IS BUYING CROSS-COUNTRY SKIS
Andrew Quarless remembers one of his last times in Joe Paterno's doghouse, when he sat in the coach's office and talked even though Paterno "didn't want to hear me."
"At the end of the conversation I said, 'I could sit here and speak all day, but I'm going to show you, and I'll show it with my actions,' " Quarless recalled.
After a couple of run-ins with the law earlier in his career, Penn State's tight end appears to have pulled it all together this season. The 6-foot-5, 248-pound senior has performed well on the field, improving his NFL draft stock, but he also has been a laudable figure off the field, with his teammates and in his academic and personal life.
Even the 82-year-old Paterno is impressed with how far Quarless has come.
"I think he's had a heck of a year," Paterno said this week. "He's been a leader, which has made me feel good about the fact that he took some of the things that we disagreed on and he took them to heart. He's going to be fine, graduating [in December] . . . I'm very pleased with Quarless."
And Quarless is pleased to hear how his coach feels.
"This past off-season, this past year, it was all about recommitting myself to my team, to my family, to the program," he said yesterday. "I've done that on and off the field - being a leader and really understanding what I have to do."
Quarless was just 17 when he began preseason practice as a freshman out of Uniondale (N.Y.) High School. His father felt he should redshirt so he could get acclimated to college life, but he just wanted to play.
He caught 21 passes in his rookie season. Gradually, however, he later found challenges off the field - a citation for underage drinking before the start of his sophomore season and a charge of driving under the influence that resulted in his suspension in March 2008.
"I wasn't taking responsibility for my actions," he said. "I was losing sight of what my goals were and what I came here for. I was taking things for granted."
Quarless, who was brought up in a religious household, said he was in violation of his home's mantra of "Hungry and Humble" and that he was "losing the 'Humble' part."
Quarless said he eventually looked at himself in the mirror, at "how I was conducting myself and not doing the things I needed to do. I couldn't live this way and accomplish my goals."
After an incident last season in which two players in his four-man apartment were charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana, he decided this season he would live alone. He also cut alcohol out completely.
Quarless came out with renewed vigor for his senior season. He has snared a career-high 29 passes for 386 yards and remains in the sights of NFL scouts. Early projections have him going in the fourth round.
"I know I got into some trouble, but that only made me a better person," he said. "Looking back on it, I'm happy I went through those things and I still have a chance."
"Some guys go through troubles and then get washed away. I've been working hard and showing the guys that if you get into trouble, you can work through it and come out successful."
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.
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