Rich Linden

At the end of his sophomore year, Rich Linden had the Harvard football world in the palm of his hand. He had just led the Crimson to an undefeated season and an Ivy League title, and the young quarterback seemed well on his way to rewriting most of Harvard's record books.

But disaster was looming right around the corner. Linden struggled mightily in 1998 while leading the team to a 4-6 (3-4 Ivy) record, and his classmate Brad Wilford emerged mid-season as a surprisingly viable contender for Linden's starting spot.

And at the end of this fall's practices, Wilford finally scored his coup d'etat, snatching Linden's three-year old starting job out from under his feet. Since then, Rich Linden has seen little meaningful action beyond holding Head Coach Tim Murphy's clipboard on the sidelines.

Ask Linden about his relationship with Wilford, and he won't skip a beat. He'll look you straight in the eye with a glint of genuineness that almost makes you ashamed to have asked the question. Then he cracks a smile and assures you--there is absolutely no animosity between he and Wilford.

Surprised? Since Wilford's christening as starter, Linden has only seen about ten minutes of meaningful action.

True, Linden was brought in to relieve a struggling Wilford in the second quarter of last weekend's 21-17 loss to Penn. But he struggled too, going 4-of-7 for 71 yards and throwing an interception in the end zone. As a result, he found himself holding the clipboard again when the team came out for the second half.

And when Wilford was receiving stitches in his forehead during the Dartmouth game, Linden came in for a series and threw a touchdown pass. But Wilford returned, stitches and all, and Linden was again relegated to a mop-up role in the fourth quarter. Throw in a quick series in the season opener against Columbia, and you find a shockingly paltry season for the senior quarterback that led Harvard to a league title in 1997.

Linden insists, however, that he's not upset or bitter about Murphy's decision.

"If the worst thing that ever happens to me is that I was a backup quarterback my senior year in college, I'll hopefully have a pretty charmed life," he says.

Aren't things between him and Brad even a little bit awkward? He laughs, and says he's even comfortable enough to crack jokes with Wilford about his demotion.

"We've spent so much time together that you really can't help but be professional about it. Just from the sheer nature of the time we've spent together, we kind of joke about it now."

But speak some more with Rich Linden and his optimistic tone will change. You'll start to hear a quarterback that has questioned his abilities. He says he's upset that the coaches haven't lived up to their promise of significant playing time. Ask him what his benching has done to his memories of Harvard football, and you'll hear this:

"I guess I'll remember it as more of a character building thing than I probably would've says after my first two years. I think everyone always talks about the things you learn from team sports--discipline, balancing your time, teamwork, working with groups. But I think one of the lessons I've learned is that you really can't control everything. People say that as a cliche, but in reality it's sometimes hard to understand."

And as you're finishing the conversation, ask Rich if there's anything he feels you haven't covered. He seizes the opportunity.

"In terms of remembering things, I'll remember how much my teammates picked me up this year. In the week or two immediately preceding the decision that I was going to be the back-up this year, there were definitely some trying moments in there. Just the way that guys that I never really considered close friends on the team came up to me and says some very nice things, it really picked me up. From that moment on I never walked around with my head down."

"It had to be very tough on him"

They're two quarterbacks whose styles are about as similar as grapefruits and pineapples.

Wilford has always been regarded as the one with the stronger arm. Give him time to stand in the pocket and find an open man downfield, his teammates thought, and Brad Wilford will put the ball where it needs to be. But for the past three years, those same teammates that praised his arm also questioned Wilford's brains. If Brad could only just display a head like Rich's, they used to say privately, he could challenge Linden for the starting job.

Linden, on the other hand, was always known as the one that could made huge plays happen. When the pocket broke down and there were no open receivers, Linden could scramble across the field and pick up a scrap of positive yardage. Sometimes he may have tried a little too hard--no one will ever forget his heartbreaking fumble that set Yale up for the game-winning field goal in The Game last year--but he was never faulted for his agility and athleticism.

It was Linden who became the first freshman to start at quarterback in the history of Harvard football. It was Linden who brought the team an undefeated season and an Ivy League title in 1997. And it was Linden who entered his senior season a mere 207 yards away from Harvard's career yardage record.

But last year's numbers were too much for Murphy to ignore. Linden threw eight interceptions and only three touchdowns while leading Harvard to a disappointing 4-6 (3-4 Ivy) finish. Wilford played well in spring ball, and finally displayed some of the focus and mental toughness that had set him apart from Linden all those years.

Murphy encouraged Wilford to challenge Linden, telling him privately that he had the tools to take the starting spot. And Linden was well aware that Brad was breathing down his neck for the job.

Neither quarterback says they were particularly surprised when Murphy called them into his office after the team's scrimmage against Southern Connecticut in late August. He broke the news to both quarterbacks at the same time. Linden took the news professionally, but he was clearly shaken.

"I certainly was disappointed," says Linden, "but I wasn't blown away."

It was not a surprising decision for anyone. Wilford, after all, had the hot hand. And the easiest way for Murphy to show the world that last year was a fluke would be to replace the struggling helmsman with the up-and-coming new face. Wilford, while obviously ecstatic at his opportunity to start, says he felt sorry for his good friend Linden.

"Rich is a very competitive guy. He was definitely upset," he says. "It had to be very tough on him."

"It's like living in a dream"

Unless something wild happens this week, Wilford will be the one to lead the charges against Yale the final game of his career this Saturday in New Haven. Linden will watch from the sidelines as he always does--helmet on his head, football tucked under his arm, and close to Murphy's side. With Harvard mathematically eliminated from the title hunt, it's probable that Rich Linden will graduate without any meaningful football memories from his senior year.

But don't think for a second that this man does not have a treasure-trove of memories from his first three years. He can recall every detail of his first start--replacing the injured Jay Snowden '96 against Holy Cross in 1996--even right down to the wind speed at Fitton Field.

"I've never felt more on top of the world than that weekend," he says with a wistful smile. He was an impressive 12-of-22 for 175 yards and two touchdowns that weekend, giving Harvard a tight 28-25 victory.

From there, his memories zoom forward to 1997--the undefeated season. Linden set the school record for total offense in a season with 2,308 yards. He notched five consecutive 200-yard games, including a career-high 272 yards against Holy Cross. The most memorable game of his career, he says, was the title-clinching victory against Penn.

"The game was highly touted as the two top teams in the league going head to head, and we just pounded them," he says. "The game was over midway through the third quarter." Harvard won that game, and clinched the title too, by a score of 33-0.

But when forced to recall his memories come of 1998, his smile drops. What happened? How can a team go from a league champion one year to a league doormat the next?

"Everyone that knows anything about football knows there's a million things that can affect it," says Linden. "I myself did not have as good a season my junior year as I did my sophomore year. I don't know if [senior tailback] Chris Menick had quite the season [in 1998] that he did [in 1997]."

With all the struggles, the heartaches, the demotion and the frustration--if he could do it all over again, would Rich Linden do anything differently?

"I don't know if I can really answer that," he says hesitantly. Besides a couple of throws here and there, Linden says he has no regrets about his Harvard football career. Even the fumble against Yale? He smiles.

"I take a lot of heat from the press and alums and stuff that I shouldn't have tried to make that play. But if I had to do it over again, I would still try to pick up that first down and still try to run that kid over. When you play quarterback you don't know how quickly you can go from being the hero to the goat. You just can't second guess yourself like that."

He admits that he has a little extra desire to take down the Elis and "get a little bit of revenge" for last year's disappointment, which he called the most frustrating loss of his career.

But whether or not Harvard pulls out the victory, and whether or not

Linden sees any playing time in New Haven, he deserves to be remembered as one of the most important contributors to this senior class. And despite his struggles and setbacks on the field, he still feels proudest when referring to himself as a "true student-athlete."

"Sometimes you just kind of pinch yourself when you walk around here," he says. "It's like living a dream, that we get a chance to go to Harvard. I would not trade my experiences at Harvard for anything."