WVU's Slaton wants to stick around for championship
MORGANTOWN -- If Steve Slaton is a man of his word, West Virginia University football fans can rejoice.
In other words, they can burn their couches.
Steve Slaton has researched insurance policies that would secure him financially in case he suffers a career-ending injury at WVU in the next two years.
Yes, the next two years.
Although he has considered -- and still is considering, mind you -- declaring for the NFL Draft after his junior season, his mother wants him to earn his degree (he is an athletic coaching education major).
But a diploma probably isn't the goal that will keep him here. A trophy is.
As in, a national championship trophy.
"I want to win the championship," said Steve Slaton, who was an All-America selection and Heisman Trophy finalist last season after he rushed for a school-record 1,744 yards and 16 touchdowns on 248 carries. "That's my goal. The NFL is always going to be there. Now, is the time to worry about the championship."
"Even if it takes two years?" he was asked.
"Even if it takes two years," Steve Slaton repeated. "I feel that's the goal in college. You can't leave until you get it."
That's why Steve Slaton is concentrating on the present.
"I really haven't put too much focus on it," he said of the future. "I don't want to jump ahead. I just want to take it one season at a time."
Steve Slaton had surgery in January on his right wrist, which hindered him throughout the final half of his sophomore season. He often had to use his left hand to carry the football, which might explain the fumbles he lost at the worst times last year (see: two in a 44-34 loss to Louisville and one in a 24-19 loss to South Florida).
"It was frustrating," said Steve Slaton, who is from Leavittown, Pa. "A running back needs both his hands and just having one to use at one time, it was frustrating.
"The biggest difficulty was just keeping the ball in one hand and not being able to switch it when defenders close and not being able to shut them off."
Steve Slaton reports his wrist feels "10 times better than before."
"I'm just excited what kind of uses I can have with it," he added. "I'm near 100 percent. I don't think I'm quite there yet."
When he is 100 percent, Steve Slaton expects to be able to run like he did in 2005, when he gained 1,128 yards and scored 17 touchdowns on 205 carries as a true freshman.
"I will be able to switch (the football) around (from hand to hand) and it will be instinctive," Steve Slaton said. "Going in pain-free and not worrying about an injury just helps your game out a lot."
Steve Slaton also suffered a deep thigh bruise in practice the day before WVU players departed for Christmas break.
That injury limited him against Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl. He managed only three carries for 11 yards and two catches for 20 yards in the Mountaineers' 38-35 win over the Yellow Jackets.
"I think the season kind of took its toll," Steve Slaton said. "The thigh thing was just a freak accident in practice. We didn't have any pads on and I got hit in my thigh and it just got worse."
The preseason Playboy All-America selection also has added 10 pounds of muscle to his 5-foot-10 frame. He now weighs a rock-solid 200 pounds.
The added weight won't slow him down, but Steve Slaton thinks it will help him run through tackles or, better yet, run over defenders.
"Speed is a big part of my game," Steve Slaton said. "But I think I can use some extra strength."
Patrick White, the Mountaineers' other potential Heisman Trophy candidate, says Steve Slaton hasn't lost a step even with the extra pounds.
"I don't think you can slow him down," said White, a junior quarterback who was the Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Year after running for 1,219 yards and 18 touchdowns and throwing for 1,655 yards and 13 scores in his sophomore season.
" Even with 50 more pounds, he would still be fast. I can definitely see him getting faster. I'm trying to keep up with him when we're doing our sprints. I don't think the weight is affecting him at all."
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