Penn's football team has had plenty of time off the field to think about last week's tragedy, and that's one reason why most Quakers are eagerly anticipating Saturday's trip to Lafayette.
Finally Penn will be able to change its mindset, diverting its attention away from the horror of New York and Washington and toward quiet Easton, Pa.
But what of those players who live much of their football existences in isolation, who only spend a precious few moments involved in the action and the remainder of their time immersed in relative solitude?
Punter Ryan Lazzeri and long snapper John Westhoff operate as their own sort of mini-team within the 109-member Quakers squad. Both are Penn football veterans, whose experience at a pair of unheralded positions will be instrumental to the Red and Blue's success in 2001.
"We're pretty solid together," said Lazzeri, a senior from Kennet Square, Pa. "We have a good rapport."
Sure, thoughts can wander during extended stretches of inactivity, and Westhoff and Lazzeri talk and laugh like they have been best friends their whole lives. Yet, when their numbers are called, each realizes that his performance is imperative because there is so little margin for error.
That does not bother either of these special teamers.
"I expect tremendous consistency of both," Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said. "I expect them to perform at a very high level."
Lazzeri and Westhoff strive to work in perfect unison on the field, but they took vastly different paths to get where they presently are.
Westhoff was born into a football family, and, at 6'3", 225 pounds, he looks the part. His father has been an NFL assistant coach for 18 years, most of which have been spent as a special teams coach with the Miami Dolphins.
Mike Westhoff signed on with the newly restructured Jets administration to fill the same job in New York this year.
The father has afforded his son a rather unique opportunity at NFL preseason camps for as long as John can recall. Each year, the younger Westhoff gets in shape for his own season by snapping for professional punters and place kickers.
"That's always been my preparation," Westhoff said. "I figure if I can snap with them, I can snap with anyone."
Lazzeri emerged from a more modest background. The 5' 11", 180-pound punter was a long-time soccer player who also maintained an interest in football.
Becoming a punter was then the logical decision.
"I'm not exactly a physical specimen, and it seemed only natural to do something where I wouldn't get hit," Lazzeri said.
Although many athletes who are in Westhoff or Lazzeri's position feel they are largely underappreciated, Bagnoli fully recognizes the significance of having very steady players in those spots.
Last year's place kicker, Jason Feinberg, broke Penn's all-time scoring record with the substantial assistance of Westhoff.
"[Long snappers] are crucial," Bagnoli said. "They have a tremendous amount of confidence. You've got to have a great deal of confidence in the holder, and everything has to be done with certain timing and rhythm."
And with a couple of young special teams players filling key roles this season, Bagnoli knows he can at least bank on the productivity and leadership of two Quaker mainstays.
"I've told Ryan that I don't have to worry one iota about our punter," Bagnoli said.
Perhaps the most impressive thing is that Westhoff and Lazzeri appreciate the skills and talent of each other. Football is the ultimate team sport, and nowhere is that teamwork as magnified as with the multifaceted nature of a strong kicking game.
"It's really important because if he's off, then I'm awful," Lazzeri said.
And, as with Feinberg last year, Westhoff knows the team will benefit if he simply goes about his business and produces, even if his exploits don't appear in the proverbial box score.
"I know I had to just do my part to let him do his thing."
