One Last Chance to Make Dreams Come True : Esene and Pettitt, After Missing Last Year, Try Comeback for SDSU Football

SAN DIEGO —  Together, they were going the be the linemen that made San Diego State’s defense tick in 1985.

Levi Esene had been an all-Western Athletic Conference second-team pick in 1984. Duane Pettitt, who was suspended in 1984, was considered Esene’s equal by SDSU coaches.

But before they could cause other teams problems, the linemen suffered their own.

Esene suffered a dislocated elbow in the second game against UCLA. Though the original prognosis was that he would miss three weeks, he never returned.

Pettitt suffered a broken leg in preseason practice. He never returned, either.

Their hearts--and their seasons--were broken.

But now, each player is back for his senior season in 1986.

Esene is a starting defensive tackle. As fate would have it, Pettitt is Esene’s backup.

Together, they hope to fill a gap created by their absence in 1985, when SDSU allowed an average of 26.4 points a game.

From the time Esene began playing football in seventh grade, he had never missed a game because of injury.

His streak would end because of a play on the second series of last year’s UCLA game. Esene, at the bottom of the pile after a tackle, couldn’t get up immediately because of elbow pain.

The next day, SDSU announced that Esene would probably miss three weeks. Three weeks turned into an entire season.

“It was pretty hard to take because it was the first time I was ever away from playing football,” Esene said. “I took it really hard. I felt like everything had gone down the tube. It was hard for me to watch my team play because I wanted to play. That’s why I tried to recover and play.”

Three weeks after the injury, Esene attempted a return. He practiced wearing an elbow brace that made him feel like a “one-armed bandit.”

The first time Esene took a blow on the elbow in practice, it hurt. He knew it wasn’t time to return.

“I’ve always been sort of a hardhead,” Esene said. “I guess by being competitive, I wanted to come back rather than baby myself. Now, I’m glad I didn’t play. If I would have played, things probably would have gotten worse. If I played with an elbow that bad, I probably would’ve hurt myself and taken longer to improve (physically).” Four weeks after the UCLA game, Esene had another trying moment.

Before the Aztecs played Utah, Esene visited teammates in the locker room. He saw an extra jersey hanging in a locker and contemplated dressing out for the game.

Fortunately, he knew better.

“Something in my mind told me I should put that uniform on and not let the coaches know about it until I got on the field,” Esene said. “I stopped myself. I thought it wouldn’t be right to go out there without anybody knowing about it.”

Two weeks after the Utah game, SDSU coaches finally decided to redshirt Esene.

In retrospect, Esene sees some positives from last year. He concentrated more on his studies, and he expects to graduate next spring as a physical education major.

“I’d say last year was my lowest year,” Esene said. “I was very depressed. It was sort of a lesson to me, too. There’s more to life than football. If I get hurt, at least I have an education to fall back on.”

With the Aztecs’ season opener 2 1/2 weeks away, Esene considers himself only 85% fit. Whereas he was bench pressing 505 pounds last year, he now bench-presses 405. The difference, he said, is in a weakened elbow.

There has been another adjustment. SDSU has a new coaching staff in 1986.

“To be honest with you, Levi was hard to convert to the system the first week and a half of spring practice,” said Dale Henry, a graduate assistant line coach. “Once he got into the fold, the rest of the troops followed. He has that personality where people want to be around him. He’s very open and cheerful. If you’re around him five minutes, you feel good the rest of the day.”

Pettitt was raised in the secluded town of Tehachapi, located one-hour northeast of Bakersfield in the foothills of the Sierras.

The town didn’t have any movie theaters or shopping malls. Kids had to create their own entertainment.

Pettitt recalls getting into fights or performing an act called “cow tipping” to pass the time. Cow tipping occurred on nights when the moon wasn’t shining. Kids would go out and push cattle over, then run like heck before the owner caught them.

Unfortunately, some of Pettitt’s cow-tipping days carried over to SDSU.

He was planning on starting as a sophomore in 1984. But he intentionally kicked a teammate he thought took a cheap shot in practice, and he was suspended for the season.

Pettitt said he learned a lesson, returning with a new attitude in 1985. Then came his broken leg two weeks before the season.

Since Pettitt already had been a freshman redshirt in 1982, it meant he never played in his sophomore and junior years of eligibility. He was a reserve defensive lineman in 1983.

“The hardest thing I went through was in 1984,” he said. “It was worse than having a broken leg. I went to a couple of games that year and saw people who had been playing behind me getting honors. Plus, people on campus were asking why I wasn’t playing football. I had to go through the whole drawn-out thing. At least when people see you on crutches, they say it’s a shame.”

The broken leg was severe, requiring pins and plenty of physical therapy.

Mentally, it was no picnic, either. Pettitt began to doubt his athletic ability.

At the outset of spring practice this year, he was hesitant on the field. There was always that question of how the leg would respond.

“When spring practice began, I don’t think he was 100%,” Henry said. “He was probably 85% physically and 50% mentally. As practice progressed, he got more confident and felt better. In our third scrimmage, we had a play where he had to plant on his bad leg and change directions. When he did it, I think he convinced himself he was healed.”

However, Pettitt still couldn’t convince himself that he was the same aggressive guy who once tipped over cattle for the fun of it.

“I could see a change in my self-image,” Pettitt said. “Someone would confront me, and I’d back down. Now, I’m back to my old personality. I want to go head-to-head with somebody.”

Pettitt said his years on Montezuma Mesa taught him to live with adversity.

Now, he thinks it’s time to create adversities for the opposition.

“I consider myself a tough player,” Pettitt said. “Now, I have to concentrate and try harder than people who have played here three or four years. I have a lot to prove to myself and the new coaching staff. The fact I could’ve been a starter here before doesn’t matter now.”

What matters to Esene and Pettitt is that they are at least getting the opportunity to play football again.

Aztec Notes

Dennis Shaw will be the color commentator for SDSU football games this year on KSDO (1130) radio. The Aztecs had a 20-0-1 record when Shaw was their quarterback in 1968-69. He is second on SDSU’s all-time total offense and passing yardage lists, and he is fifth in pass completions and pass completion percentage. He was the top draft choice of the Buffalo Bills in 1970, when he was named AFC Rookie of the Year. Ron Reina will again handle the play-by-play. The Aztecs open their season Sept. 6 at home against Cal State Long Beach. . . . SDSU coaches have decided that freshman Demetrius Bell of Morse High School will be a defensive lineman. Bell, the City Eastern League’s defensive player of the year in 1985, played offense and defense for Morse.