Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
A Career That's Been Second To None
12/31/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Justin Herbert will play his final game for the UO football team in Wednesday's Rose Bowl, capping four years of success on and off the field.
LOS ANGELES — Four months from now, phones in Eugene will light up from messages and calls, all seeking the same thing: a scouting report.
In late April, Justin Herbert is going to be drafted by an NFL team. And his new coaches and teammates will want to know, from current players and coaches at Oregon, just who is this kid tasked with helping lead our franchise into a new decade?
For fans of the Oregon football team, who have watched Herbert throw for more than 10,000 yards in a career that ends in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday (2 p.m., ESPN), some of the responses might be surprising. Others, not so much.
"Competitive," said Herbert's older brother, Mitchell.
"A quieter guy," said his center the last four years, Jake Hanson.
"Very independent," said Herbert's father, Mark.
"A grinder," senior offensive lineman Shane Lemieux said.
"One of the funniest guys to be around," younger brother Pat said.
Put all of that together, and you have a quarterback who has assembled one of the greatest résumés in UO football history. Twice named college football's academic all-American of the year, winner of the Campbell Trophy earlier this month, Herbert is second in Oregon history with 95 touchdown passes, and first in completions with 813.
In Herbert's 41 career starts, the Ducks have averaged 37.5 points per game. He capped his career at Autzen Stadium by leading Oregon to a Civil War win, leaving Herbert with a 19-3 record all-time at the stadium where he grew up cheering for the Ducks, before growing up to become their quarterback.
A year ago, Herbert could have entered the NFL Draft as a junior. He chose to stay in school, and has rewarded himself, the team and its fans with Wednesday's Rose Bowl appearance.
"I've done everything that I've wanted to do," Herbert said this week. "I think this has been the best year of my life, and it's been an experience that I've learned so much from. And I'm 10 times the player I was last year, and I think to be here with the team and to be in this opportunity, it's awesome and an honor to be here."
The Rose Bowl will be played not far from Hollywood, fitting for the close of a career that has featured high drama. There was the four-win 2016 season in which Herbert took over as Oregon's starting quarterback while still a true freshman. The sophomore campaign sidetracked by injury, the junior year that ended with nine wins, and finally this storybook senior season.
.
As a freshman, Herbert was so awestruck at competing for his hometown team, so uncomfortable shedding his natural reticence, that he would allow a play to be run with a teammate lined up in the wrong position. Three years later, he was standing in front of the Ducks after a practice during Civil War week, expressing his love for his teammates, and his excitement about going to battle with them one more time against Oregon State.
"It was perfect," Lemieux recalled.
Herbert had to learn to overcome his quiet nature. His competitiveness? That was apparent from the start.
Once, the three boys and their parents were vacationing on the Washington coast. A boat was anchored 100 yards or so off shore, as the brothers hit golf balls into the ocean. Mark jokingly offered money if anyone could hit the boat. Justin, only 5 or 6 at the time, sent a ball soaring toward the boat. And hit it.
"You could hear it," Mark said. "I couldn't believe it."
Another time, Mark was raking leaves in the family home's front yard. He called the boys out to help load the raked piles into garbage bins. Soon enough a football was being tossed around, and a challenge was made — throw the ball into one of the bins.
"He's in the neighbor's yard," Mark recalled, "and he throws it over a tree limb, into a garbage can. First time."
At Oregon, teammates first got a real sense for Herbert's ability to rise to a challenge when the Ducks played at California his freshman year. Cal won in overtime, but Herbert passed for six touchdowns, tying the UO record.
"After the Cal game we were like, OK, who is Justin Herbert?" Lemieux said with a laugh. "Who are you, man? This guy's crazy!"
Over the ensuing years, the Ducks would find Herbert to be intensely studious, whether compiling a 4.01 grade-point average in general science, or tucking himself into a dark room alone inside the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex at odd hours, devouring game film. They have found Herbert to be crushed by defeats, taking more than his fair share of blame when the Ducks have suffered losses.
They have found him to have a dry sense of humor that he deploys when it's least expected, cracking a joke with a straight face as teammates burst into laughter around him. And they've found him to be aware of the need to break out of his shell, more willing to cut loose and celebrate big plays on the field, and to handle the spotlight from fans and media that comes with playing quarterback.
"We haven't spent an inordinate amount of time the last three years, talking about that part of it, but we've talked loosely about it," said Herbert's position coach the last three years, Marcus Arroyo. "Because I think it's important for him to understand. And it's really cool to see things blossom in him."
The next step will be taking the helm of an NFL offense, and capturing an NFL locker room that way Herbert has with the Ducks over the last four years. More chances to blossom further, by a Eugene native who has spread his wings playing at Oregon.
But first, one more ride with the Ducks, for a quarterback who has put a defining stamp on the program the past four years.
In late April, Justin Herbert is going to be drafted by an NFL team. And his new coaches and teammates will want to know, from current players and coaches at Oregon, just who is this kid tasked with helping lead our franchise into a new decade?
For fans of the Oregon football team, who have watched Herbert throw for more than 10,000 yards in a career that ends in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday (2 p.m., ESPN), some of the responses might be surprising. Others, not so much.
"Competitive," said Herbert's older brother, Mitchell.
"A quieter guy," said his center the last four years, Jake Hanson.
"Very independent," said Herbert's father, Mark.
"A grinder," senior offensive lineman Shane Lemieux said.
"One of the funniest guys to be around," younger brother Pat said.
Put all of that together, and you have a quarterback who has assembled one of the greatest résumés in UO football history. Twice named college football's academic all-American of the year, winner of the Campbell Trophy earlier this month, Herbert is second in Oregon history with 95 touchdown passes, and first in completions with 813.
In Herbert's 41 career starts, the Ducks have averaged 37.5 points per game. He capped his career at Autzen Stadium by leading Oregon to a Civil War win, leaving Herbert with a 19-3 record all-time at the stadium where he grew up cheering for the Ducks, before growing up to become their quarterback.
A year ago, Herbert could have entered the NFL Draft as a junior. He chose to stay in school, and has rewarded himself, the team and its fans with Wednesday's Rose Bowl appearance.
"I've done everything that I've wanted to do," Herbert said this week. "I think this has been the best year of my life, and it's been an experience that I've learned so much from. And I'm 10 times the player I was last year, and I think to be here with the team and to be in this opportunity, it's awesome and an honor to be here."
The Rose Bowl will be played not far from Hollywood, fitting for the close of a career that has featured high drama. There was the four-win 2016 season in which Herbert took over as Oregon's starting quarterback while still a true freshman. The sophomore campaign sidetracked by injury, the junior year that ended with nine wins, and finally this storybook senior season.
.
As a freshman, Herbert was so awestruck at competing for his hometown team, so uncomfortable shedding his natural reticence, that he would allow a play to be run with a teammate lined up in the wrong position. Three years later, he was standing in front of the Ducks after a practice during Civil War week, expressing his love for his teammates, and his excitement about going to battle with them one more time against Oregon State.
"It was perfect," Lemieux recalled.
Herbert had to learn to overcome his quiet nature. His competitiveness? That was apparent from the start.
Once, the three boys and their parents were vacationing on the Washington coast. A boat was anchored 100 yards or so off shore, as the brothers hit golf balls into the ocean. Mark jokingly offered money if anyone could hit the boat. Justin, only 5 or 6 at the time, sent a ball soaring toward the boat. And hit it.
"You could hear it," Mark said. "I couldn't believe it."
Another time, Mark was raking leaves in the family home's front yard. He called the boys out to help load the raked piles into garbage bins. Soon enough a football was being tossed around, and a challenge was made — throw the ball into one of the bins.
"He's in the neighbor's yard," Mark recalled, "and he throws it over a tree limb, into a garbage can. First time."
At Oregon, teammates first got a real sense for Herbert's ability to rise to a challenge when the Ducks played at California his freshman year. Cal won in overtime, but Herbert passed for six touchdowns, tying the UO record.
"After the Cal game we were like, OK, who is Justin Herbert?" Lemieux said with a laugh. "Who are you, man? This guy's crazy!"
Over the ensuing years, the Ducks would find Herbert to be intensely studious, whether compiling a 4.01 grade-point average in general science, or tucking himself into a dark room alone inside the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex at odd hours, devouring game film. They have found Herbert to be crushed by defeats, taking more than his fair share of blame when the Ducks have suffered losses.
They have found him to have a dry sense of humor that he deploys when it's least expected, cracking a joke with a straight face as teammates burst into laughter around him. And they've found him to be aware of the need to break out of his shell, more willing to cut loose and celebrate big plays on the field, and to handle the spotlight from fans and media that comes with playing quarterback.
"We haven't spent an inordinate amount of time the last three years, talking about that part of it, but we've talked loosely about it," said Herbert's position coach the last three years, Marcus Arroyo. "Because I think it's important for him to understand. And it's really cool to see things blossom in him."
The next step will be taking the helm of an NFL offense, and capturing an NFL locker room that way Herbert has with the Ducks over the last four years. More chances to blossom further, by a Eugene native who has spread his wings playing at Oregon.
But first, one more ride with the Ducks, for a quarterback who has put a defining stamp on the program the past four years.
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