Jan. 5, 2001
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Amy Townsend appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."
Those classic opening lines from Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities could easily be applied to two of Baylor's most talked-about football players - Greg Cicero and John Garrett.
For Garrett, a true freshman starting at linebacker in the Big 12 Conference, the 2000 season was the best of times. For Cicero, who suffered a broken collarbone in just the second game of the season, it couldn't get any worse.
Cicero, who came to Baylor as a highly-touted junior college quarterback, was branded the savior of Baylor football before he even arrived on campus.
During spring practices and two-a-day drills, he emerged as a team leader and cemented his position as the Bears' starter.
"IT WAS DIFFICULT to watch the season from the sidelines," Cicero said. "I think the team is a lot better than the 2-9 record indicates, and that is frustrating. We were certainly not as good as we thought we would be at the start of the season, but several factors contributed to that, including youth and injuries."
Baylor, with Cicero at the helm, looked decent against North Texas. The Bears moved the ball well and the connection between Cicero and receivers Reggie Newhouse and John Martin was exciting to watch.
After 10 days off, the Bears opened the home season against Minnesota and Cicero played just two series before a tackle by Karon Riley took him out for the season. As Cicero left the field with trainers by his side and cameras in his face, you could almost hear the breath go out of every Baylor fan in the stadium. The Baylor players looked deflated as well.
"Obviously, you put a lot of faith in the person running the team," Cicero said. "Once that is taken away, unless someone steps in right away and takes over the leadership role, it is tough to rebound.
"As players, the offensive line and the backs and receivers know what the starter can do. They practice with the starter more and they become accustomed to that person's style of play. It's tough because you don't really know what anybody else can do."
ALTHOUGH IT WAS a difficult season for Cicero, he is a dedicated student of the game and tries to learn from every situation.
"I learned this season that, in order for us to realize success, it is going to take a lot more dedication and a lot more hard work than I and a lot of other individuals anticipated," he said.
"Our focus has to be better through this offseason. We've got to develop a better mental approach and attitude."
Cicero's own upbeat attitude is contagious. He thinks he's just the man for the tough task of leading a team that has won just three games in the last two years.
"I assume the leadership role of this team because I think I have been here long enough to do that," he said. "I'm going to show guys how to approach the game of football and adopt the attitude that we can beat anybody."
Cicero uses one Big 12 team's Cinderella story as inspiration and hopes it will carry over to his teammates.
"Look at Oklahoma. Three years ago I think they won just a few games. Last year, they went 7-5 and played in a bowl game. This season, they are undefeated and playing for the national championship. They have shown us that a turnaround can happen."
In spite of the fact that Cicero has shown flashes of brilliance on the football field in his brief career at Baylor, he has his detractors. After suffering a season-ending knee injury at Texas and the broken collarbone this past fall, many critics think Cicero is too fragile to be a successful quarterback in the hard-hitting Big 12 Conference.
"I don't think that they are too far off on that because I have been injured in the past," he said. "However, prior to this season, I had never been injured in a game. The injury at Texas was an accident. A 6-6, 330-pound lineman fell on my knee. I don't think there are many people that could withstand that."
Cicero also noted that among his offseason goals is gaining 10-15 pounds. He thinks that that goal, along with working with the coaches to advance the offense and incorproate new ideas, will be key to next season's success.
"I don't play the game to lose," he said. "If we get the guys we need that have enough talent to win a bunch of games, I expect our team to win eight games and go to a bowl game."
While Cicero sat through an agonizing season on the sidelines, Garrett was having the time of his life learning a different lesson.
A true freshman from nearby Mart, Garrett was one of the most-anticipated recruits of 2000. Although he didn't play until the fifth game of the season, his impact was felt the minute he stepped on the field.
After making a few adjustments, the high school standout picked up right where he left off.
"The college game is so much faster than the high school game," Garrett said. "You've got to know where you're going the minute people start to move."
Garrett also admitted that, initially, the complexity of the Baylor defense was tough to learn.
"In high school you have one or two defenses," he said. "At Baylor we have 25. You have to be ready to go and know what you're doing when you come out of the huddle."
Despite having to learn a new defensive system and adjust to the incredible speed of the college game, Garrett is pleased with the opportunity he had to play as a true freshman.
"It was good for me to play as a freshman," he said. "Now I have some experience and I know what to expect next year and I can be a role model to my teammates. I want to be the leader of the defense. I'm the hyper one on the team and I like to keep everyone smiling. I want to make them believe we can win."
Garrett echoed Cicero when he said that the team's main focus during the offseason is to get bigger and faster and maintain focus.
"For things to change, everyone's got to be on the same page," he said.
Garrett's page contains a plan for improving his own strength and speed. He may even work on his now-famous end-of-practice field goals.
"You never know when they may need me to go out there and kick the game-winning field goal," he said with a mischievous smile.
Like Cicero, Garrett's enthusiasm and optimism are contagious. He is pleased with the direction in which Baylor football is headed and respects Coach Kevin Steele's honest approach to turning the program around.
"We will be pretty young next year because we lost Gary (Baxter) and Daniel (Wilturner) and Kris (Micheaux) but we've got some young talent like Matt Johnson, Bobby Hart and Eric Giddens. Our defense is our strength on the field, we were just out there too long last year. Next season, we'll have six or seven wins."
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Amy Townsend appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
