The football team’s 28-27 season-ending victory against UNC last Nov. 28 marked the last time fans will see the team’s seniors in action at Carter-Finley Stadium. While many of the Wolfpack players responsible for that victory have since turned their attention toward life after football, running back Toney Baker and center Ted Larsen have spent the months since the conclusion of their college career preparing for Thursday’s NFL Draft.
Baker decided in January that five years with the Pack were enough, forgoing the potential sixth year of eligibility the NCAA had decided to grant him after injuries sidelined him for all of 2007 and 2008. His return to the gridiron for his fifth and final year saw him at his statistical best, as he set or tied new season highs in 2009 with 773 yards and six touchdowns on the ground and 355 yards on 28 receptions. Those numbers also were among the best in the ACC, as Baker finished sixth in the conference with 64.4 yards per game rushing and ninth in touchdowns with nine, six rushing and three receiving.
For his efforts, the ACC awarded him with the 2009 Brian Piccolo Award, which has gone to the ACC’s “most courageous” player each year since 1972. The award is named for the late Piccolo, who died of cancer after being named the ACC’s Athlete of the Year in 1965 before moving on to play for the Chicago Bears. Baker said he remained confident in his abilities and potential to continue to play at a high level throughout his two year hiatus.
“I expected to be here, to be honest, because I have the tools to be here,” Baker said. “As far as the injury, I took a blow, and it took two years to come back from because it was not the type of injury that takes one year, so I just had to give it time. But once I healed up, I had a pretty good year and it was time for me to go.”
Though two seasons spent healing from an injury make Baker a running back some scouts will have reservations about, he said he has a lot to offer to whichever team may draft him, regardless of the offense they run.
“I have all the tools needed to be a good NFL running back,” Baker said. “I have leverage. I run low to the ground and I have tremendous power, a good burst, speed, and good hands out of the backfield. I am a pretty all-around back, but definitely for teams that need a big, strong inside runner, I would be able to fill their needs. Some teams just need a bruiser, period. Some struggle on third and short or in the red zone, and I can fill all those phases.”
Larsen is generally a little less well-known among Pack fans, but he, like Baker, has also spent the past few months in preparation for a professional career he hopes will start with Thursday’s draft. Larsen was one of 14 ACC seniors who participated in the 2010 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. He said playing against and alongside the nation’s best was a great opportunity, one he felt like he took full advantage of.
“To play with those guys, not only was it a good test, it was a good experience to work with four other offensive linemen that are extremely good players,” Larsen said. “It was definitely a good taste of what it will be like at the next level. The difference between that and at N.C. State is that every drill, everything you do is a competition. It’s a battle, so you win some and you lose some. But I definitely won more than not and that was definitely the goal.”
The Senior Bowl annually attracts the top players in the nation, as nine participants in the 2009 game were first round draft picks.
“You look at the players that have been there in the past, not just from State, but throughout the nation, and it’s a big honor,” Larsen said.
Larsen said he has also spent the months since his last game with the Pack preparing for the nature of NFL offensive lines, where versatility is vital.
“To play offensive line in the NFL, you have to be a multi-position guy and when I was down in Mobile, I played right and left guard,” Larsen said. “In the NFL, they only travel with six or seven offensive linemen, which means that you have to be able to play multiple positions. I would be willing to do that, and I feel like I have the size and athleticism to do it. I am going in as a center, but I am probably going to play a little bit of guard.”
Regardless of which position he ends up playing as a professional, Larsen said he is ecstatic about the chance to represent his school as a professional football player.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity,” Larsen said. “It would be awesome because when I first got here, there were a ton of guys that got drafted that I had played with, and the opportunity to join that even more elite fraternity of guys from State that have played in the league, I am very excited about that.”
