thedrifter
08-30-05, 06:44 AM
Ex-Marine revels in Gator uniform
By Dave Curtis
Gainesville Bureau
August 30, 2005
GAINESVILLE · Cam Brewer peppers fellow Florida wide receivers all day with questions. He learns about route-running and one-on-one blocking and special-teams roles.
At night Brewer answers the questions. Teammates ask about his experiences from 1998 through 2004, a life outside football they find intriguing and inspiring.
They ask how football compares to Marine Corps basic training. They ask about serving on a security detail.
They ask the horrors in Afghanistan and Iraq, what it's like to be a soldier during a war.
"Every day I get something," Brewer said. "I've got my experiences and first-hand accounts of what's going on. They mostly want to know if a combat zone is like a football field."
Brewer, 25, a Gainesville native, is a freshman. A walk-on wide receiver, he has practiced with the Gators since spring.
He's here because as a 5-foot-6, 130-pound senior at P.K. Yonge High eight years ago, no colleges recruited him. So he enlisted in the Marines.
In 2001, he was selected for the elite Marine Security Guard training school. The MSG is responsible for overseas embassy protection and security details for visiting U.S. dignitaries.
Brewer graduated from the program Sept. 14, 2001, and the importance of guarding those embassies and government officials, all terrorist targets, kept him from being assigned to combat duty.
Although he has several friends on the front lines, he never visited the Middle East and never faced enemy fire.
He spent almost three years in India and Italy, rising to the rank of corporal as he protected the likes of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and, three times, President Bush.
"It's a weird feeling when they tell you the president of the United States is coming and his life is in your hands," Brewer says. "It's a little bit different than `Go catch this football.'"
For two decades, though, that's all Brewer ever hoped he'd hear. Raised a die-hard Gators fan, he never missed a home game and even made some road trips with his father, Tom.
In 1993, Tom Brewer died of complications from heart disease. He was 40, Cam was 13 and the boy's motivation never was the same.
"His dad got him started in football," said Cam's mother, Melanie Wise. "He's always wanted to make his dad proud, even if his dad isn't here.
"And he's always wanted to be a Gator."
That quest started when Brewer enrolled at P.K. Yonge. During his junior season in 1996, the football team went 0-10, but his work habits prompted teammates to select him as a co-captain for his senior season.
As a senior, he helped Yonge win the district championship.
When he went overseas with the Marines, he followed the Gators on the Internet and through delayed TV broadcasts. Back in Florida on leave, he'd fall asleep watching tapes of his high school teams, still dreaming of a football career.
This fall, the dream comes true.
Brewer is 5 feet 7 and 165 pounds now. His attitude and speed had impressed coaches.
Receivers coach Billy Gonzales said Brewer will work with the scout team and could play on punt and kickoff teams.
"He's a tough guy," Gonzales said. "He's committed to the program, helping any way he can."
Brewer said he knows the reality, that he won't play much, but it won't jolt any of the joy from Sept 3 at Florida Field, when the Gators open against Wyoming.
His twin sister, Christie, and their mother will be in the stands. Brewer hopes to burst from the tunnel, Gators No. 88, and stand on the sideline at the Swamp.
Brewer, always a Marine, also will be a UF football player.
"There's tremendous camaraderie in the Marines," he said. "You had your brother next to you. That's what I tell the guys. That's what I want it to be like for me here."
Ellie
By Dave Curtis
Gainesville Bureau
August 30, 2005
GAINESVILLE · Cam Brewer peppers fellow Florida wide receivers all day with questions. He learns about route-running and one-on-one blocking and special-teams roles.
At night Brewer answers the questions. Teammates ask about his experiences from 1998 through 2004, a life outside football they find intriguing and inspiring.
They ask how football compares to Marine Corps basic training. They ask about serving on a security detail.
They ask the horrors in Afghanistan and Iraq, what it's like to be a soldier during a war.
"Every day I get something," Brewer said. "I've got my experiences and first-hand accounts of what's going on. They mostly want to know if a combat zone is like a football field."
Brewer, 25, a Gainesville native, is a freshman. A walk-on wide receiver, he has practiced with the Gators since spring.
He's here because as a 5-foot-6, 130-pound senior at P.K. Yonge High eight years ago, no colleges recruited him. So he enlisted in the Marines.
In 2001, he was selected for the elite Marine Security Guard training school. The MSG is responsible for overseas embassy protection and security details for visiting U.S. dignitaries.
Brewer graduated from the program Sept. 14, 2001, and the importance of guarding those embassies and government officials, all terrorist targets, kept him from being assigned to combat duty.
Although he has several friends on the front lines, he never visited the Middle East and never faced enemy fire.
He spent almost three years in India and Italy, rising to the rank of corporal as he protected the likes of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and, three times, President Bush.
"It's a weird feeling when they tell you the president of the United States is coming and his life is in your hands," Brewer says. "It's a little bit different than `Go catch this football.'"
For two decades, though, that's all Brewer ever hoped he'd hear. Raised a die-hard Gators fan, he never missed a home game and even made some road trips with his father, Tom.
In 1993, Tom Brewer died of complications from heart disease. He was 40, Cam was 13 and the boy's motivation never was the same.
"His dad got him started in football," said Cam's mother, Melanie Wise. "He's always wanted to make his dad proud, even if his dad isn't here.
"And he's always wanted to be a Gator."
That quest started when Brewer enrolled at P.K. Yonge. During his junior season in 1996, the football team went 0-10, but his work habits prompted teammates to select him as a co-captain for his senior season.
As a senior, he helped Yonge win the district championship.
When he went overseas with the Marines, he followed the Gators on the Internet and through delayed TV broadcasts. Back in Florida on leave, he'd fall asleep watching tapes of his high school teams, still dreaming of a football career.
This fall, the dream comes true.
Brewer is 5 feet 7 and 165 pounds now. His attitude and speed had impressed coaches.
Receivers coach Billy Gonzales said Brewer will work with the scout team and could play on punt and kickoff teams.
"He's a tough guy," Gonzales said. "He's committed to the program, helping any way he can."
Brewer said he knows the reality, that he won't play much, but it won't jolt any of the joy from Sept 3 at Florida Field, when the Gators open against Wyoming.
His twin sister, Christie, and their mother will be in the stands. Brewer hopes to burst from the tunnel, Gators No. 88, and stand on the sideline at the Swamp.
Brewer, always a Marine, also will be a UF football player.
"There's tremendous camaraderie in the Marines," he said. "You had your brother next to you. That's what I tell the guys. That's what I want it to be like for me here."
Ellie