Imagine placing a jet engine and wings on an Oldsmobile or, as Mitch Mustain put it, "like Barack Obama choosing George Bush to be vice president."
That forced fit, and egos gone wild, were the gist of the behind-the-scene problems for the Arkansas football team in 2006.
I was not eager to revisit a topic that had been discussed ad naseum, but I went to the Fayetteville showing of "The Identity Theft Of Mitch Mustain" anyway. I was surprised at the size of the overflow crowd, especially when the film was stopped and extra chairs brought to accommodate people standings in the aisles.
How appropriate. A false start for a film about a subject with many odd moves.
The documentary is well-done with great insight provided by familiar faces like media members Mike Irwin, Bo Mattingly and Kurt Voit, and former Arkansas players Ben Cleveland and Clint Stoerner, who knows firsthand the pressures of playing quarterback in the SEC. But if you're wanting to know the details of who did what to whom in the whole Mitch Mustain/Gus Malzahn/Houston Nutt/Springdale Five melodrama, you'll likely be disappointed.
This story is about Mitch, a former high school football star who is just beginning to figure out what he really wants to do in life.
I'd never heard of Mitch Mustain until Malzahn started bragging to me about a kid who'd torn it up during a 7-on-7 camp at Hoover, Ala. I was still skeptical even after being told this kid had already been offered a scholarship by Arkansas even before taking a varsity snap.
Yes, Gus, I said, but it's not real football until a quarterback faces a pass rush and gets hit in the mouth. Can he take a hit?
Oh, he can take a hit, Malzahn said, and Mustain proved it for the next two years when led Springdale to a 14-0 season in 2005 and was named the nation's top player by Parade magazine, where he posed on the cover with Emmitt Smith. Oh, what a future in football Mustain had. A reluctant, quiet hero with good looks and an intellect far superior to the typical football stereotype.
I like Mitch. Always have. In 30 years as a reporter, Mustain is still the only player to call me at home and ask to do part of an interview over. He did so during his senior year because he felt like he hadn't given enough credit to his teammates in response to a question.
That says a lot Mustain's character and the 2005 season remains one of the most enjoyable I've spent during a long career covering high school and college sports. What wasn't there to like about the Bulldogs?
They played an exciting, up-tempo brand of football and I had most of my story written by halftime. I'll never forget looking at the line of traffic heading into War Memorial Stadium, when the Bulldogs won the Class AAAAA state championship with a 54-20 victory over West Memphis. About 35,000 watched the final and fans were still entering the stadium halfway through the second quarter.
But having a front-row seat for Mustainmania had its drawbacks, especially with the recruiting aspect, when Damian Williams and Ben Cleveland flipped from Florida to Arkansas and rejoined Mustain and Andrew Norman with the Razorbacks.
And Malzahn, of course, who was going to put a spark in an Arkansas offense that had become stale and predictable.
I don't know a lot about what happened next but, under normal circumstances, Mustain should have been at least a three-year starter for the Razorbacks. But Mustain made his own mistakes, like we all do when we're young, and it's still puzzling why he transferred to Southern California, where five-star recruits are plentiful and the competition is fierce for playing time each fall.
But what took place at Arkansas with the arrival of the Springdale players should never happen under any circumstances. One of the commentators in the film, likely Irwin, summarized it best when he said the adults failed and led to the divided locker room for a team still talented enough to finish 10-4 that season.
And the adults involved should still be ashamed.
RICK FIRES IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR NWA NEWSPAPERS
Sports on 01/11/2015