This is Kevin Cronin's fourth year on Duke's football team. Based on any stat sheet, however, you wouldn't know he exists.
Cronin did not see game action in his first three years on the team. This season, he serves as the third string quarterback and holder for the field-goal unit. Neither role has resulted in a positive yard on the field.
But ask any one of Cronin's teammates or his coaches, and you'll find out his importance to the squad extends far beyond those unrecorded duties.
Cronin, a senior, leads the scout-team offense, running the plays of Duke's upcoming opponent to prepare the Blue Devil defense for the weekend. During games, he signals in the offense's plays from the sidelines, and he instructs and mentors Duke's young quarterbacks.
"He fully understands the offense, every little aspect of it," sophomore quarterback/wideout Marcus Jones said. "So if I ever have any questions, or I don't understand how a coach might explain it, he might explain it in a better way-from a player's perspective or a quarterback's perspective."
Cronin said he had interest from several Ivy League schools to play quarterback coming out of high school. But the combination of Duke's offense, academics and southern weather inspired the Madison, Wisc. native to walk on to the Blue Devils.
"I realized coming in that I wasn't going to be the starting quarterback, so you have to find a way to contribute," Cronin said. "And I found one of the ways was to signal and help out the quarterbacks with what I could see from the sidelines."
Cronin's role on the team is about more than just being a good teammate. Cronin said he hopes to coach college football after graduation and has looked into becoming a graduate assistant, possibly at Duke, next season. For now, the senior-who DVRs all the college football games he can and is already fluent in coachspeak-is basically getting a crash course in College Football 101.
"When you're on the scout team, you miss what's going on with the [offense]," Cronin said. "So it's a challenge knowing what's going on with both things, so you have to spend extra time, come in early and watch more film."
Cronin's level of commitment to the program creates quite a time crunch, even for the disciplined military school product. Facing his first college paper during his freshman year, he had serious doubts about his decision to play football sans scholarship.
"I thought, 'Yeah I have a great time with the guys, but what am I getting out of it?'" Cronin said. "But at the same time, you quickly realize that you do it because you love it. You don't try to get anything out of it. It's a great experience, and you only have one time in your life to do it."
Cronin's dedication has drawn obvious comparisons to Rudy-the famous guy-cry film about an undersized football walk-on at Notre Dame. In fact, Cronin said Rudy was the only movie he brought to college after his hometown friends gave it to him as a joke. But while he can certainly match the cinematic walk-on's work effort, Cronin seems to have a lot more personality than the ever-serious Rudy Ruettiger.
"He likes to brag that he's a quarterback on the team, and we just give him a lot of crap about it," said his roommate, junior tight end Nick Stefanow. "He thinks he's big stuff sometimes."
Cronin's teammates are more than happy to bring him down to earth. He is one of the smallest players on the team, listed in the media guide as six-foot, 170 pounds. Cronin said the listing is correct, but not everyone agrees. Asked if the listing was accurate, the six-foot-four, 235-pound Stefanow said, "Maybe if I was holding him."
Cronin also shares his name with the lead singer of 1980s rock band REO Speedwagon, a fact of which he is constantly reminded.
"We will play their songs a couple times real loud just to piss him off, especially when he has a girl over," Stefanow said while laughing.
Even Cronin's brief playing time can become fodder for his teammates.
"He holds the ball on field goals, so sometimes we like to see him get hit a little bit," Stefanow said. "That makes our day if someone gets through and he gets tackled, because he's not expecting it."
But Cronin can dish it out as well, challenging the younger quarterbacks to throwing contests to prove his oft-questioned arm strength. He also has called out his heavy-footed roommate, saying, "At least I can run a 40 under six-flat."
Cronin may get to put his relative speed to use at some point. If the Blue Devils botch a snap or choose to run a fake field goal, he would be the quarterback of the play.
"I'm always telling coach Roof and the special teams coach, coach [Larry] Kerr, 'Let me go out there and throw the ball. I want to complete a pass,'" Cronin said, before backtracking a tad. "Of course, it has to be a good situation, and coach Roof will make that decision."
Still, one imagines Cronin might envision the scenario-the Blue Devils, trailing in the fourth quarter, facing fourth down at North Carolina's 25-yard line in his last collegiate game. The field goal unit comes out, and Cronin takes the snap as always.
But just before the kicker's foot reaches it, Cronin pulls the ball away. The senior bootlegs out to the right and finds a receiver open in the end zone for the winning touchdown and a career passer rating of 640.
"He's always in coach's ear about that-trying to get a fake," Stefanow said, "so it wouldn't surprise me if one day..."
You can't help but think he would have earned it.
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