When Paul Eatman decided to attend Morgan State University in Baltimore on a football grant-in-aid package four years ago, he didn’t know what to expect.
After all, the Bears didn’t exactly have a ton of success on the gridiron in recent years and Eatman had experienced success at Hudson Catholic, playing a huge role in the Hawks’ team that played for the NJSIAA Group 2 state championship at Rutgers in 2009.
“I thought I had a chance to play and do well at Morgan State,” Eatman said.
Eatman bided his time, waiting for a chance to play regularly with the Bears. He had to learn a new position, because he was asked to play defensive back in college, when he was strictly a linebacker at Hudson Catholic.
Eatman also had to endure a tough shoulder injury, suffering a torn labrum last year.
“I couldn’t work out with the team in the spring,” Eatman said. “It set me back a little. There was no guarantee I would get playing time. I had to work my way up the depth chart.”
When practice began for the coming season, Eatman found himself listed as the No. 3 option at strong safety.
“That definitely motivated me,” Eatman said. “This was my senior year and I had to work hard to get back. No one was going to give me anything.”
Before Morgan State was set to kick off their 2014 season against NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan in August, first-year Morgan State head coach Lee Hull approached his senior defensive back and told Eatman of his plans.
“Coach came to me and told me that they devised a special package for me to be on the field,” Eatman said. “I knew I wasn’t going to let him down. He was a new coach coming in and had his ideas. It was a new regime coming in. It was a big change and the players responded.”
The change especially fit Eatman, the Jersey City native, who liked his new role as a hybrid between being a strong safety and linebacker.
“I had a big chance to do some big things,” Eatman said. “I just took it from there.”
Eatman thrived at the new position. He made 95 tackles, second on the team, with highs of 12 against nationally ranked Villanova and tough Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foe Bowie State.
Eatman also made nine tackles in a game against Howard that was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, a homecoming of sorts for Eatman, who got the chance to play in front of his family and friends for the first time.
“It felt great,” Eatman said. “There were also a lot of friends watching on TV. I felt like I was playing at Hudson Catholic again, only on a bigger stage. There must have been 50 people there for me at the game. It was great to see so many people in my family there. They look up to me. They’ve been my motivation to keep going. I never give up because of them.”
The Bears went on to win seven games and won the MEAC championship for the first time in 35 years.
Morgan State also went on to the NCAA Tournament for the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA), where the Bears faced Richmond, but lost, 46-24. Eatman had six tackles and two pass breakups in his final collegiate game last Saturday.
“I definitely could not have asked for a better senior season,” Eatman said. “We won the league championship and went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. I’m thankful to get that opportunity.”
Eatman will graduate from Morgan State in May with a degree in sociology.
“I hope to work with kids,” said Eatman, who plans to return to his native Jersey City after graduating. “I hope to work in a hospital or in a facility. I want to come back home and help to give others the chance that I had. Coming from Jersey City, you wouldn’t think it was possible for me to go to college, get a degree, play football and come home. I just had to work a little harder than most. That’s what humbles me. I did get a chance and I made it. I think it shows me that throughout life, football helped me become a man.”
It’s good to report a heartfelt good story about a kid who made the most of his opportunity. For that, Paul Eatman deserves to be commended…
Two Hudson County products returned to the area recently as players in the NBA.
First, former St. Anthony product and North Bergen native Kyle Anderson came to Brooklyn as a member of the San Antonio Spurs as they faced the Nets.
At that time, Anderson, the Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick out of UCLA, was not seeing much action, so he was just trying to soak up the experience of being on the defending NBA champions’ roster.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” Anderson said prior to the Nets-Spurs game at the Barclays Center Dec. 3. “On the court, off the court, I’ve been learning so much, watching and playing with Hall of Famers like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. It makes it easier being on a team with guys like that. I have to make sure I pay attention. I try to take in a lot. I am a student of the game and a fan.”
Anderson said that he received no guarantees about playing time.
“I don’t have any expectations,” Anderson said. “I just have to work hard and keep learning. We don’t practice much, so I have to make the most of the time I get.”
At that time, legendary Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was asked about Anderson’s development.
“Well, he’s played about a minute and a half, so I can’t determine his development,” Popovich bluntly said. “And I don’t watch much of practice.”
Fair enough.
But in the past week, Anderson has seen his playing time increase considerably. He got a start against the Knicks and scored nine points and had five rebounds. Last Monday, Anderson had a career best 15 points on 6-of-7 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Over the month of December, Anderson is averaging 5.5 points and four rebounds. Needless to say, the local boy is now making his mark…
A week later, former St. Peter’s Prep player and Bayonne native Ronald Roberts received the call from the Philadelphia 76ers that he was being recalled from the Sixers’ NBDL Developmental League team in Delaware to the main club.
Roberts, a former standout at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, was in Delaware when he received word. He drove from Delaware to Brooklyn that day to join the Sixers.
“I called my agent, packed up all my stuff and headed off,” Roberts said. “I got here [the Barclays Center] at 4:30. It was a quick turnaround. I had a chance to call my Mom and Dad, but word got out and my phone was going crazy with text messages.”
With that, Roberts was indeed an NBA player. He had attended training camp with the Sixers, but was among the team’s last cuts and was shipped to the D-League.
But as of last week, Roberts was in the NBA.
“It’s a big opportunity for me, being in Philly, close to home,” Roberts said. “I’ll get a chance to work on my skills and listen to my coaches. I have to stay patient and hope for my chance to play. I was determined to get back after I was released. I knew if I went back to the D-League and played hard, I’d get a chance.”
Roberts averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds per game in eight games for Delaware.
“It’s crazy how things have happened,” said Roberts, who became the first Bayonne native to play in the NBA since Danny O’Sullivan from 1991 through 1996. “It all happened so quickly. I’m just going to try to help the team win.”
Roberts was asked what it meant to be from Bayonne, then going to the NBA.
“Bayonne is such a small town,” Roberts said. “I know a lot of guys who can’t make it out of Bayonne. But any kid who plays basketball or does anything, this is proof that anything is possible. Self motivation is the key.”
Roberts also gave credit to St. Peter’s Prep, where he transferred to after his sophomore year.
“Going to Prep changed my life,” Roberts said. “It’s a great school, both athletically and academically. I’ve met a lot of great people because of my days at Prep, people who are now lifelong friends.”
Roberts doesn’t know what the future holds.
“I just know I control where I go now,” Roberts said. “I hope to make some shots, hustle, play as hard as I can and show what I can do. That’s all I can do.”
It’s hard to remember the last time Hudson County had two representatives in the NBA at the same time…
The winter sports seasons tip off this weekend. Make sure to secure a copy of The Hudson Reporter next week for the annual Top 10 Sports Stories of the Year for 2014. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.