Many Are Called

JACK DALY tended machines from 3:30 p.m. to midnight at a Plattsburgh wallpaper plant, ten miles north of his Peru, New York, home. On most days, before breakfast, he ran a couple of miles and did a number of 20-yard and 40-yard sprints. He worked out at nearby Peru Central School, where he had been a standout high-school football, baseball, and basketball player. Paul Habegger lives a couple of blocks from his old high school in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. During the day, Habegger was an intern with the Wilson Learning Corporation, a "motivational company," located in a nearby community. He used Richfield High's track and weight room for .his 5:00-to-8:00 p.m. workouts and also joined a sports and health club because it had Nautilus equipment. Daly and Habegger, separated by 1,200 or so miles, were using their non-working summer hours to prepare for the 1981 Dartmouth football season.

More than a hundred athletes will vie for starting positions on the Big Green varsity. Only 22 of the players will achieve their goals. Some prospects, including a few of the young ones, belong in the "can't miss" category; others, including veterans who know the meaning of obscurity, are determined to "contribute."

Daly is a sophomore split end. As a high school senior, he was named player of the year in the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference after his Peru Indians posted an 8-0 mark to win the conference championship in 1978. He spent a year at Deerfield Academy and was named co-M.V.P. on an undefeated team that won the 1979 prep school championship. Daly was named the most valuable player on the 1980 Dartmouth freshman team. He averaged 16.5 yards per rush and scored four touchdowns on the ground. He caught 24 passes for 380 yards and five touchdowns. He scored 54 of the team's 94 points during a .3-3 season. He scored three touchdowns against Maine and scored all three touchdowns against Yale in a 21-7 Pea Green victory. He had scoring runs of 78 and 79 yards and against Cornell turned a bad snap from center on an extra point attempt into two points when he passed to teammate Rich Durante.

Habegger, on the other hand, is a senior running back who has seen little varsity action. He was captain of his high-school team that won the 1977 Lake Conference Championship with a 9-2 record. He received all-conference and all-state acclaim for his performance as a fullback. At Dartmouth, Habegger has appeared in only two varsity games. He saw back-up action in 1980 victories over Pennsylvania and Columbia, which the Big Green won 40-7 and 48-0, respectively. His statistics show two passes caught for seven yards and two rushing attempts for one yard. He was the second leading rusher on the junior varsity team, however, lugging the ball 38 times for 187 yards and five touchdowns.

Daly and Habegger have similar goals: They would like to be starters or, at least, see a lot of playing time. "I guess I have as good a shot as anybody to start as a sophomore," said Daly by telephone a month before the August 28 start of preseason drills. "But you just have to wait. It's still a little too early to say." Daly was getting ready to start running patterns and catching passes from his next-door neighbor, the current Peru High School quarterback. Daly said a highlight of his freshman year was teaming up with his best friend and roommate, quarterback Frank Polinello, on" the Pea Green eleven. The two had been teammates at Deerfield the previous year. Daly, who is considering a possible economics or government major, also played on the varsity baseball team as a freshman. His summer concern was football, however. "The closer it gets the more I look forward to it," Daly observed.

Habegger was also anxious for the season to begin. "As a senior, I'm excited about the season," he said. "I got a letter from coach Yukica and he said our goal was to win the Ivy League championship. That's my goal, too, but realistically it's going to be a tough battle. I think it's going to be a very even year. The team that wants it the most is what it's going to come down to." Habegger, whose brother Larry was a member of the class of 1975, has been away from the Hanover campus for the last two terms. He began his internship program with the "motivational company" in the spring. "It's basically a training program for management and sales people to improve their human relations skills so they can manage and sell better," he explained. The 22-year-old psychology major hopes to become an industrial counselor.

Earlier in the summer, Habegger was running four to six miles per day. He then began the specific conditioning program recommended for each player by the Dartmouth coaching staff. One drill calls for a player to run as far as he can in 12 minutes. "My goal is two miles and I'm up to a mile and three-quarters now," he said. Habegger is philosophical about his chances to become a starter. "The coaches at Dartmouth give you an equal shot," he explained, "and I'm doing as much as I can to prepare myself. Of course, my goal is to start, but realistically it's to do my best and make as much of a contribution as I can to the football team. It's very competitive for a starting position. If you don't get to start, you're still happy for the people who do. Just playing football is part of the Dartmouth experience. I won't be greatly disappointed if I'm just in a contributory role."

Coach Joe Yukica pointed out that everyone has a chance to compete for starting positions. "Jack Daly came to us as a very heralded athlete from Deerfield. He was most valuable player on the freshman team and does have all the tools speed, fine hands and is an outstanding varsity prospect. But we'll treat him no differently from a Paul Habegger. He'll be observed on a daily and weekly basis."

"The Paul Habeggers make a tremendous contribution to the team," Yukica said. "Paul came to my office last winter and said he was looking forward to fall and the football season and would do his share. He's played mainly with the junior varsity but has a great attitude about being part of the team. He'll do whatever he can do to help. It's guys like him who really make tremendous contributions. Winning belongs to them as much as anyone. The road won't be easy for Paul. He may not start, but he may be a back-up and that might be an accomplishment. A lot of guys can set goals that don't mean being a starter on the team: dressing for home games or being on the traveling squad, for example. In terms of accomplishment, they can accomplish much even though they don't star or start."

Youthful promise: Jack Daley braces for a collision with a Cornell defender in last year's rain-soaked freshman game at Ithaca.

Veteran perseverance: for Paul Habegger there were cheers but not much action.