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Friday, December 10, 1999 By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- He had joked previously about being a spokesman on the postseason awards circuit for his low-key teammate, Courtney Brown. But when Penn State outside linebacker LaVar Arrington finally got a chance to make a statement, he made one for a player who is Brown's antithesis.
During last night's Home Depot College Football Awards Show, Arrington won the Chuck Bednarik Trophy, awarded by the Maxwell Club to college football's best defensive player.
And then he dedicated the award to flashy Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick, who despite his gaudy numbers hasn't won any national awards because of his off-field problems -- an arrest on felony grand theft charges when he and a teammate paid $21.40 at Dillard's for designer merchandise worth $412.38, a subsequent suspension that forced him to miss two games and his guilty plea to charges of misdemeanor theft.
"I just feel like right is right," Arrington said. "I'm not going to go into the whole thing. But if he's not the best college football player in America, then I don't know who is."
Earlier this week, Warrick discovered that he would not be one of the five finalists invited to tomorrow's Heisman Trophy banquet. And last night, he lost the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to college football's best wide receiver, to Stanford's Troy Walters.
Arrington and his family were sitting just in front of Warrick, who stood out in a white suit with black pinstripes. And as the evening progressed, Arrington felt bad for Warrick and decided to speak in his behalf.
"I just want to let it known that I support Peter," said Arrington, who doesn't know Warrick except from some brief exchanges. "It's a shame that if you make a mistake things are never the same. People will never let you be who you really are. If you're going to let him live it down, let him live it down. It's not right to build him up just to tear him down.
"I've personally been pinpointed and ridiculed on a smaller scale, and I understand what he's going through to an extent."
Warrick left the awards show immediately, offering only one terse comment to reporters: "They made a decision, and it's over and done with." He did not comment, specifically, on Arrington's dedication, but he did give the linebacker a hug when he returned to his seat.
Arrington said he never expected to win the award, for which he was selected over Brown and Virginia Tech defensive end Corey Moore, who had won the Bronco Nagurski and Lombardi Awards earlier in the week.
"I've been on the circuit with Corey Simon, Corey Moore and Courtney Brown, and they're all great athletes," Arrington said. "Corey Moore has been cleaning up the last few nights, and I didn't see like that would change tonight. I told Courtney, I'm not changing my allegiance, but I might have to accept an award for Corey Moore tonight."
Despite his individual accomplishments and a mid-season plug from Coach Joe Paterno, who said if Brown didn't win the Lombardi "something's wrong with somebody," Brown didn't take home any national trophies. He did, however, make the Burger King Coaches All-America team (as did Arrington), his fifth such national honor.
Still, it wasn't enough for his teammates.
"This man got robbed," said Penn State middle linebacker Brandon Short, who was in attendance. "I didn't see a better football player in the country."
Brown, standing next to Short, shook his head and smiled.
Short and Arrington will be honored tonight at the Butkus Award dinner. They are competing against Tennessee's Raynoch Thompson and Kansas State's Mark Simoneau for the honor of college football's top linebacker.
After the Lombardi Award dinner, Arrington continued to insist that Short was the favorite for the award -- "Y'all should have named him Brandon Butkus," he said. But in the next breath, Arrington added, "I want the Butkus. I don't want to lose it. But if Brandon wins it ... then I'll be outdone."
And then he grinned.
When he was interviewed by ESPN announcer Chris Fowler, Arrington was uncharacteristically brief. "Emotion," Short explained. "That'll do it to you." He accepted a compliment on his shoes (white and black, and quite flashy) and said that any number of his teammates played well enough to win the award.
Arrington said he didn't expect to win. Not even when ESPN cut away for a break earlier in the program with a teaser telling viewers to stay tuned to see if LaVar Arrington could capture the Chuck Bednarik Award.
"They build you up to let you down," he said. "For them to do something like that ... I didn't pay too much attention to it."
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