sense of pride. I'm not going to back down from anything. On the next play, here he came, I lowered my shoulder, and I stuck him. It hurt a little. Jorvorskie didn't get up right away. He didn't know exactly where he was. Jason Carter went crazy. He was yelling, 'Coach, you got to get Bitner on the kickoff team!'
"Later, in the locker room I went over to Jorvorskie and asked him if he was okay, and he just muttered something. Basically, he didn't have a clear head yet. He's an amazing physical specimen. I'd say that hitting him would be like running head-first into a rhino."
BIG BEN'S BIG HITS NO. 2: CODY WALLACE
Cody helps form the wedge on the kickoff return team, and he's my assignment when I try to break the wedge. I sure am not going to knock him over, so I have to figure out a way to try to twist, spin, something to get around him. That's very hard to do with him, Yemi who's in the wedge with him, all of those giant guys.
There are good reasons that Cody is selected as a preseason All-American. I'm half his size, really, and when I hit him he might vibrate a little, but he's not going anywhere. That's why I have to find other things to try. But I don't back off, I go on into him as hard as I can.
The other day in practice I also had to collide with him when we were going over a certain blitz. It wasn't like a head-on thing, because he was protecting against whoever was coming, so he picked me up coming from the side. Again, there wasn't going to be a knockdown to get past him.
The one thing that's so noticeable about Cody is, if there's a lineman downfield with a back or receiver 15-20 yards looking to block somebody, it's him. He is relentless. He often gets two blocks on the same play. It's amazing to watch.
Running into him, I'd have to say is like running into a solid brick wall.