Four callings for Ted Rawlings

Da Vinci, Newton, Franklin: meet Rawlings.

Ted Rawlings, that is. Penn Athletics' very own Renaissance man. The sophomore has his hand in four different Penn varsity programs, as a safety on the sprint football team, a goalie on the men's lacrosse squad, a manager on the men's basketball team and a broadcaster for the women's hoops program.

"I've loved absolutely everything I've been doing," Rawlings said. "The management is tough, but I just somehow get it done. . It's crazy, 24 hours doesn't sound like a lot, but there's a lot of time in 24 hours."

At Malvern Prep in Malvern, Pa., Rawlings focused primarily on lacrosse. He gave up football after his sophomore year to concentrate on lacrosse, but when it came time to apply to college, he only received offers from Division III programs.

His father Mike - offensive line coach for the Penn sprint football team - brought coach Bill Wagner to one of Ted's exhibition basketball games. Wagner noted his athleticism and told him to look into sprint football if he wanted to attend Penn.

When it came time to make his decision, Rawlings had to decide between Western New England College - a top 25 D-III lacrosse program where he would be given the opportunity to start sophomore year - or Penn.

"I'm a Philly kid, I love Philadelphia," he said. "I just said, 'What the hey, maybe I'd play club lacrosse,' I don't know. [Lacrosse was] just something I would have to forfeit to come to Penn."

But he realized shortly after his college life began that he missed his passion. After playing in the annual sprint football alumni game in the fall, Rawlings saw the lacrosse team come onto Franklin Field for an offseason workout. Shortly thereafter, he talked to lacrosse coach Brian Voelker about trying out for the squad.

Voelker called John McEvoy, Rawling's high school coach and a friend of his, and was told that Rawlings was a "great kid and a really hard worker." He gave him a spot on the team without a tryout.

Also in the fall of his freshman year, Rawlings applied to be a manager for the men's basketball team, a job which requires him to help out at every practice. He does a variety of tasks, from passing balls to running the shot clock to getting players water. It may seem a trivial - even unpleasant - task, but for Rawlings, it's all part of his plan.

"I want to become a college basketball coach after school," he said. "And the best way for me to do that, the only real avenue for me to do that, was through managing basketball, so I just picked it up as a volunteer thing. . I love doing it and hopefully that opens up some windows for me when I graduate."

If a career in coaching does not work out, however, he hopes to fall back on sports journalism, either through broadcasting or writing. Thus, he took on a job as the color commentator for women's basketball games through Penn Athletics.

Some may think that keeping up with so many activities is impossible. But with a good work ethic and slight accommodations from coaches and teammates, Rawlings makes it work.

"The biggest thing I get out of this is the time-management skills," Rawlings said. "A lot of people think it's really difficult, but its not as bad as a lot people think because it's such a structured schedule."

In fact, schoolwork isn't the biggest problem that Rawlings faces by being a part of so many teams.

"I think the most difficult thing might be trying to figure out which group of friends I'm going to hang out with for the night," he said. "I don't know if it's at most universities or just at Penn, but the athletes are pretty well connected with each other. . I usually end up seeing everybody by the end of the night."

It is, at times, difficult to balance such a variety of activities, particularly when seasons overlap. Rawlings cites October as the busiest part of the year. He has to juggle sprint football regular season games, basketball practices and lacrosse offseason workouts.

But even when times are toughest, Rawlings continues to bring high energy and a positive attitude to all of his activities.

That's perhaps hardest for Rawlings to do in his role on the lacrosse team as the fourth-string goalkeeper. But though he will likely never ascend to the starting job, Rawlings still does whatever he can to improve the team.

"He's always volunteering his time to help our guys get better and to come out and take shots and help our shooters and our offensive guys get better," Voelker said. "It's not a fun job, and its not something I would like to do on a daily basis and he's probably got the welts to prove it. He's an invaluable part of what we've got going on."

If his dedication and hard work are impressive, then his passion is unbelievable. It hardly even occurs to him that he is doing so much.

"I'm a sports nut. I'm a little obsessive about sports," Rawlings said. "Anyone who wants to do three sports, it's not for the resume, its not for saying I played lacrosse, its not for saying I managed hoops. It's just saying I love A, B and C and I want to be involved as much as I can in A, B and C, and that's what I try to do."

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