CONCORD, Calif. » Toughness. Conditioning. Being in the right place at the right time, all the time. Sacrifice for teammates.
Ask anyone who has coached him, and that’s what they’ll tell you about Justin Clapp, the University of Hawaii slot receiver for whom this is homecoming week in the Bay Area as the Warriors visit San Jose State on Friday.
Because those attributes are what his alma mater is all about, Clapp could be the poster boy for De La Salle High School football. That is, if this storied program about an hour’s drive north of San Jose, Calif., bothered with things like putting pictures of its players on walls and other forms of individual glorification.
Clapp could have abandoned the Spartans’ intense grind after his freshman year of high school and moved to Hawaii. But he stayed in California (living with the family of teammate Blake Wayne) when his father, Carl, became associate athletic director at UH. He says that decision to continue at De La Salle still benefits him today.
“You develop a work ethic there. I was in the best shape of my life because of the workout program. Everything’s about maximum effort and focus and playing for each other.”
Clapp, who has 22 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns, has started the last three games in place of the injured Miah Ostrowski. UH coaches say he’s earned splitting time with Ostrowski upon his return.
De La Salle’s legendary head coach Bob Ladouceur says he isn’t surprised with Clapp’s success, because of his propensity for hard work. But no one predicted three years ago that Clapp — who worked his way to a part-time starting role as a senior — would become a contributing receiver on a college team. In fact, De La Salle receivers coach Blake Tuffli said it was easy to count the number of Division I football scholarship offers Clapp received: “Absolutely none, that I was aware of.”
Yes, no one saw this coming … just like no one saw Clapp coming during what several De La Salle coaches including Ladouceur describe as one of the biggest hits in school history. The Spartans are known for The Streak, when they won 151 games in a row (including one against then-nationally ranked Saint Louis at Aloha Stadium) from 1992 to 2004. Clapp is known for what you could call The Block, a spectacular decleating of an opposing linebacker in 2008.
“He really blossomed as a ferocious blocker,” says Terry Eidson, who coached Clapp on special teams. “You could hear that hit for miles around.”
A spot on the kickoff coverage team is one of the most coveted positions at De La Salle and Clapp was considered indispensable to that unit.
“He wasn’t the fastest, but he was crazy,” Eidson says. Adds Tuffli: “He repeatedly threw himself on the fire.”
VISIT A midseason practice at this typical-looking school in this typical upper-middle class California neighborhood and you come away with how the most remarkable aspect of De La Salle is how unremarkable it appears. No flash, no flair — by design. The T-shirt on one of the handful of practice visitors reads: SWEAT STRENGTH TRADITION. It’s the closest thing to braggadocio anywhere on campus.
Understatement blares in everything about De La Salle, from the players’ short hair (not by written rule) to the lack of single digits on their uniforms. And that is part of what makes the program, which has won the unofficial California state championship three of the past four years — as great as it is.
OK, time for the reality check. Yes, De La Salle is not bereft of talent. It has produced around a dozen NFL players. But players like Clapp are as emblematic of the program, if not more, than the Maurice Jones-Drews and Amani Toomers.
And because you know what De La Salle is about, you can actually believe Clapp when he says: “Honestly, I don’t care if I get the ball thrown to me. I just want to do what I can to help the team.”
That attitude is needed for success in UH’s run-and-shoot. Receivers are often labeled as egoists and individuals. But not in the Warriors offense, where they must work as hard to get each other open as themselves by making correct reads and running every route as if they are the primary receiver.
“You can’t be selfish and expect this to work,” says Hawaii receivers coach and run-and-shoot guru Mouse Davis. “We got that from the get-go that (Clapp) could play in this and be a helper because of the kind of kid he is. He came in with the attributes of being unselfish, a bright kid who works hard. He has those attributes in large doses.”
Attributes honed at the famous, but low-key home of the Spartans here in Concord, Calif., where Justin Clapp was known more for blocking linebackers and blowing up return guys than catching passes.
