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Show Bftfl's Rob Eggett Fulfils (His Dreams By DAVE WIG HAM BOUNTIFUL There was once a short little fat kid that everyone used to pick on and make fun of in football. The kid, wanting to be a fullback, didn't do anything but fuel the fire of ridicule either. SHOW THEM he did. That short fat guy turned out to be Rob Eggett of Bountiful, the fullback who Paul Waites calls the best runningback he's ever coached. "I WAS never given a chance in little league. My only guy that stood up for me was Kyle Morrell. I respected him for that. Last year at Bountiful when guys would talk about him I would always say that he was a nice guy and they thought I was nuts. But he is. ROB LIVED his first years in Bountiful on his grandpa's old farm, but his mother wasn't thrilled about the place and the family moved to Salt Lake City. Then when Rob was heading into sixth grade the family decided de-cided to return to Bountiful to raise their children. AS A NINTH grader at Mill-creek Mill-creek he soon made his desire to be a fullback known to the coach. "Coach Noel didn't think I would make it there. He wanted me as a defensive tackle tack-le and center. But I insisted and soon he offered me a deal. If I would play defensive tackle tack-le he'd let me play fullback. So I did," he smiled. Rob wasn't bad as a tackle. Time after time he'd find himself him-self in the backfield swatting down quarterbacks and run-ningbacks. run-ningbacks. What about Rob the fullback? "About all I did was block for Lex Brown. I could fake like I had the ball and would usually get hit by a couple of guys while Lex used his speed around the end." Rob recalls. method of tackling found was to jump on his back, ride him, and pray for help. HIS DEEDS speak for themselves. them-selves. The 1425 yards gained this year is by far the best of any runningback at Bountiful. "No one I've known has even come close to that," added Waite. But there's more to Rob Eggett than the football player. He's always the first to praise someone else. He's the first to thank someone for a compliment. compli-ment. More than that, he's a true friend to those who arc fortunate enough to call him friend. NOW ROB goes through his annual ritual of losing 17 lbs. in order to wrestle for the Braves. A year ago he placed second in state at 185 lbs. and is considered the favorite in that class this season. Why does he do it? "ONE REASON is Coach Petersen. I'd never wrestle if it wasn't for him. I've worked with him in wrestling ever since the sixth grade. He teaches you more about life than anything and he's still successful at wrestling. I call him up whin I have a problem, his wife probably hates me, but he's the type of individual. He cares for you as an individual." "The offensive line is great. Without them I wouldn't have gained a yard. There were times they didn't block and I went nowhere, but when they do block they make me look great." One of the biggest things to drive Rob this year, though, was his desire to prove everyone every-one wrong. All those people who said he would never be a fullback, they all wanted him to be a lineman. HE ALSO had other reasons for pushing himself to the limit. "My brother, Roger, is my biggest big-gest fan. He's a great brother, the first one to read the papers about me and compliment me. It was Roger and I that the little leagers picked on and we joke about how people said I couldn't be a fullback." Rob's father was always on the sidelines cheering him on. "Knowing he was there watching me helped a lot. He helped with the stats this year so he could be right there with me. In wrestling he's always right on the matt, plus, my mom is always there supporting support-ing me too." said Rob. THREE OTHER Eggetts were always watching big brother. Sister, Heidi, is in the pep club at Bountiful, while lit tle brothers, Ricky and Ryan, were in the stands or carrying hot chocolate to Rob. "On cold days they used to bring me hot drinks in a thermos. ther-mos. Ryan broke it one day and was crying because I didn't get my drink! "MY FAMILY has always supported me. I can remember one little league game in Layton. It poured with rain and I only played 30 seconds but my parents stood there the whole game. They're great," Rob beamed. Out on the field, playing, Rob only adhered to one rule. "My mom always told me to get mad about it and be intense. in-tense. All the time I used to psych myself up and just con-vice con-vice myself that I wanted it bad. It worked." ROB IS the type of athlete that was made for the fullback spot. He's big, strong and willing will-ing to take punishment. "He's an outstanding player who does it all. He's an ideal football foot-ball player and the best fullback full-back I've had," noted his head man Paul Waite. Very seldom could one man pull down the 210 lbs. bowling ball, and even with two opponents oppo-nents on him, Rob wasn't real quick to go down. The best UP AT Bountiful High as a sophomore, Phil Olsen knew a good thing when he saw one and soon Rob was the leading rusher on the team. By now he had gained the respect of the others and was elected a captain, cap-tain, something he is proud of. Then last year as a junior, Rob was on the varsity team and very seldom saw the junior varsity play. "I wanted to watch all my friends, but it seemed like the seniors really didn't care that much about them." NOW AS a senior it was one of his goals to make everyone feel part of the team. "We tried to make it more of a team this year. We didn't want to be juniors and seniors but rather Bountiful High and in the end it helped us a lot. The juniors were always encouraging us." It could be very easy for Rob Eggett to sit back and let everyone heap the praise and glory on high. After all this guy gained 1425 yards in 262 carries car-ries for the year and most of the time the opposition knew he was going to get the ball. BUT THAT wouldn't be Rob Eggett. He's quick to point a finger for his success. Another reason is to become a better athlete and person. "If you can discipline yourself to be a wrestler you can do anything any-thing in this life." Rob said. LAST YEAR for example, Rob would get up at 5 a.m. and run. Go to first period wrestling, wrest-ling, go to school and then work out about three hours after af-ter school. That takes someone some-one special to do that. So for all you short fat kids out there that have dreams of being a fullback, keep in mind the Rob Eggett story. BIT, ALSO keep in mind he worked his guts out to achieve that dream. Five years ago he had a dream of being a fullback and showing everyone they were wrong. Today he is the best fullback in Utah high schools. And look out world there are two behind him that Rob says will be better than he. "Ricky and Ryan are both running-backs running-backs and they'll be good." BUT THIS little fella kept his head up through a miserable miser-able little league experience and kept his dream of one day being a fullback. Even in junior high he had to beg and even make a deal with his coach in order to play fullback. full-back. But, he he had his mind up that he was going to show all of them. coach already had his team picked, and I sat there most of the time. The other players used to pick on me and the coach didn't do anything. I've never forgotten all of that." Rob went on to note that the majority of players that picked on him played for Viewmont last year and that he got some personal satisfaction of knocking knock-ing a few of them down. "The |