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STEVENS: Lobo Lineman Making The Most Of His Second Chance
Nov. 6, 2008
Lobo Football
By Richard Stevens The success story of Lobo Matt Streid doesn't read like a fairytale, which makes it all the better. There was no fairy godmother to show up when Streid was down and out to sprinkle magic dust in his path and make things all pretty and nice. Sometimes in life you have to be your own cut man and pull yourself up off the canvas. That was how it was for Streid when he threw away a year of football simply because he wasn't taking care of business in the classroom. "It was my fault," said the 6-foot-3, 320-pound senior offensive guard. "I turned 21. I had some R&R (rest/relaxation) time and I didn't handle it well. Basically, I was enjoying the life in Albuquerque and I wasn't going to class." In a way, you can understand why Streid slipped up. At Moorpark College (Calif.), he didn't exactly have it easy. He wasn't riding on a scholarship and had to load trucks from 3 a.m. until quitting time at 9 a.m. to help pay the way. Then he went to class. Then he went to football practice. And Streid didn't do badly with that heavy load. He had success on the field. He was Moorpark's offensive captain. He made his grades just like he did at Granada Hills High (Calif.) where he was on the honor roll with a 3.5 GPA. Then the University of New Mexico came and waved a scholarship under Streid's nose. It wasn't that UNM envisioned an All-American or even an All-Mountain West Conference lineman when the Lobos nabbed Streid. He was handed a redshirt season in order to get stronger, get better. Instead, Streid did a little too much partying. "Yeah, that was kind of it," he said.
That choice in lifestyle cost Streid the 2007 football season. He sat out the season because he was academically ineligible. Decision time: Get your act together or end your football career. "Every situation is different," said Lobos coach Rocky Long. "You never know what will happen. I think we're about 50-50 in those situations. I would say about half come back and do things the right way and the other half walk off into the sunset." Streid didn't want to see the sun set on his football career. He had only one year of eligibility left. He went to work. "It hit me hard," he said. "I made mistakes and it really hurt to lose a year. I thought about it and went to work on my classes, went to the gym and got stronger. It was a long off-season. "I knew I had a very small window of time left to play and I didn't want to waste it. I had already lost a year. I don't want to miss anything this season. I'm even enjoying practices. I out here having a lot of fun and I'm still being responsible about the things I have to do (off the field)." On the field in 2008, Streid still probably isn't an All-America type lineman. His technique isn't the best. His feet aren't the quickest. But Streid has something offensive line coaches love. He's a warrior. He's tougher than wet leather. Through 10 games, Streid leads the offensive line group, known as The Hitmen, with 117 knockdown blocks, including a team-high 13 last week against nationally-ranked Utah. "Matt has a little nastiness in him," said Jason Lenzmeier, UNM's offensive line coach. "You like that in a player. He's tough and that makes him a good football player. "You also have to respect the way he accepted accountability for his mistakes. He went out and did things the right way, got it done, and he is on course to graduate this year." Said coach Long: "We believe in second chances around here. When they aren't doing things the right way, we aren't very nice to them, but they have that second chance. It's up to them." Streid said there is something else that is up to him and up to the entire UNM team. The Lobos want to go to a bowl in 2008 and that requires the Lobos to win their final two games: at UNLV, at Colorado State. Not an easy chore, but probably easier than loading trucks in the middle of the night. But are the Lobos good enough to do it? "I know it's something we really want," said Streid. "We definitely don't want to be the senior class that breaks that tradition (of being bowl eligible). "We've got to go out with a bang and we've got to go out starting with UNLV and ending with Colorado State. We've just got to keep going and put the pressure on the next year's team (to keep the streak intact)." Editor's note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner |
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