Hevern Learns to Live With It

An offensive lineman gets stepped on, forearm shivered, pushed around by men outweighing him 40-50 Ibs. On top of all this, he can't use his hands to defend himself. And besides, the girls and sportswriters always look at the fleet footed backs first.

But some people, like Harvard's all-Ivy guard Jerry Hevern, are just crazy enough to play interior line-end to love it.

Hevern sat in his Mather House room last weekend discussing one of the major drawbacks of his position--pain.

"You're always getting stepped on by backs who can't find a place to put their feet," he said.

"I remember in one of the first games last season. Pete Varney was playing fullback. Varney came lumbering through the line and decided to plant his foot on top of mine. Crushed my arch. If it would have been a little guy like Steve Harrison, I wouldn't have minded so much. But when Varn steps on you, you know you've been stepped on."

In spite of numerous regretable events like this, Hevern says there are many personal satisfaction for a lineman.

"You get a different type of satisfaction from each type of block. In pass blocking the greatest feeling in the world is to hear the whistle blow after a complete pass, then to look back and see the quarterback brushing his hands off, untouched by rushers." Hevern said.

On Your Ass

"Another thrill is laying on your ass in the line and seeing a back seven or eight yards down the field," he added.

Hevern, a 6-ft., 200-Ib. senior, came to Harvard for St. Francis Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he made the Daily News All star team.

Actively recruited by Brown and Columbia. Hevern chose Harvard because of the "low-pressure approach of the people I talked to."

"I didn't get in here as a scholar. I did a number of things well in high school, but nothing exceptional, except maybe block," Hevern said.

Hevern started at center as a freshman. As a sophomore, he played on the "nut squads" which go in on kick-offs and punts.

Last year, Hevern started at guard and won ECAC Player-of-the-Week honors against Princeton.

"You have to have a really outstanding afternoon to get recognized in the line, because most people just watch the backs," he said. "But as far as I'm concerned, the game is won or lost in the line."

Charlie-Horses

So far this season, Hevern has been bothered by charlie-horses, but is still seeing a lot of action at guard along with sophomore Bob Kircher.

He is troubled by the line's inability to master Joe Restic's new variations of blocking. "Now we have this psychological barrier and it's touch to shake mistakes off. Before everything gels, everyone will have to regain the same self-confidence he had at the end of last year," Hevern diagnosed.

Hevern's plans for the future include medical school. He is applying to several, including Harvard. Cornell and Tufts.

He is currently gathering letters to aid him in getting a C.O. "I don't see any consistency in being a doctor, to help your fellow man and wearing the uniform of destruction."