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Field Work
For three years at the University of Virginia, Broad Run graduate Alex Field has been biding his time by honing his craft, getting bigger and stronger and making the most of his role as a backup defensive end.
When the Cavaliers face the perennially powerful University of Southern California to open the football season Aug. 30, Field's name will likely be announced as a starter.
"It's gonna be a great game," Field predicts.
His declaration pertains to his team in general, but undoubtedly, he hopes the "great game" label also will apply to him. The 2003 Defensive Player of the Year in the Dulles District has been waiting a long time to step into a primary role on the Cavalier defense.
"We have a 'next man up' attitude around here," Field says. After starting defensive ends Jeffrey Fitzgerald, who transferred, and Chris Long, who was taken second overall in the NFL draft, Field is the next man up.
"Those guys are about as good as it gets," Field says of Fitzgerald and Long, raving about their passion and work ethic. "It's infectious when you're around guys like that."
Coming off a junior campaign in which Field played in 13 games, grabbing 11 tackles -- three behind scrimmage -- and hauling down two sacks, he has been on the first rotation during spring and fall practices and is a presumptive starter at the end position.
The time has arrived for Field to get as good as he can get.
During his time as a Broad Run Spartan, Field was an exceptional two-way iron man, earning all-district honors his junior and senior years. Playing as a 6-foot-6, 255-pound high schooler, he was able to physically dominate opponents on Dulles District gridirons, securing a scholarship to an Atlantic Coast Conference program.
He still lives in Ashburn, still visits his old high school, even catching a few games during UVA's bye weeks and dropping into his old locker room to advise and pep up the current Spartans. He does not disguise his robust esteem for Broad Run's recent football success.
"It's exciting to see what they're doing," Field says about the 2007 district champions. "It makes me proud that I was there."
His brother, Will, is still there. Like his older brother, Will is a football and lacrosse player, but a different kind of athlete.
"He's a lot smoother, more graceful than I am," Field says with a chuckle about his younger brother, a rising senior who has committed to play lacrosse at Sacred Heart University.
College has been a learning experience for the sociology major, on the field and in the classroom.
"The game is a lot more technical [in college], a lot faster," Field says. “You really need to be game-aware.”
Field has added an inch of height and 30 pounds of muscle under the UVA training regimen and enters the 2008 season "in the best shape I've ever been in."
"I eat as much healthy food as I can each day," Field says, adding a tad of emphasis to "healthy." "You kind of get sick of eating."
Field is on track to graduate in May, having endured two arduous statistics courses during the summer sessions. His future beyond the Charlottesville campus is still an open question; he has a senior season yet to display his wares to professional scouts.
"I'm doing my best to take this season one game at a time," he says. "I want to play football as long as I can."
The notion of being part of a team to accomplish a goal is an attractive one to Field, who has pondered being on a NASCAR pit crew as a career option, as some of his friends have done.
"I like the team environment, working together to get something done," he says.
When he's not working, Field likes to displace water as a certified scuba diver. He first began diving in New Hampshire during family gatherings, swimming down into "the clearest lakes in the country" to observe strange life forms and small boat wrecks.
But Field also is certified in swimming past linemen in pursuit of ball carriers, a skill he developed in Loudoun. At UVA, Field shares the roster with two other county residents, sophomore punter Nathan Rathjen of Loudoun Valley and freshman offensive lineman John Maghamez out of Briar Woods.
"Yeah, I know them," the ex-Spartan says. “We like to talk about our high school days.”
Field has observed the growth of high school sports in his home area, where more and more Loudouners are finding spots on college rosters in all sports.
"Athletics are really blowing up in Northern Virginia," he says, "especially Loudoun County."
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