Tim Washington will leave Syracuse University in May with a degree in information management and technology and a 3.6 grade point average. Four years after joining the SU football team, he’s finished.

In his career, he rushed for an unimpressive 185 yards on 43 carries. As the best running back ever to come out of Connecticut, these were totals he was used to earning in a single game.

Next fall, he’ll begin a graduate degree at the University of Massachusetts and play out his remaining year or two of eligibility (he’s awaiting a ruling on a medical redshirt). Washington’s leaving behind friends, teammates and possibly his girlfriend for one more go-around with the sport he loves.

Washington’s honest. These past four years were a disappointment for him, capped in the fall of 2005 with the worst of them all. For a kid who grew up around the corner from ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn., his Division I football career lacked the glamour he dreamed of in high school.

His lone highlights came as a redshirt freshman in 2003 when he rushed for 53 yards against Notre Dame and for a touchdown against Temple. But as you already know, that glimmer was strangled before it ever had a chance.

Like many football players who spent the last four years at SU, possibly the worst span in school history, there’s a lot Washington would like to forget. He’s still not sure why he was fourth on SU’s depth chart at running back in his junior season. And he has no idea why two redshirt freshmen and one true freshman earned carries ahead of him in a struggling offense.

‘In the spring, I was neck-and-neck with Damien (Rhodes) for the starting job,’ Washington said. ‘I was the first one up here in the summer, I lost 12 pounds in three weeks. I was doing all the right things. And then I didn’t get one carry until the fifth game of the season. I am still confused about that.’

But believe it or not, Washington’s smiling more these days. This semester, he’s experienced some of the best times he’s had in his four years. Even though he’s away from the sport he loves and even though he has to fight for a weight bench at Archbold Gymnasium five days a week, he’s happy.

‘I’ve met more people this semester than I have in my whole time here,’ Washington said. ‘I’m living a lot more stress free. Before, I was always on edge, always worrying why I wasn’t getting carries. I had too many things on my mind.’

Like in the fall of 2004, Washington suffered a concussion in practice. He was forced to stay in Syracuse while his team limped to a 6-5 record. There were days he’d be walking to class and he’d forget where to go. He had to see a therapist to sort everything out.

Or in early October of 2005, when he carried the ball only twice against Connecticut in Hartford. They were his first carries of the season and they came in a 26-7 thumping in front of his family.

‘To be going home, to play against UConn and then to have our asses handed to us,’ Washington said. ‘That was embarrassing.’

Through it all, Washington still wears blue and orange and runs pickup basketball games with his friends on the football team. He believed in SU head coach Greg Robinson in the 2005 opener against West Virginia, and he still believes in him now.

Next fall, he will play for the first college to offer him in high school, UMass, but he’s not setting any lofty expectations. This will just be about football again.

‘I know that nothing’s gonna be handed to me,’ he said. ‘I’m the strongest I’ve ever been. I just want to make it work.’

Either way, Washington is just thankful for the chance.

Tim Gorman is a design editor for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear weekly. E-mail him at tpgorman@gmail.com.

Published on March 5, 2006 at 12:00 pm