THEY STILL THINK Eli's coming. They think he's going to wake up some morning and realize he lives in a two-bedroom student apartment with a wife and a baby daughter, and figure it's finally time to make some serious money. Time to get a house, membership in a golf club, pick out a new car.
The Oakland Raiders think since Eli Herring is a math education major at BYU, he'll readily be able to figure that he can make as much in one NFL season as he could make in a decade as a math teacher. And that will be it. The 6-8, 335-pound former BYU offensive lineman will be playing in the NFL.The Raiders still haven't completely figured out that Herring means it when he says he's not playing football if games are on Sunday. "It's out of the question," he says. "If they want to play on a day besides Sunday, then we can probably visit."
Herring's story is far bigger because he decided not to play. Had he chosen to play in the NFL and attended training camp this summer, there would been the usual rookie draft choice articles, followed by the usual offensive line articles. After that, he'd fade quietly into the no-man's land of the offensive line.
As a general rule, offensive linemen are the least publicized players on a team. They aren't known for their ferocity and you can't track their statistics like defensive players. They don't score points, catch or throw passes, run for yardage or kick for points. They don't moon walk in the end zone.
They just block traffic.
But when Herring sent letters to all NFL teams last winter telling them not to bother drafting him because religious convictions prevented him from playing football on Sunday, he became a big story: A struggling college student turns down hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars, because of his convictions.
It was a modern-day Chariots of Fire, without the Hollywood embellishment.
Faced with the decision of whether to draft him anyway, the Raiders' bosses privately winked at one another, knowing that when he saw the kind of money they could offer, he'd be hooked. He just didn't understand. Draft Day came and the Raiders took Herring in the sixth round.
Soon the management was calling. But each time the Raiders called, the answer was the same.
Eli wasn't coming.
Even now, with the NFL season about to start, the Raiders are holding out some hope. Stories have indicated if he joined the team, Herring could see some playing time as a rookie. If he'd only show up.
"The people I've talked to definitely hope I'll still come," he said this week. "I don't know what kind of optimism they hold, but I know they hope I'll play ball."
But last week Herring embarked on a different professional career. A newly hired offensive and defensive line coach for Springville High, his alma mater, he helped lead the Red Devils to a 21-3 win over Mountain Crest in their season opener last Friday night. He expects to have his bachelor's degree and teaching certificate sometime next year.
For his coaching efforts this fall, Herring will make $1,000. In his first full week he logged about 25 hours. If Springville has the type of season it had when Herring played - say 12 weeks counting playoffs - he will make $3.33 an hour - nearly a dollar below minimum wage.
"I love it. It was a lot of fun," he says of his first week of coaching.
Last week a writer from Sports Illustrated was in Utah researching an article on Herring. He plans to attend church on NFL Opening Day with Herring and his family; get inside the kid's head and try to figure him out. While the rest of America is glued to its television sets, watching the Official Opening Day of America's Official Religion, Herring will be in church.
And he won't be watching the games on TV, because Herring doesn't have a television.
"I'm sure we could get one if we really wanted it, but seeing as I'm a student, it's just a drain on the time. We're perfectly happy without one," he says.
So the NFL season will go on without Herring. Sunday will be filled with previews, dramatic plays and tense moments. Which is fine with him. He has his daughter and wife and his dream of one day teaching math and coaching on the side. "I'm having a really good time. I have no regrets," he says.
If anyone has regrets, it would have to be the Raiders.