Love Of Football Keeps Constantine Upbeat
November 22, 2017 | Football
By Rich Myhre
Being a college football player is never easy. There are the demands of practices and games, the long hours devoted to weight training and film study, and of course the extensive time commitments needed to pursue an academic degree.
But when a college player also has to overcome a series of injuries, what was challenging before suddenly becomes downright difficult.
Just ask University of Washington linebacker Sean Constantine, who has battled more than his share of physical setbacks in five seasons with the Huskies. Though other teammates have also been hurt over the years, among this year's UW seniors – all of them wrapping up their college careers in the Apple Cup vs. Washington State and then whatever postseason opportunity comes along – Constantine gets the prize for the most grievous medical history.
In addition to the mild bruises and sprains common to every player, Constantine tore the meniscus in his knee in 2014, missing much of his redshirt freshman season. He played all the next season, but then suffered a herniated disc in his back during spring workouts in 2016. He managed to return to the field to prepare for the fall season, only to suffer a season-ending broken ankle during a scrimmage shortly before last season began.
All his injuries needed surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. And all diminished what could have been an otherwise terrific college football career.
But to hear Constantine tell it, his career has still been pretty special. Disappointing at times, yes, but one that leaves him without bitterness or remorse.
And the 2017 season, his last as a college player, "has been fantastic," said Constantine, a 2013 graduate of Bellevue High School.
After all his earlier injuries, "I'm enjoying the hell out of (this season)," he said. "It's kind of been like a surreal feeling, being out there again, and with everybody working toward the same goal. But this year I get to be a part of it."
When the Huskies won the 2016 Pacific-12 Conference championship and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals in Atlanta against top-ranked Alabama, "I was there for it," he said. "I watched it, but it wasn't like I was part of it. But this year I'm out there with everyone and I'm doing well. It's been better than I could've ever wished for, to be honest with you."
Hearing the enthusiasm in Constantine's voice, it is hard not to wonder. Why has he not been beaten down by discouragement? Why does he not suffer through morose "Why me?" moments? And how has he been able to keep bouncing back, time after frustrating time?
"I love football," he said simply. "I enjoy the games and I enjoy practice. And since I had another opportunity to do that in my senior year, I'm fine."
This season, he went on, "I was going to be OK even if I didn't play at all. I didn't care what happened. I was just going to enjoy this season. I was going out with my brothers, the boys I've been with for five years, and that's what really sticks with me. More so than football, it's the people and the experiences I've had.
"I just wanted to have the experience of going out on a happy note and (enjoying) being with everyone," he said.
Constantine arrived at Washington as a highly recruited prep player and a prized recruit in the incoming class of 2013. Steve Sarkisian was the head coach then, but immediately after the season it was announced he was leaving Washington for the head coaching job at USC.
Also headed to Los Angeles with Sarkisian were defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox (today the head coach at California) and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon (now the defensive coordinator at Louisville).
For the players left behind, including Constantine, the departures were both shocking and unsettling.
"You think it's going to be a long relationship you have with these (coaches)," he said. "But then Sark left and all the defensive coaches left. Those were the guys that recruited me, so I kind of felt a little (misled)."
But whatever negative feelings he had disappeared "as soon as Coach Pete got here," he said.
Constantine clearly remembers the first time he crossed paths (albeit, from a distance) with Chris Petersen, who was hired as Washington's new head coach shortly after Sarkisian departed.
On Jan. 1, 2007, a young Constantine – he was in grade school at the time – witnessed one of the great games in college football history. He was at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., for the 2007 Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma, led by running back and future NFL star Adrian Peterson, and decided underdog Boise State, with Petersen the Broncos' first-year head coach.
In a truly memorable finish, Boise State got the game-tying touchdown in the waning seconds of regulation with a long fourth-down, hook-and-ladder pass play. Then, after Peterson put the Sooners ahead with a touchdown run in OT, Boise State countered with a TD and then won the game with a "Statue of Liberty" handoff and run for the winning two-point PAT.
The game later won the ESPY Award for the best game of the year in any sport, with Petersen accepting the trophy at the nationally-televised presentation ceremony.
"I was just a little kid, and that was like my first college football game ever," said Constantine, smiling at the memory. "So I'd been aware of Coach Pete and his success. And as soon as I knew he was coming here (to be Washington's new head coach) I was like, 'We're good!'
"Obviously you have some tensions at first, getting to know new coaches. It's not like everybody comes in shaking hands and smiling at you. But you're there for the same goal, the same reason, so at the end of the day you kind of push (the awkwardness) aside and buy into the program.
"The culture and the stuff that (Petersen) brings was a lot more like my high school career," he added. "The foundation of what we believe and so forth. So it was almost like I was back at home."
What followed for Constantine was four years of both elation and frustration. Of seeing the team soar to new heights, but also wishing he could stay healthy long enough to contribute more.
In his UW career, "the high is definitely the wins and how we've grown through the five years I've been here. My first year (of playing as a redshirt freshman) we were 8-6, and then to go 12-2 last year and make it to the playoffs, you can't ask for a better high than that.
"The lows have obviously been the injuries and then just kind of the (early) down years when you know you're better than that as a team, but you just can't get it together for some reason."
A communications major, Constantine will leave school at the end of the season and is not planning to continue playing football. If all goes as planned, the next chapter in his life will begin in the spring when he enrolls at Spokane Community College, taking classes to become a high-voltage lineman.
The program lasts 2½ months, he said, and upon completion he would likely begin an apprenticeship working on power lines. He could be on the job by the time the 2018 football season kicks off.
Constantine comes from a family where "it's all been blue-collar labor. And I've always really liked using my hands … especially when there's good money involved," he said. "I also like being outside and I enjoy the weather, so I guess that's where this came from."
Having played football for almost as long as he can remember, Constantine knows he can probably expect some longing pangs next fall.
"I think it will depend on how this season ends, what that'll be like," he said. "But I think it'll be good. I've played a long time. And at the end of this season I'll probably be ready to put up the pads and just start living life."
Being a college football player is never easy. There are the demands of practices and games, the long hours devoted to weight training and film study, and of course the extensive time commitments needed to pursue an academic degree.
But when a college player also has to overcome a series of injuries, what was challenging before suddenly becomes downright difficult.
Just ask University of Washington linebacker Sean Constantine, who has battled more than his share of physical setbacks in five seasons with the Huskies. Though other teammates have also been hurt over the years, among this year's UW seniors – all of them wrapping up their college careers in the Apple Cup vs. Washington State and then whatever postseason opportunity comes along – Constantine gets the prize for the most grievous medical history.
In addition to the mild bruises and sprains common to every player, Constantine tore the meniscus in his knee in 2014, missing much of his redshirt freshman season. He played all the next season, but then suffered a herniated disc in his back during spring workouts in 2016. He managed to return to the field to prepare for the fall season, only to suffer a season-ending broken ankle during a scrimmage shortly before last season began.
All his injuries needed surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. And all diminished what could have been an otherwise terrific college football career.
But to hear Constantine tell it, his career has still been pretty special. Disappointing at times, yes, but one that leaves him without bitterness or remorse.
And the 2017 season, his last as a college player, "has been fantastic," said Constantine, a 2013 graduate of Bellevue High School.
After all his earlier injuries, "I'm enjoying the hell out of (this season)," he said. "It's kind of been like a surreal feeling, being out there again, and with everybody working toward the same goal. But this year I get to be a part of it."
When the Huskies won the 2016 Pacific-12 Conference championship and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals in Atlanta against top-ranked Alabama, "I was there for it," he said. "I watched it, but it wasn't like I was part of it. But this year I'm out there with everyone and I'm doing well. It's been better than I could've ever wished for, to be honest with you."
Hearing the enthusiasm in Constantine's voice, it is hard not to wonder. Why has he not been beaten down by discouragement? Why does he not suffer through morose "Why me?" moments? And how has he been able to keep bouncing back, time after frustrating time?
"I love football," he said simply. "I enjoy the games and I enjoy practice. And since I had another opportunity to do that in my senior year, I'm fine."
This season, he went on, "I was going to be OK even if I didn't play at all. I didn't care what happened. I was just going to enjoy this season. I was going out with my brothers, the boys I've been with for five years, and that's what really sticks with me. More so than football, it's the people and the experiences I've had.
"I just wanted to have the experience of going out on a happy note and (enjoying) being with everyone," he said.
Constantine arrived at Washington as a highly recruited prep player and a prized recruit in the incoming class of 2013. Steve Sarkisian was the head coach then, but immediately after the season it was announced he was leaving Washington for the head coaching job at USC.
Also headed to Los Angeles with Sarkisian were defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox (today the head coach at California) and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon (now the defensive coordinator at Louisville).
For the players left behind, including Constantine, the departures were both shocking and unsettling.
"You think it's going to be a long relationship you have with these (coaches)," he said. "But then Sark left and all the defensive coaches left. Those were the guys that recruited me, so I kind of felt a little (misled)."
But whatever negative feelings he had disappeared "as soon as Coach Pete got here," he said.
Constantine clearly remembers the first time he crossed paths (albeit, from a distance) with Chris Petersen, who was hired as Washington's new head coach shortly after Sarkisian departed.
On Jan. 1, 2007, a young Constantine – he was in grade school at the time – witnessed one of the great games in college football history. He was at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., for the 2007 Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma, led by running back and future NFL star Adrian Peterson, and decided underdog Boise State, with Petersen the Broncos' first-year head coach.
In a truly memorable finish, Boise State got the game-tying touchdown in the waning seconds of regulation with a long fourth-down, hook-and-ladder pass play. Then, after Peterson put the Sooners ahead with a touchdown run in OT, Boise State countered with a TD and then won the game with a "Statue of Liberty" handoff and run for the winning two-point PAT.
The game later won the ESPY Award for the best game of the year in any sport, with Petersen accepting the trophy at the nationally-televised presentation ceremony.
"I was just a little kid, and that was like my first college football game ever," said Constantine, smiling at the memory. "So I'd been aware of Coach Pete and his success. And as soon as I knew he was coming here (to be Washington's new head coach) I was like, 'We're good!'
"Obviously you have some tensions at first, getting to know new coaches. It's not like everybody comes in shaking hands and smiling at you. But you're there for the same goal, the same reason, so at the end of the day you kind of push (the awkwardness) aside and buy into the program.
"The culture and the stuff that (Petersen) brings was a lot more like my high school career," he added. "The foundation of what we believe and so forth. So it was almost like I was back at home."
What followed for Constantine was four years of both elation and frustration. Of seeing the team soar to new heights, but also wishing he could stay healthy long enough to contribute more.
In his UW career, "the high is definitely the wins and how we've grown through the five years I've been here. My first year (of playing as a redshirt freshman) we were 8-6, and then to go 12-2 last year and make it to the playoffs, you can't ask for a better high than that.
"The lows have obviously been the injuries and then just kind of the (early) down years when you know you're better than that as a team, but you just can't get it together for some reason."
A communications major, Constantine will leave school at the end of the season and is not planning to continue playing football. If all goes as planned, the next chapter in his life will begin in the spring when he enrolls at Spokane Community College, taking classes to become a high-voltage lineman.
The program lasts 2½ months, he said, and upon completion he would likely begin an apprenticeship working on power lines. He could be on the job by the time the 2018 football season kicks off.
Constantine comes from a family where "it's all been blue-collar labor. And I've always really liked using my hands … especially when there's good money involved," he said. "I also like being outside and I enjoy the weather, so I guess that's where this came from."
Having played football for almost as long as he can remember, Constantine knows he can probably expect some longing pangs next fall.
"I think it will depend on how this season ends, what that'll be like," he said. "But I think it'll be good. I've played a long time. And at the end of this season I'll probably be ready to put up the pads and just start living life."
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