By: Edvins Beitiks, EXAMINER STAFF
Monday, April 29, 1996
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Each year other junior colleges have grumbled about the Rams' out-of-state starters, with some coaches suggesting City College wasn't doing much academically for its football players. But scholarship offers from Division I schools keep increasing, and so do the players' grade-point averages.

Rush gave the lion's share of credit for those improvements to the twice-a-week classes that bring football players into the school's new library to join other students in study hall.

For years, Rush said, athletes took study hall classes in bungalows by the gym, which added to their isolation on campus. No more.

Aole Miller, a sophomore who tutors football players in science and math, said team members stick close to each other without being closed-minded.

"They come in together, they sit together, they move around together, they leave together," said Miller.

"But I'll say this - they show effort. They absorb what you're saying. They learn."

Kevin Harrington, an offensive lineman sitting beside Miller in the library, said tutoring has made a big difference. "I was having a hard time in English," he said. "I didn't really understand their system, what they were trying to do. Now I'm getting A's and B's on my papers."

The turnaround for football players began about five years ago, when academic advisor Robert Clark came on to emphasize class requirements and career choices for athletes. "One of the greatest hires this school has ever had," said Rush. "From day one he never pulled any punches."

Then, three years ago, San Francisco businessman Will Weinstein offered $5,000 annual tutorials to the football team. Before long, City College had a dozen football players signing letters of intent with Division I schools.

"They wouldn't have been able to sign if they hadn't been academically eligible," Rush said. "People see these guys on the field, but they don't know how hard they work."

Rush pointed to the case of Alfonzo Browning, a graduate of Wilson High who had a rough time growing up: He once came home to find that his belongings, clothes included, had been sold for drug money. While he was still going to school, catching the ball for the Rams on winter Saturdays, Browning wound up in the county jail.

Rush paid him a visit. "I told him, "One more chance, but never again,' " the coach said. "He came out and busted his a- in the classroom. He knew he never wanted to see the inside of another jail.

"He wasn't a saint, you know? Just a good person."

Browning earned a scholarship to Kentucky, landed on the 49ers' practice squad and is playing now for the Barcelona Dragons in the World League of American Football.

Rush looked up at the pictures of past players on the walls of his office. "I don't want to mislead you - not every kid is a success story," he said. "We've got kids who won't get out of bed to go to school, and what can you do?

"I'm not going to call them in the morning and say, "Time for class.' They're grown men.

"But I'm not going to kick you off the team, either. That's too easy. That lets you say, "He threw me off the team.' That gives you an excuse.

"What I tell them is, "If you come to the table, you're going to get an education.' But you've got to come to the table."

Rush made a face, saying, "(I) had one kid, absolute NFL ability . . . his parents would drive him to school every day, he'd walk through the front of the building and walk right out the back, not go to class. He just made up his mind he was not going to go to school. That was a heartbreaker."

In his mind, said Rush, "There's always been a bias in college against the inner-city student. It's my feeling that the people who get screwed in this are always the minorities, the disadvantaged."

But that can be overcome, said Rush. More than once he has seen a player go on to a four-year college, find out he's not good enough to play Division I ball, and stick it out to get a degree.

"Their lives change dramatically," Rush said. "People tell me, well, not all these guys are going to finish school. And I say, "Are you telling me a guy's not better off going to college three or four years and maybe not graduating than if he didn't go to school at all?' "

City College cannot recruit outside San Francisco, but Rush finds himself getting out-of-state recruits because

"word gets around about our program." The Rams have seen star players from Texas, Kentucky, Florida and Louisiana.

"A lot of people criticize us because we have out-of-state kids," said Rush. "But to me, it's a compliment... to have to come from another state, start all over in a new place, it's like, "How badly do you want to do this?' They must want to do it pretty badly.

"Some of these guys are coming from homes where they've been told, their whole lives, "You can't do anything, you can't do anything' to a place where they're being told "There's nothing holding you back.' "

Rush looked at the pictures on the wall once more and said,

"Manny Hazard. He was the third leading receiver at Oceana High (Pacifica), hadn't seen his dad since he was 2, 3 years old. Went from here to the University of Houston, played with Andre Ware, set a bunch of NCAA records - 142 catches, 22 touchdowns.

"The last time I saw him he looked like a million bucks. A degree in business, a job with an investment company, decked out in a good-looking suit. Unbelievable.

"I am just so proud of the guy," said Rush, and the pride of it showed on his face.