Matt Whitfield, Uncategorized, West Virginia News

JASON GWALTNEY FACES ANOTHER SETBACK IN CAREER

By Matt Whitfield

Jason Gwaltney was one the best football players ever to come from Long Island, maybe the best running back from LI since the immortal Jim Brown. In his high school career, the ‘man among boys’ amassed 135 touchdowns and over 7,800 yards and in doing so he became the most hyped recruit possibly ever out of Suffolk County. Gwaltney was recruited by the who’s who of college football and even offered a verbal commitment to Pete Carroll while on a visit to USC. Gwaltney then re-opened his commitment and continued to pile up numbers in his senior season. However, things began to get just plain strange for Gwaltney from here on out…

He played in the 2005-2006 Army All-American Bowl with current NFL players Johathan Stewart, Mark Sanchez, Rey Maualuga, Desean Jackson, Kenny Phillips, Brian Cushing and Rashard Mendenhall and was expected by many to be, one day himself, in the NFL. The game was also hyped as the place where Gwaltney would announce his college destination, with USC and Ohio State each believing they were the leaders in the sweepstakes. However, Gwaltney announces at the game that he will announce his decision at a later date.

Gwaltney eventually choose to attend West Virginia, where his half brother Scooter Berry joined him. Gwaltney’s first year in Morgantown was met with lots of hype and several stellar performances, but Gwaltney was injured in a game against Rutgers and eventually kicked off the team for allegedly repeatedly skipping classes. Gwaltney’s WVU career: 45 carries, 186 yards and three touchdowns in six games.

Gwaltney was hoping to return to the team the following spring, after a brief stop at Nassau CC in January, he returned to WVU for the spring semester attempting to get himself academically eligible. However in June of 2006 Gwaltney was arrested for underage consumption of alcohol, speeding and failure to produce a license in Morgantown.

Though Gwaltney tried returning to Morgantown again a year later as new coach Bill Stewart publicly said he would allow Gwaltney a second chance, it never materialized. The plan was to allow him to redshirt and show he can attend to academics and keep himself out of trouble. Instead, Gwaltney popped up at Division II C.W. Post last season, leading the team with 709 yards rushing in just six games.

Gwaltney did not last very long at C.W. Post either and was looking for another home. With still two years of eligibility and interest from professional leagues like the CFL, he landed at Division III school Kean in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and things were looking up for the 6′0, 240 pound back. That was, until last Saturday. In Kean’s home opener and first game of the season they faced off against ECAC rival Delaware Valley, a team that beat them in the playoffs the last time they met 16-7. With Gwaltney and Quarterback Jared Chunn who rushed for 1,405 yards in 2008 the offense was to set to revolve around the run. However, on Gwatlney’s eighth carry off the day, which went for 14 yards, something went terribly wrong for the North Babylon native. Gwaltney, who reportedly heard a snap on the play, was carted off the field, with “more than (just) a (knee) sprain,” according to Kean Head Coach Dan Garrett.

Garrett also implied there was a possibility of a fracture. If the injury is as bad as it seems where Gwaltney’s career goes from here is a good question. For a player who was once the most talked anout player in the country during high school and now has dropped so low that he had to find his way on a Division III program, the future must be a scary and depressing thought.. Although, with his big, bruising size running backs like him don’t come around a lot any more. If Gwaltney has the heart and desire there should always be a taker for him in football, assuming he still wants to play.