Injuries, COVID-19 left Boise State STUD Sam Whitney to ponder his football career
Boise State STUD Sam Whitney’s days as a water boy are over.
Whitney is in his sixth year with the Broncos, but injuries cost him all of last season and most of 2017, relegating him to handing out water bottles and cheering on his teammates from the sideline.
With his sights sets on getting back on the field this year, Whitney had to deal with COVID-19 not only threatening to steal another season from him, but taking him out of action for a couple of weeks.
Whitney confirmed Monday that he tested positive for the virus over the summer. He said he was asymptomatic and the worst part was spending two weeks in quarantine.
But like the injuries, COVID-19 was another obstacle he had to overcome to continue chasing his passion.
“I love football,” Whitney said. “I’ve given almost everything to football, and I’m just excited to take what’s mine.”
He started the first three games of the season, and he has rarely left the field. He’s second on the team with 19 tackles, and he posted his first sack of the season last weekend against BYU.
The Folsom, California, native is expected to make his fourth start on Thursday at home against Colorado State (6:05 p.m., FS1).
Whitney is understandably thankful just to be on the field, but he credits the impact he’s making this season to lessons learned on the sideline.
“You learn to gain an appreciation for football,” Whitney said. “If I didn’t have such great teammates and coaches, I don’t think I would have come back.”
In 2017, Whitney started five games before a patella tendon injury in his right knee cost him the rest of the season. He played sparingly in 2018 before tearing an ACL last spring.
His recovery took longer than normal because he said doctors used a tendon from one of his quadriceps to repair the ACL. Staring at his knee the night after surgery and seeing it was swollen to three times its normal size and black and purple from all the bruising, he wondered if trying to make another comeback was even worth it.
“Mentally, it is taxing,” Whitney said. “There were days that I struggled with the whole idea of returning to football.”
Whitney said long conversations with his father helped him get through the darkest days. He said he couldn’t have made it through without support from his family and teammates and suggested that no one experiencing a similar setback should try to.
“I would encourage anyone that does go through those injuries to ask questions,” he said. “Get help and make sure you’re staying on track with everything because it’s a lot to go through.”
Now, Whitney is back on the field and his family is still there to cheer him on — at least in spirit.
Whitney’s grandmother purchased two of the cardboard cutouts that have filled many of the seats in Albertsons Stadium that were once occupied by fans: one for his father and one for his brother.
He called it a comfort to see familiar faces in the stands.
The 23-year-old graduate student has the option to return for a seventh year after the NCAA granted fall athletes an additional year of eligibility. Whitney said he has already had that conversation with his coaches, but for now he’s focused on soaking in the experience on game day.
“There’s a point when you’re playing football where you just get into the flow of the game and you’re kind of in the zone and then you come to the sideline and it’s fun with your brothers,” Whitney said. “That’s what I’m most excited to feel, the excitement and the adrenaline of football.”
Sideline lessons
If there was a bright spot to all the time he spent on the sideline, Whitney said it was that he got to watch some talented players take the field at STUD, including Jabril Frazier and Curtis Weaver.
Frazier (2015-18) was a two-time All-Mountain West pick, and he left Boise State with 18 career sacks.
Last season, Weaver (2016-19) was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 13.5 sacks. He ranks No. 2 all-time at Boise State with 34. The Dolphins picked him in the fifth round of this year’s NFL Draft. He has since signed with the Cleveland Browns, where he’s on injured reserve.
Whitney learned valuable lessons from both that still serve him well on the field. Off of it, Weaver taught him how to lighten up a little.
“Football is hard and football is serious,” Whitney said. “You have to have fun with it. That’s what I learned from Curtis.”
STUD (Stand Up Defensive End) is a hybrid position, which combines the responsibilities of a defensive end and outside linebacker.
Boise State defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding said it helps make the Broncos’ defense unique because the STUD does so many different things: rush the quarterback, defend against the run and drop back in coverage. He also said Whitney does them all well.
“This dude has paid his dues. He’s been around the program and he’s gone through things,” Schmedding told reporters Monday. “That guy is a leader on this team, and I’m really proud of where he’s at.”
Whitney isn’t the biggest guy on the field, and he’s keenly aware of it. He’s 6-foot-2, but he’s not claiming the 225 pounds he’s listed at on the Broncos’ roster. He said he’s a good 10 pounds heavier, but Schmedding said he plays much bigger than that.
“Sam is an extremely physical player,” Schmedding said. “I think you can ask any tight end in the country, when they line up on him and he strikes them, they know he’s there.”
‘The game is slow for him’
Whitney was all over the field on Friday night. He chased BYU quarterback Zach Wilson out of the pocket, tracked running backs down on swing passes to the sideline and posted his first pass breakup of the season.
Boise State outside linebackers/STUDs coach Zac Alley said the ability to handle that much responsibility stems from a lot of time spent studying the game.
“The game is slow for him,” Alley said. “When he gets out there, the game is easy because he knows what’s coming.”
Whitney may have to take on a few more blockers this fall after the Broncos lost top defensive lineman Demitri Washington to a season-ending injury at Air Force. Washington was Weaver’s backup at STUD last fall, and he was the player many assumed would take on the role as the Broncos’ top pass rusher.
Boise State’s coaches had other plans, though, and Washington took the bulk of his snaps as a defensive end before suffering a scary-looking leg injury in the first half of the Air Force game.
Junior college transfer Shane Irwin replaced him on the depth chart, but no matter which player joins Whitney, he knows their roles are intertwined.
“The edges have always complemented each other here at Boise State, whether it was Jabril and Curt or Demitri and Curt,” Whitney said. “Setting edges and getting to the quarterback will be good for both of us.”
COLORADO STATE AT BOISE STATE
When: 6:05 p.m. Thursday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: Fox Sports 1 (Alex Faust, Evan Moore). That’s channel 146 on Sparklight, 219 on DirecTV and 150 on Dish Network.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 2-1, 2-0 Mountain West; Colorado State 1-1, 1-1.
Series: Boise State leads 9-0 (last meeting: Boise State won 31-24 last season in Fort Collins, Colorado)
Vegas line: Boise State by 13.5
Weather: Low of 32 degrees, 60% chance of rain and snow, 5-10 mph winds
