Jack Piatt
Daily Egyptian
Former Saluki football star Bart Scott is making it clear that it is how hard you work that matters, not just the school you work for.
Scott signed a three-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie free agent earlier this summer. He has already attended two mini-camps this summer and will head to his third next week in western Maryland.
The Ravens were extremely impressed with the way Scott looked on video and gave him a chance to show his stuff in the mini-camps.
Scott said he will be backing up Pro Bowler Ray Lewis at the linebacker position. The main focus for him will be special teams, where he plans to get playing time this season.
Arriving in Carbondale from Detroit was a big adjustment for Scott, who came from the inner city and went to an all-black school.
"Coming to SIU helped me open up as a person," Scott said. "The diverse range of people from all different places helped me open my eyes that we are all the same; people are people."
The locker room was home to Scott, who loved the atmosphere and closeness he felt there. He misses those times the most.
"The best times are in the locker room," Scott said. "All the different people in there come together as one. Relationships in college are the greatest things."
Senior wide receiver Calvin Sims said that when he was a freshman at Michigan State University, Scott was slated to be his roommate. Scott came to SIU instead and Sims followed a year later. When Sims arrived, he found that Scott again was slated to be his roommate, and this time they actually lived together.
"Scott is a very hard hitter," Sims said. "The thing that sets him aside from most linebackers is his gracefulness as an athlete."
Scott led the team in tackles his freshman, sophomore and senior years. He made the All-Newcomer team as a freshman and was on the All-Gateway first team as a senior. He only played four games his junior year after being suspended following a run-in with the former coaching staff. Neither Scott nor the coaches ever released detail about the incident, opting to keep it in-house.
The next season, new football head coach Jerry Kill took the helm of the Saluki program, and Scott wondered if Kill would hold his suspension against him. Scott was relieved to find that coach Kill gave him a clean slate.
"My relationship with coach Kill is a special one," Scott said. "He judged me as an individual and not on my past. He took a chance on me, so I gave him all I had."
Scott said the whole coaching staff is a class act. During the winter, he approached assistant football coach Eric Klein and asked for help preparing for the professional level. Klein personally trained Scott from December through the summer.
"Scott has always been a hard worker," Klein said. "When he asked me for help, I was more than willing. I knew he would give me all he had."
Football became a way of life for Scott, who started out playing in peewee leagues. Ron Johnson, a former University of Minnesota standout, played peewee football with Scott in Detroit. Johnson was also signed by the Ravens this summer.
"We wore the same colors then as we do now on the Ravens," Scott said.
Football has become a building block in Scott's life, and he believes it has helped mold him into a better person.
"I owe the game of football so much," Scott said. "It taught me self-discipline and how to appreciate the little things."
Scott looks forward to opening even more doors for fellow teammates.
"I want them to know that if they work hard, they can accomplish anything," Scott said.
The dream of a lifetime has come true for Scott, who has been playing football all his life and just hoping that one day he would have this opportunity.
"This is a big accomplishment for me, and a dream come true," Scott said. "Sometimes your goal seems so far away. It is very gratifying to reach that goal."
Reporter Jack Piatt can be reached at jpiatt@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
