By Sal InterdonatoTimes Herald-Record
He's still listed at running back on ESPN.com. Search Steve Levy on Google and the ESPN anchor's name pops up. Steve Levy's football life has been a never-ending battle for respect. Nothing has been handed to Levy, not the starting quarterback spot at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J. Certainly not the starting quarterback job at California. Maybe that's what makes tonight so special for Levy, his family and friends. Steve Levy of Cornwall will lead Cal against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN). Levy, 21, born in Middletown, has risen from third-string to starter. Levy is not only starting on national television, he is proving wrong a lot of Division I coaches. Coaches who said Levy would make a better linebacker than quarterback. Even Cal coach Jeff Tedford took almost four years to give Levy a shot.
"I've busted my butt and stuck with it," said Levy, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt junior. "Weird things have been happening this season and the end of the year has been a dream come true." Weird things like holding up the ax, a trophy given to the Cal-Stanford winner, in his first college start. Like getting a relief call against No. 1 USC and leading Cal to its only touchdown. Levy's cell phone was filled with 22 voice mails and 13 text messages after the game. He needed time before answering the messages.
"He was still upset about the outcome (a 35-10 loss)," said John Allegretta, Levy's best friend and a former Don Bosco teammate. "He knew Cal was definitely the underdog but he definitely thought they had a chance. Steve's a very positive kid. He's a fighter; that's why I love him. Nothing is going to keep him down."
Playing a position that wasn't his first love slowed him briefly. Levy was Cal's third-string fullback last season. He was a wedge-buster on kickoffs.
"I wasn't having fun anymore," Levy said. "I couldn't bring myself to do it anymore. I was depressed. I never played (fullback) before. I just never could do enough to get better."
He thought of hanging up his helmet for a baseball glove. He called home every day for support.
"Follow your dream and believe in yourself," Levy's mother, Angela, told him.
What would it take to light Levy's fire again? He chatted with departing Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay's first-round pick in April, who convinced Levy to give quarterback another shot.
``It was either being the third fullback or quarterback," Levy said.
Then the weird things began. Starter Nate Longshore broke his leg in Cal's season opener against Sacramento State. Levy relieved backup Joe Ayoob and threw his first touchdown pass.
Ayoob struggled as the starter. Yet Levy saw only limited duty in two games before playing USC in the 10th game of the season.
Levy didn't complain. His work ethic and inner toughness brought him through again.
"He's a winner," Don Bosco coach Greg Toal said. "I thought he played great against Stanford. He did the things that he had to do to win - that's Steve."
You can imagine the look on Levy's face when Tedford told him that he's his guy.
"I told him that I've been waiting for this chance since I was 6 years old," Levy said. "I want to go into the BYU game and show that I'm not a one-hit wonder."
More than 20 family members and friends will be along for the ride. In the gambling capital of the world, it may not be smart to bet against him.
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