Football Supplement: Betten leads defense by example

Twelve years ago David Betten thought he was embarking on a prestigious career in flag football. Little did the undersized kid from Satellite Beach, Fla., know that a dozen years later he would become the captain of the No. 6 ranked defense in I-AA football. "I thought I was signing up for a flag football league back in fourth grade," Betten said. "As it turned out it was a full-contact league. I don't remember too much about it except that everybody else was bigger than I was and I got knocked around a whole lot." Well, some things never change. Betten still isn't huge – 6-1, 205 pounds – at least as far as defensive ends go, but now he doesn't get knocked around much. In fact, it is he who does most of the knocking. Interestingly, through high school Betten never got overly excited about his football potential – until the letters from interested college coaches started coming. At that point he realized he could use football as an opportunity to get an Ivy League education. So with the instincts of any good defensive end, he jumped at the chance as if it were an opposing quarterback. Betten himself could never have guessed that a good part of his Ivy League education would come from the gridiron. In three–plus seasons with the Quaker squad, the defensive captain has, in the words of coach Al Bagnoli, "grown in every capacity. He's grown physically, and he's grown as a leader. He's one of those real solid kids that you need if you're going to win games." And if you don't want to take the coach's word, just look at the numbers Betten put up last season. He was second on the Quakers in sacks (9) and third in tackles (82). The statistics were impressive enough to earn him all-Ivy second team honors and an invitation to Tokyo, Japan to compete in the Ivy Epson Bowl, a honor he had to turn down in order to come back this year. The Epson Bowl is only for players in their last year of eligibility. "He gave up a lot to come back," Bagnoli remarked. "He had a chance to play in Tokyo last year, but he had an extra year [of eligibility] and decided to take it. I thought that decision spoke a lot about his character." Even Betten struggled a bit with his decision not to go to Tokyo – although his heart was still with the team. "It was hard because I would have liked to have gone to Japan with my good friend and fellow senior Tom Gibbs," he said. "But I had already made up my mind to stay." The extra year of eligibility Bagnoli mentioned came from a quadricep injury Betten suffered during his sophomore year. The injury sidelined him for about five weeks. But as far as Betten was concerned it was worth it. "It really hurt at the time," he recalled. "But as it turns out it was really good fortune because I was eligible to stick around for another year of maybe winning a few games." "When I came here as a recruit, the team had won six of the last seven titles," Betten said. "So I had expected to come away with one or two rings. But my first varsity season the team went 3-7 and then we dropped to 2-8. That was a real frustrating time. If we end up winning the Ivy Championship this year, it'll be for all the teams in the past three years that never won one." Even Betten's teammates recognize and respect the urgency of the captain's desire for a championship ring. In fact, it was one of the reasons they voted him to the position. "I think it was pretty unanimous when we picked captains," junior defensive end Michael "Pup" Turner said. "Everyone knew Dave was the guy we wanted on defense. He's been around and he's seen the good times and the bad times. He knows how to handle both. Hopefully he'll lead us to a championship." And although Betten insists that being named the defensive captain is no additional pressure – thanks to the presence of seniors Andy Betten and Jim Magallanes on the defense – he does not take the responsibility lightly. "I've had to push myself and get myself to say more on the field," admitted the relatively soft-spoken Betten. "Before, if someone needed a kick in the ass, I'd say something to them after practice, as far as 'come on, lets get going.' Now in practice I actually, physically kick them in the ass and yell at them. I can't take that back-seat role any longer. I have to get up and yell at them and get in their faces." And if Betten does have something to say, it's usually on the money. "David is very bright and very stable," Bagnoli said. "When you get a kid that has those qualities and is game tested, he's going to be almost like another coach on the field. He can take some kids and correct them. Defensive end is tough to coach because there's one on each side of the field. Sometimes you don't catch what the back side is doing. Or if you watch the back side then you might not catch what the front side is doing. So in that capacity he has been very helpful to us." Judging from the respect he has earned from both players and coaches alike, it is safe to say that if Betten walks away after this season without ever earning the coveted piece of jewelry that many consider the mark of a champion – it will still be difficult to consider him anything but a winner. In that capacity he has realized that when he trots off the field after the final game of this season he will have been a part of something much greater than himself – a team. "It's a team thing, it's not necessarily football," Betten said. "It's more about athletics and being part of a group – that'll be what I'll miss the most – the camaraderie that goes along with being on a team. As far as work goes you can never get everybody on the same page for one goal as you can on a team, especially at this level."

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