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Show FStbalTace grows withgndiro, i - fyi . -, By LINDA GARRISON Chronicle Staff Mike Stevens grew up reading about watching and playing football. Today the innty tas strengthened as Mike p ays right defensive halfback for the University. Statistically speaking Mike 5-11" 168 lbs, and number 28, out he wasn't always. He remembers how football began for him. My father and many uncles have always been athletic, so I was around it a lot. I started playing little league football and often went with my dad to the University games, remember in 1959 when the 49 ers and the New York Giants came to Salt Lake. My father was asked to help entertain the Giants. Pat Summerall and Kyle Rote were among the players who visited our home. I went up to watch them practice at the old Cummings kicking field and Summerall gave me a team football with all their signatures. I've always been football oriented". Mike thinks a lot about football now. "Every practice is just like a game, you react and work on each play". From game to game Stevens builds confidence as he studies who he'll be up against. Good t : ' i L ; 6- ' w-ilifI''"' Mike Stevens comes up from his defensive halfback position to tackle the quarterback in the UTEP game. problem say's Mike, "No one even knows I'm a football player, I like it like that". But Mike's roommate, Bill Lucas, says "girls have been calling". "Howdie Doody", "The Hardy Brothers", "Leave it to Beaver" and the "Mickey Mouse Club" were among Mike's favorites as a Norman Mailer who says: "We're all ill. It is just a matter of how well we control our mental illness." Politically Mike is for Nixon, "I'm not a Republican. I feel like he represents the best man, I have never been impressed with McGovern." Mike sees a bowl game ahead if all goes well. His Coach r said of Mike, "Mike fe, 1 standing intensity, he's h ' hates to lose and isi5 petitor." And has a gig, : humor. snappy practices help him become psyched for the opposition. "Talking to myself also helps me in games, especially when I make a mistake. I can look at what I've done and it's usually not concentrating, con-centrating, and then I can say o.k. Stevens buckle down". Stevens' rugged and handsome face showed excitement as he discussed the win over UTEP. "That was our first home game and it was a good pressure to be home. The game seems more apparent and real and the people are there to see you win. The way the students welcomed us on the field really helped. The pep band made a great difference too." Mike tries to find outside diversions to help him "When practice is over I try to forget about football. We're in it enough, if not concentrating on playing then thinking about it". He often takes rides in his Toyota, hoping one day it will be a Mercedes 350 SL, up Emigration or East Canyon. Mike is a native of Salt Lake (East High) and loves the mountains. He has spent two summers working as a float guide on the Snake River. "Waking up to one of those beautiful Teton mornings has to be one of my greatest moments". Mike has always spent much time alone. Last year some of his teammates referred to him as the fathom, usually not seeing him except for football. For Mike the mountains of Aspen would be the ideal place to live. Groupies have never been a kid. Today he enjoys Dick Cavett land the old Bob Hope Shows. Mike too has heroes. Athletically it would be Lem Barney. "Otherwise it would have to be Thomas Jefferson. I thought a lot about his humanist views when I was growing up. He worked hard for this country and fought for what he believed in. He could really see into the future." Passing up Raquel Welch, Mike decided Barbara Streisand was his favorite star. Movies and music to him fluctuate depending on his mood. "I enjoy musicals like "Funny Girl," "Fiddler on the Roof" but also I liked "Slaughter House Five" and "Clockwork Orange." The team should see "Clockwork Orange" before a game!" Mike enjoys the University. Being a law-political science major he plans a future in corporate law. He resents those who think all football players are in physical education. "I want to succeed and do well in law," he says. He has never been psychoanalyzed but feels it could help anyone to interpret himself better. Thinking of Senator Eagleton, Mike thought the happening hap-pening "absurd and not even an issue." He agrees with novelist |