I've written quite a bit lately about the youth on this team, and any time you take a team with so many freshmen on a trip like this, there are going to be a few who will be flying for the first time. Head coach Paul Haynes revealed that at least one first-year player will be trying to calm his fears as he boards the flight at Akron-Canton Airport tomorrow afternoon.
I'll be blogging tomorrow and Saturday, posting photos and hopefully some video to give fans a glimpse of what goes into a trip like this. Hopefully that will include an interview or two with some first-time flyers.
Whenever I think of the fear of flying, former KSU star James Harrison always comes to mind. I know I wrote about this on my blog back when I was a reporter for the Record-Courier, but I know the story will be new to some of you. I told the story earlier today on the Paul Haynes Show while we were recording it for iHeart Radio and WHLO 640 AM in the Kent State Student Center, and it was surprisingly new to host Ty Linder.
Harrison was always terrified of flying. He was so adamant that he would not board a plane, that former KSU head coach Dean Pees finally relented and allowed Harrison to hitch a ride with his family whenever the Flashes flew to a game – like the 2001 season opener at Iowa.
After Harrison graduated in 2002, that fear had to be conquered if he was going to play professionally. It's a simple fact – NFL teams fly to their away games.
I remember bumping into Harrison on campus one day in 2003 and he told me he had reluctantly agreed to take a few practice flights to get used to the experience. Pees booked him on a string of flights back and forth to Baltimore. Back then it was something like $49 each way. As Pees told the story at the time, Harrison shook the seat in front of him so hard during the first flight that he was worried he would knock out the woman sitting in it.
The thought at the time was that Harrison would have to play in NFL Europe to open the eyes of pro scouts. He eventually found the courage to cross the ocean for a season with the Rhein Fire in 2004, and that led to his shot in the NFL.
Even after several seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Harrison apparently never quite rid himself of the fear. As Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazetter wrote in 2009, Harrison refused to visit the White House after the Steelers Super Bowl Victory that year because it meant one more flight.
I was never afraid to fly, probably because I started making regular trips to Europe with my family to visit relatives in Italy when I was about 5 years old. My dad was petrified on those flights, however, and he was an Air Force veteran who served during World War II. He had been on the ground crew during the war, however, as well as a drummer in the Air Force band. Like many kids, I always thought of my dad as invincible in everyday life, so I was always shocked to see him turn white as a ghost before takeoff. But looking back now, if one of the most imposing defensive players in the NFL over the last decade could be afraid to fly, I guess my dad could be excused.
Anyway ... check back tomorrow for photos, videos and more from the trip to Virginia and the late-afternoon walkthrough at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. I'll be back again on game day with a live blog and a preview.
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