In karate, perhaps the most important tenet is one's ability to focus on the task at hand and ignore all other outside influences. For Billy Granville, it is a key to life.
Granville, a senior linebacker and blackbelt in karate, got caught up in what he could not handle last season, and as a result, he found himself suspended from the team for the Blue Devils' final four games of the year. Granville found himself separated from what he enjoys most-football.
"It was like I wasn't with my family," Granville said. "Like being in a deep black hole. I feel like through perseverance I can overcome anything. I didn't think I would never play football again, but at the time it was very painful.
"A part of me was dead for a period of time; football is a part of me. It's my livelihood."
Granville had been a preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection at linebacker. He had 70 tackles in six games for Duke, but it was all taken away from him in an instant with the suspension. Others might have reacted negatively, but not Granville.
He used the time to rejuvenate himself, mentally and spiritually. He took the lessons he has learned from karate and incorporated them into his everyday life.
"The mental and spiritual aspects of karate have enhanced my performance to the point where I compete with my mind and my spirit," Granville said. "It's made me believe there's nothing that can defeat me and that I can overcome all odds. Karate has helped me with my ability to focus and concentrate on things."
Granville started out in karate at the age of six, and he has kept up with it since. He feels that it has balanced out with the traditional values of the many team sports which Granville played while growing up Lawrenceville, N.J.
Karate has taught him about self-discipline and the ability to focus on tasks that others may deem impossible. For Granville, karate has taught him how to place mind over matter.
One of the tasks that he had to accomplish to pass his blackbelt test was running five miles barefoot in the snow in winter. Another was sparring four people at the same time. For Granville, it all comes back to the mental aspects.
"Things that most people think are very difficult are really not that tough once you get your mind set," Granville said. "I really believe in myself as a player, and I expect to go out and perform well at a very high level. I envision it every night before I go to bed. I play the game in my mind. Hopefully, on game day, those images become reality."
Granville's teammates and coaches fully understand the realm of Granville's talents. He is the signal caller for the defense, and he is also one of the Blue Devils' few true leaders.
"Leadership, first and foremost, is by example," Granville said. "How can I expect my teammates to put forth certain effort or play at a high level, if I'm not doing the same, setting the example or setting the benchmark.
"If you work hard and sacrifice many things for the team, then I think that you inevitably become a leader, and people respond to you by watching you. When you're getting that respect, people listen to what you say. I don't like to speak a lot, but when I do I feel it's important."
Granville realizes that he had to reacquire his teammates respect after being dismissed from the team last season. As a result, he was tenacious in offseason workouts, always pushing himself and the other Blue Devils on the field, lifting weights, in preseason conditioning and in many other areas.
He has reassumed his role on the defense, and the Blue Devils are fully aware of what he brings to the team. They expect Duke to be much better this season on defense, and for Granville to play a key role in that resurgence.
"This is a defense that if I was our opponent I'd be scared of because these guys have nothing to lose," Blue Devils wide receiver Corey Thomas said. "All 11 starters and the 11 guys backing them up are crazy. [Blue Devil head coach Fred] Goldsmith always says, 'I want the craziest 11 people I can find on defense. I don't care who you are or what your size.'
"If you're crazy and mean, he wants you on defense. Plus, you've got the craziest guy I know in Durham at middle linebacker in Billy Granville."
Karate is not the only sport away from football in which Granville has excelled. At 6-3, 245 lb., Granville is one of the most intimidating presences in the football field. In high school, he played a sport, however, in which he may have been even more of a terror-lacrosse.
Granville attended The Lawrenceville School where he played running back and linebacker on the football team in the fall, and in the spring he would suit up at long stick defenseman for the lacrosse team.
He played with current Blue Devil lacrosse player James Heavey and was named to the All-State team as a senior. He had hoped to play at Duke, but injuries in the spring have kept him from doing so. Still, Granville looks back on his lacrosse days fondly.
"Lacrosse was fun because I don't think many players were used to playing against physical defensemen," Granville said. "I had a linebacker mentality, and my abilities as well as my intimidation factor helped me become a dominant player.
"I guess I tried to change the game a little bit, while playing within the rules. I was a little bit more physical than people were used to."
For Granville this season, playing within the rules and helping Duke rebound from last year's 3-8 record is something he now realizes is simply a case of mind over matter.
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