Should he stay or should he go
Bethel University’s Andrew Dzurik is a senior transfer student who plays on the football team. Despite trials and differences, he remains a leader on and off the field, but is unsure about his fate for next football season.
By Rachel Olson| Royal Report
Andrew Dzurik walks past the long line of rush hour at Royal Grounds when an offensive lineman on the football team yells, “Hey dad!” Dzurik looks back with a closed mouth smile and waves. He doesn’t know how he got that nickname, but it’s one that stuck because most of the football team calls him that now. He is older among the seniors, but not too old. Yet, he is a quarterback on the team, a designated leader position.
Dzurik transferred to Bethel in 2014, after attending Lafayette College for two years, in hopes of a dissimilar atmosphere than what he had before. He was longing for a community like Bethel, so when he found it he knew it was time to transfer.
“I was hoping to start. It could be my team — I know I had to prove myself a little bit, but they already kinda knew me.” — Andrew Dzurik, senior quarterback
He came into the program knowing there was already a MIAC all conference starting quarterback, and so he willingly took the backup role on the sidelines. But come fall of 2015, that quarterback would be gone — and the position would be his.
“I was hoping to start,” Dzurik said. “It could be my team. I know I had to prove myself a little bit, but they already kinda knew me.”
When Dzurik came into the beginning of camp there were five quarterbacks. Five slowly dwindled to four. Then down to two players. And finally, just days before the first game, the coaches called Dzurik to their offices and gave him the start in their week one matchup against University of Wisconsin-Stout.
“They said I was their guy. They didn’t really specify just for this game,” Dzurik said.
Bethel beat UW-Stout for their first game of the season. Dzurik got the win along with four touchdown passes, and everything was in order for him.
“The game went good. We won. Then, the next game I started versus Wartburg, and I got hurt, which sucked,” Dzurik said.
Dzurik ended up separating his acromioclavicular (AC) joint and was out for the next game versus St. Olaf College. With the starter out, the coaches called upon the freshman quarterback, Trey Anderson, who got the nod to start.
Dzurik was benched. He faced the fact that an 18 year-old freshman took over his spot and had to deal with taking the bench role yet again.
“I came back from St.Olaf, and they thought that he (Anderson) was best going forward — that he play,” Dzurik said.
Coaches did not want to comment on the switching of quarterbacks.
“When things weren’t going his way, he never seemed down. He was more encouraging after,” Anderson said. “It really showed his true character.”
Anderson started the next seven games and took the role over as a freshman and starter for team, but that did not affect Dzurik’s attitude. Close friend and teammate Drew Neuville worked almost every day with the quarterbacks, since his position is catching the passes from the quarterbacks. He, along with the rest of the team, noticed Dzurik keeping his head up in the face of adversity.
“At practice he (Dzurik) looked phenomenal, and I think that Trey saw that. And he had to work harder. They had competition going — I think that really helped Trey: not only the competition, but to see a guy who lost his spot and still go hard in practice and still lead the team,” tight end Drew Neuville said.
Dzurik showed he was a leader on and off of the field. Many on the football team took note, as did fans watching him play.
“Dad was able to lead even though he wasn’t a starter. It takes a special kind of man to do that,” freshman long snapper Robbie Olson said.
The second to last game of the season, against St. John’s College, Dzurik finally set foot on the field again. Anderson was injured. He tore his ACL and was deemed out for the rest of the season. With one game left in the season, the coaches agreed that Dzurik would play the final game versus Augsburg in what could be the last game of his football career.
The game ended in a loss. Following the game, Dzurik and his dad embraced with a hug, with the realization that it might been the end of his football career.
Since Dzurik transferred from a division I AA athletic school and did not play his first year, he may have a year of eligibility left, even though he could graduate in the spring. Does he graduate, or does he stay for one more season?
“A person has their next forty years to work — you can only do this one time in your life.” — Jimmy Miller, assistant coach
Bethel’s tuition is not a small fee to pay, but more memories of joking around with the team in the locker room are priceless.
“A person has their next forty years to work — you can only do this one time in your life,” assistant coach Jimmy Miller said.
Dzurik’s decision is going to be a difficult call to make.
So-called “Dad,” who tells not-funny jokes and laughs at them, wears plaid pajama pants, drinks coffee at 9 p.m. and wears slippers around the house, “has a very adult decision to make for his future. To play football or be in the ‘real world,’” Neuville explained.
