For the 19 high school seniors signed by Stanford Football in the Class of
2007, their prep playing days are long over. Up next on the gridiron will
be the beginning of their respective college football careers on The Farm.
An exception is Pottsville (Pa.) Area High School senior Brad Hallick, who on
Monday had a double-day of football practice. He is in preparation for the
Big 33 Football Classic, which on June 16 in Hershey (Pa.) will pit the top 33
players in Pennsyvlania against their top 33 counterparts in Ohio. This
annual all-star game is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and will be
broadcast live on the NFL Network. The Big 33 Game has a proud history of
placing at least one player in every Super Bowl. The recent battle between
the Bears and Colts had seven alumni on the field from the Big 33 Game.
Some notable alumni include Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Dorsett, Archie Griffin, Orlando Pace, Rocket Ismail,
Charles Woodsen, Marvin Harrison, Ty Law and Stanford alums Ed McCaffrey and Jon
Ritchie.
The last 14 years have been a battle between Pennsylvania and Ohio, with each
state's all-stars taking seven games each. Earlier incarnations of the
game matched the Keystone State against Maryland, Texas or a national crew.
"It's huge around here," says Hallick. "It's basically every
Pennsylvania high school player's dream to play in it."
Hallick is a starter on the Pennsylvania offensive line, though precisely
where remains to be seen. He has worked at both guard and tackle, with
most of his practice time thus far outside. The 6'6" 286-pound lineman is
preparing to play on either side but is getting the most repetitions at right
tackle. He is also taken some snaps on the defense line.
"I'll be playing offense almost the whole game, but if I have to, I'll go in
on 'D'. Because of the roster being limited to 33 players, they need to
train players at multiple positions," Hallick explains. "I'm playing
tackle and guard - more tackle. With the limited roster, we need to play
all over."
One of the challenges in preparing for an all-star game that draws players
from throughout the state is assembling for a combined practice. The
Eastern Pennsylvania players had a mini-practice in April, but Monday at Penn State marked the first time that the entire roster gathered together. They
practiced hard in the morning and afternoon, and they won't convene again until
June for two-a-days in Hershey the week of the game.
That leaves a lot of time for Hallick to train and practice on his own, which
has been productive. The Stanford-bound lineman has been aided by the
workout program given to him by strength & conditioning coach Shannon Turley.
"I've been doing Coach Turley's workout, plus I work with a trainer on speed,
agility, explosion, etc. three times a week for about two hours," Hallick
offers. "I felt in great shape at Monday's practice."
The Monday workout was a busy one for the Pennsylvania players.
"Morning was more offensive based," Hallick begins. "We spent a lot of
time on technique drills for run blocking; then we did pass blocking drills.
After that we did one-on-ones with the D-line and D-ends. No pads, so it
wasn't as fun. Next we went over our plays. We are running a
hurry-up offense, so the QB calls the plays when we are down in our stance.
Because of that, it took a lot of time to go over all of the plays and their
alternate names. Then we did a timing period where we came together with
the whole offense and went up against the defense."
The 33 players broke for lunch and then were back on the practice field for
their second session.
"Afternoon was defensive based," Hallick comments. "I'll be playing
D-tackle, so we did a lot of drills to begin. The defense is limited to a
5-2 with man-to man coverage and no stunting, so we went over our basic plays.
We then did a pursuit drill where we would have to run to the ballcarrier.
Then the last 20 minutes was offense again."
The one mini-session in April plus this single day of practice this month
affords limited minutes for Hallick to hone his game, but the competition and
teaching are paying marked dividends in his development.
"My technique has improved a lot since the first practice in April," Hallick
offers. "This is giving me the chance to work on my techniques at a live
pace. My high school team was primarily run - like 90 percent to 10
percent pass - so this is allowing me to develop my pass blocking skills right
now with these guys. Also, just working out and competing with the best
players in Pennsylvania will better prepare me for what I'll be up against
starting this summer."
Brad Hallick could play either guard or tackle at Stanford and has a chance
of competing for playing time early. He flew out with his parents at the
end of April to attend the Cardinal's final spring practices and Spring Game.
Offensive line coach eyeballed Hallick at his current weight and feels good
about the incoming freshman staying there for now, rather than trying to pile on
pounds before reporting in August. Hallick does have a frame that will
undoubtedly carry more weight while he is in college.
Are you fully subscribed to The Bootleg?
If not, then you are missing out on all the top Cardinal coverage we provide
daily on our website, as well as our full-length feature articles in our glossy
magazine. Sign up today for the biggest and best in Stanford sports coverage
with TheBootleg.com (sign-up)
and The Bootleg Magazine (sign-up)!