By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
As Jared Gerbino participated in private workouts led by Peyton and Eli Manning alongside 44 other collegiate quarterbacks last month, he felt an overwhelming sense of belonging.
The Dartmouth quarterback and Rush-Henrietta alumnus was one of the lesser-known signal callers invited to be a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy camp, but he didn’t feel out of place. The presence of Clemson star Trevor Lawrence and Alabama standout Tua Tagavailoa, the adversaries of last season’s College Football Playoff National Championship, didn’t unfetter his poise at the event, nor did the fact that passing hasn’t even been his forte at Dartmouth.
Gerbino, an All-Ivy League Second Team selection last season, has excelled as the Big Green’s Wildcat quarterback. He led the team with 700 yards and eight touchdowns on his 115 carries, ranking fourth in the conference with 87.5 rushing yards per contest. Passing duties typically fall to rising junior Derek Kyler, who threw 177 passes in 10 games. Gerbino attempted 21 in eight matchups, under three passes an outing.
A small-school quarterback who runs the ball 85 percent of the time was a peculiar choice, on the surface, for the most prestigious passing camp in the nation, and Gerbino acknowledged that observation with a knowing chuckle. Big Green head coach Buddy Teevens, he explained, has worked with the Manning Passing Academy for its entire 23-year existence. Teevens currently holds the Co-Camp Director title with University of Oregon administrator Jeff Hawkins, the highest-ranking non-Mannings on the camp hierarchy.
Teevens brings a Dartmouth QB to the camp, held at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, whenever he feels he has a player who will fit with the program. After a practice this spring, Teevens invited Gerbino to make the trip, an invitation Gerbino eagerly accepted.
In addition to helping coach approximately 1,500 middle and high school campers ranging from sixth grade to senior year of high school (“the main gig,” as Gerbino called it), the college quarterbacks participated in Eli and Peyton’s private workouts. As the Super Bowl-winning brothers closely observed the drills and older brother Cooper roamed the sideline cracking jokes into the loudspeaker, one of Gerbino’s main takeaways was how small the gap was between him and the other athletes.
VIEW MORE CHRISTOPHER CECERE PHOTOS HERE.
“Once I was down there, there really was not a huge difference between my game and some of the other quarterbacks’ games,” Gerbino said. “It really was very close, competition-wise.”
The Mannings have been dubbed “Football’s First Family” by Forbes. Father Archie played 13 seasons in the NFL and completed 55 percent of his passes en route to two Pro Bowl appearances and a place in the New Orleans Saints Ring of Honor. Peyton holds league records for career touchdown passes, single-season touchdown passes, single-season passing yards, Associated Press MVP awards, Pro Bowl appearances and 4,000-yard seasons, along with being a two-time Super Bowl champion. Eli is also a two-time Super Bowl champ, beating Tom Brady both times, and has made four Pro Bowls.
For a student-athlete that takes pride in hailing from the oft-underrecruited city of Rochester, developing self-described friendships with football legends was a unique and fruitful experience. The former Royal Comet is just four years removed from playing in Section V’s Eddie Meath All-Star Game; now he’s a month removed from mingling with football greatness.
“It’s pretty cool; it’s not every day you get to hang out with two potential Hall of Famers,” Gerbino remarked, “and Archie is just a great guy. I think I talked to Archie the most out of all the Manning family, but in general they were all just great, respectable men. It was a good time to get to know them and experience that.”
On the last day there was a camp-wide quarterback competition in a sold-out John L. Guidry Stadium. Thousands of spectators watched each college QB get the chance to throw routes individually. Gerbino was pleased with his performance, reiterating that the difference between Lawrence and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) passers wasn’t as big as outsiders would think.
“We’re all Division I college quarterbacks and we’re all kind of in this spot for a reason,” Gerbino noted. “So that was cool to see. Overall it was a great time. I’m beyond thankful that I was able to go to and meet a bunch of these guys, develop some relationships and counsel the youth.
“(The Mannings) were being straight up with the guys after each rep. I threw extremely well, I think, for myself; I felt really well. The ball was coming out of my hands, overall I think I had a really good camp. A couple times after some of my throws, both of the brothers would say, ‘Hey, great throw’ or ‘Great spot,’ stuff like that. There wasn’t a lot of negativity, not a lot of criticism, just because we’re all college quarterbacks and we’ve all heard the criticism. Obviously there’s always a lot of room to critique things, but all in all, we all had our footwork and throwing motions down because of the age we’re at. All of the guys got a lot of positive feedback, which made sense to me.”
Now the focus is on the season ahead, and Gerbino is all about the team. The Ivy League doesn’t care who went to the Manning Camp, nor does he care much for personal accolades at this point. With one more shot at a conference championship, an unblemished record is the only thing on his radar.
“Individually, I don’t even want to talk about it,” Gerbino said. “I’m a team player and I know that for a fact. I do not worry about individual stats at all, going into a season… My biggest thing is going 10-0 this season. We went 8-2 my sophomore year and 9-1 this past year. We are so close to winning an Ivy League championship and we’re literally one step away from it. For me, it’s just trying to be a leader and keep the guys up, having up-tempo practices and up-tempo games. We really just want to dive in as a team.
“It’s cool seeing guys lose the individual side of this and really work as a team to try to maintain and achieve one goal. I really couldn’t care less about individual things. I just want a great season with a bunch of good guys.”
Leave a Reply