All Mike Fouts ever wanted was the chance to play quarterback. Sure he had played QB ever since he was a youngster, trying to emulate his famous uncle - Hall of Famer Dan Fouts. Things just never seemed to work out right.
He was never a star in high school or junior college - heck, he wasn't even a starter most of the time. All along, though, he knew he had the talent - a strong arm and quick feet - to play quarterback. And, of course, the name. But the Fouts name never got him anywhere."If anything, it's been a burden," he said. "A lot of people expect to see a guy 6-foot-4, 220 pounds with a beard. They see me and say `This guy's probably just got the name.' "
For the record, Fouts is just 5-11, 170 pounds and has no beard.
Anyway, back in August of 1994 he made a last-minute decision, about as scientific as someone closing their eyes and pointing to a map, to leave San Diego and walk on at the University of Utah.
A little over a year later, last Saturday night, Fouts finally got the chance he'd been waiting for - to be the starter for a good football team. And he certainly made the most of it, leading Utah to a resounding 36-9 victory over New Mexico, throwing four touchdown passes for 285 yards with no interceptions.
"Every once in a while you get lucky," says Ute coach Ron McBride, referring not to Fouts' first game, but to the fact that Fouts ended up in his program.
So how did a guy with as little prior success as Fouts end up as the starting quarterback for a major college program such as Utah? It's a long story . . .
Back in high school, Fouts was ready for his big chance as a junior at Torrey Pines High. But in came Chad Davis, who later played for Washington State, along with his dad, who happened to be the coach. No chance. The following year Tom Luginbill, who later played for Georgia Tech, came along and he and Fouts split time at the quarterback position.
Then it was on to San Diego Mesa JC, where Fouts was up against Tony Banks, who later played for Michigan State. With little hope there, Fouts transferred the following season to Saddleback JC, which had just won a championship. The only problem was, only three starters returned - all on defense.
"I took a lot of hits," remembers Fouts of that undistinguished season.
The following year after working out hard all summer, Fouts suddenly realized in late July that college fall camps were about to start and he had nowhere to go. He had heard Utah had a good passing game and had heard good things about Utah from one of his coaches, former Ute lineman Eric Hefner. So he made a call to Salt Lake.
Fouts was told he was welcome to come and try out ("I guess they take anyone who's willing to play") and he drove to Utah with a friend. He liked what he saw, decided "it was a perfect situation for me," and flew back up the night before camp started in mid-August of 1994.
The first few days of fall camp are for newcomers only and Fouts happily discovered he was the only quarterback in camp. That provided him with extra attention from offensive coordinator Rick Rasnick and coach Ron McBride.
"You could tell right from the first practice that he was good," remembers McBride. "He threw the ball hard, had a quick release and moved well."
"I think they were surprisingly pleased," said Fouts, who ran the scout team all fall as a redshirt and learned plenty observing starter Mike McCoy, the second most prolific passer in Ute history.
During spring camp Fouts battled with Brandon Jones right up until the final scrimmage and the two left for the summer in a dead heat.
Then at fall camp, Fouts showed that while he was obviously a better passer than Jones, he had a tendency to make poor decisions under pressure. Ute coaches decided to start the season with the more mature Jones, who knew the offense better and was less likely to make mistakes.
Fouts blames his lack of consistency partly on the fact that he was learning his eighth different offense in the past eight years. In four years of high school, two of JC and two at Utah, Fouts had changed offenses each year, learning everything from the Wing T to the Run and Shoot.
The toughest thing about grabbing the No. 1 spot for Fouts is that it has come at the expense of Jones, a local player who is very popular with his teammates.
"We're good friends. I supported Brandon 100 percent," he said. "A lot of people have been hard on him. But I think he would have done the same thing at New Mexico and led us to victory."
A serious young man with strong faith, Fouts believes things happen for a reason and his conversation is often sprinkled with references to Jesus Christ.
"Being a quarterback isn't my focus in life. My focus is on the Lord. That's where my priorities are. I believe in Jesus Christ. My talents come from the Lord and I try to work hard in whatever I do. I do it to the best of my ability to glorify Him," he said.
Fouts started attending the Salt Lake Christian Church after moving to Utah and says "it totally changed my life." Ironically, he had taken the LDS missionary discussions in San Diego, but converted to his present faith after coming to Utah.
As for Uncle Dan, Mike admits he hasn't had a lot of contact over the years, one reason being that his uncle was busy traveling as an NFL quarterback for so many years.
He recalls going over to Uncle Dan's house in high school and learning the best way to grip the ball to throw a good spiral.
"That's the only asset I've been able to acquire from him," he said.
Mike said Dan has tried to get in touch with him several times the past couple of weeks, leaving a message on his answering machine as recently as Sunday night.
No doubt he's calling to say he's proud there's another quarterback living up to the Fouts name.