No Helmet
a passion for the game. "I try to think,
Needed
Stephen Schrum hopes he is laying the groundwork for
an off-field NFL career.
Stacy Karten
Specialto the JewishTimes
H
ighschool senior athletes
usually hope their perform-
ances will launch them into
collegiate sports, knowing that very
few athletes advance to the profes-
sional ranks. But 17-year-old Stephen
Schrum of Reisterstown is pursuing a
sports career that he hopes will lead
to becoming a National Football
League scout or general manager.
Stephen, a senior at Boys' Latin
School in Baltimore, played a variety
of sports growing up - baseball, soc-
cer and lacrosse. But he is enamored
With football and the preparation and
administrative side of the ball. So this
fall, Stephen worked as a quasi assis-
tant coach with the Boys' Latin varsity
football team and coach Ritchie
Schell during the takers~ best-ever
10-1 season. "I scouted our opponents
/much
Details, Details: Steven Schrum,left,
served as an assistant to Boys' Latin School
head coach Ritchie Schell, and the team
had a banner year.
• a WEAL Radio sports talk show as
and helped write our 4-3 [four line-
men, three linebackers] playbook.
I watched tapes and identified our
opponents' [offensive] weaknesses
and strengths;' Stephen explained.
During the games, Stephen would
_ College Park or Florida State
-be positioned near the coaches. "For
the first six weeks, I watched. Then
the next game I got to call some
defensive plays in the fourth quarter;' .
Stephen said.The team had a corn-
fortable lead and Coach Schell let
Stephen call the shots.
"Stephen did an absolutely great
job;' said Coach Schell, who was
impressed by Stephen's persistence
when he first approached him about
a job. "He started in August and carne
every day for the two-a-days. He
helped at practice, carried bags and
learned how to game plan." Coach
Schell noted that Stephen is good at
' breaking down film and "he did as
work as any player:'
This extreme interest in football
scouting and management was
sparked in Stephen at age nine. "I got
into the John Madden video game.
A friend of mine [jason Bloom] and
I won a pool we were in called Last
Man Standing," recalled Stephen,
who said they were interviewed on
the winners.
He subsequently read some
biographies about legendary NFL
coaches, such as Bill Belichick and
Tony Dungy.and it seemed the path
for these people included playing
football at a higher level. Feeling
somewhat dismayed, Stephen read a
book about Ernie Accorsi, then the
New York Giants general manager,
that encouraged him. "Ernie never
played football. He worked his
way up. He inspired me. I realized
someone like me could make it;' said
Stephen. Following football with an
eye on player personnel, Stephen has
'What would a general manager
do?" explained Stephen. By the way,
he says he is a St. Louis Rams fan be-
cause he was eight years old when he
saw them win Super Bowl XXXN
in a fantastic finish on TV against
Tennessee, 23~16. "The Ravens are
my second-favorite team;' he noted.
This spring, for his senior project,
Stephen will be working in the
Baltimore Ravens player personnel
department, where he will learn
about the inner workings of an
NFL team.
His fall plans include majoring
in sports management or business,
either at the University of Maryland,
University.
Prep Football
Success
Two Baltimore County Public
School varsity football teams -
Pikesville 'High School and Franklin
High School- advanced to the state
regional finals in their divisions on
Nov. 20. Despite both teams losing,
they had successful seasons.
Pikesville's Panthers (Class lA)
matched a school-best 8-3 record
before losing to Catoctin High
School in Thurmont, 49-7. Franklin's
Indians (Class 3A) lost to Hereford
High School, 31-15, and finished
with a 9-3 record ..
Globetrotters
!!~'!~lP~em Globe-
J(
trotters marketing director Mark Fine
promises tons of family fun when the FRElt
world-renowned barnstorming bas-
ketball team appears in Baltimore on At
Saturday, Dec. 26, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.rn. SCHEU
at 1st Mariner Arena. Now in their
84th season, the Globetrotters (who
were organized by Abe Saperstein)
will entertain fans with the skills
. and antics of Big Easy Lofton, Flight
Time Lang, Special K Daley, Scooter r
Christensen, Handles Franklin and
Ant Atkinson. For ticket information,
visit harlemglobetrotters.com .L