The Swami on the Sidelines
Is Tom Lemming the most powerful man in college football?
CHICAGO READER / JAN 2005
More than a million teenagers play high school football across the United States, and one of those kids, the star running back for the Libertyville High School Wildcats, just took the handoff on a double dive. So hungry to reach the NFL that he’s already being counseled by a personal trainer, a “speed specialist,” and a California-based dietician, the kid gets to the corner and explodes–one furious stride splitting two defenders.
The men who assess the nation’s high school stars for a living debate whether this ballcarrier’s talent equals his ambition. But on the highest bleacher, above a thousand screaming Wildcats fans, stands Tom Lemming of Lake County, Illinois, arguably the most important of these assessors. When the cell phone in his pocket rings, more often than not it’s leaving the callback number of an assistant coach at a Big Ten, or Pac-10, or SEC school. Lemming happens to be a staunch supporter of the player now dashing toward the goal line, making him the kid’s best shot at a Division I scholarship.
As Lemming looks on, a defensive back converges. The ballcarrier dives, comes up short. First and goal Libertyville, from the two….