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Ecstacy, then agony for Jayhawk By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH LAWRENCE | Raimond Pendleton hadn’t seen the field since 2004, so imagine his surprise on Saturday night when he fielded a Central Michigan punt and saw nothing but green in front of him. “My eyes got so wide,” said Pendleton, a KU sophomore wide receiver. By the time he had avoided the punter and run 77 yards untouched, Pendleton’s emotions were in a state of frenzy. It was time to celebrate. As he approached the goal line, Pendleton hurled himself into the end zone. “Touchdown, Kansas!” the P.A. announcer said. “Raimond Pendleton!” The next 30 seconds or so were kind of a blur. His teammates mobbed him. A flag flew. He ran to the sideline but found Kansas coach Mark Mangino there waiting for him. Mangino grabbed Pendleton by his left shoulder and pulled him close for what would soon become an expletive-laced rant for the ages. “You hot dog!” Mangino yelled, just getting started. “You got us a penalty because it’s about you, right?!” he continued, grabbing Pendleton’s face mask. “You did it all on your own, didn’t you?! You did it all on your own!” Then Mangino let go of Pendleton and sent him on his way. If you want to experience the best and worst moment of Pendleton’s football career, search “Mark Mangino” at YouTube.com. Or check out Deadspin.com. In the last two days, Mangino’s tirade has been fodder for just about any sports blog. Really, though, it was no big deal for Mangino. He said he was trying to make the point to Pendleton that he couldn’t have scored if it weren’t for the 10 guys blocking. There is no room, Mangino said, for showboating in his program. So how did Pendleton handle the lashing? “You just take it, you know?” Pendleton said. “I learned from the experience, and I won’t let it happen again.” Behind every YouTube video is an untold story, and Pendleton’s is simple: The guy hadn’t played in a meaningful game in almost three years. He was a three-star recruit out of South Garland (Texas) High School who had most of the Big 12 schools after him. He committed to Kansas and arrived on campus in 2005. Then he sat. And he sat some more. Two years down the drain. Then Pendleton won the punt-return job in fall camp. He would finally play for Kansas. “I was extremely pumped,” Pendleton said. “It’s my time to shine right now. It’s my time to actually get on the field and do something.” He did something big, and he overreacted. He didn’t act as if he’d been there before because, well, he hadn’t. Sure enough, Pendleton wasn’t done. He caught three passes for 34 yards and a touchdown playing as receiver Dexton Fields’ backup. “Last year,” Mangino said, “he just wasn’t ready to play. We saw in the spring that he really had developed and was starting to come around. You’ll see more of him at the wide receiver position as we go here.” Pendleton will also continue to handle the punt-returning duties. The odds he’ll ever return a punt this highly scrutinized are pretty slim. “Oh, man, it’s everywhere,” Pendleton said. “I’ve had people from back home, up here, people I don’t even know writing to me. It’s really exciting. At the same time, it’s kind of, like, embarrassing.” All because he wanted to make a statement. “I’m here to stay,” Pendleton said. “I’m not going anywhere.” To reach J. Brady McCollough, Kansas reporter for The Star, send e-mail to jmccollough@kcstar.com |
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J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell) |
