Emanuel Heeds His Focus Group
It was 10:30 at night when UCLA senior safety Ben Emanuel II heard loud banging on the door of his Westwood apartment. Looking outside, he saw his older cousin, Aaron Emanuel, and he knew that he was in for it.
"I had spoken with his father and we were worried about him," said Aaron Emanuel, a former USC tailback who has been a sounding board for his cousin ever since Ben left Houston to enroll at UCLA in 2000.
"It was shortly after spring ball and he had not returned any of my calls. His father, Uncle Ben, and I talked and we felt that Ben wasn't being focused enough. Uncle Ben did not have to ask me twice to go check on him."
The talk between the cousins was one-sided. Aaron Emanuel, who experienced both the good and bad college football has to offer during his USC career in the late 1980s, did not sugarcoat his words.
"I was hearing some things about Ben that I didn't like," Aaron said. "Ben is a smart kid. We talked for about two hours and I could tell he was listening. I know that he's been through a lot since he got out here but he needed to hear some things from me."
Ben Emanuel appreciated the visit. Not because he needed to know that his cousin cared but because he needed a reminder of why he'd left home to attend UCLA.
"Over the early part of my career, I did second-guess myself a lot," he said. "When you're not playing as much as you hoped, you always wonder what it would be like if you went somewhere else."
As a member of a family that has produced more than its share of big-time athletes, high expectations are nothing new to Emanuel, a three-sport standout at Clear Brook High in Friendswood, Texas.
His first cousins include Texas All-American linebacker Derrick Johnson and his brother Dwight Johnson, a former Baylor standout and NFL defensive tackle; Bert Emanuel, former Rice quarterback and NFL receiver; Kevin Emanuel, a former a defensive end at Florida State; John Williams, a defensive end at Oklahoma; and Jamar Williams, a linebacker at Arizona State.
But after starting 19 consecutive games in the Bruins' secondary, Emanuel's stock dropped when he was suspended for the Silicon Valley Classic bowl game against Fresno State at the end of last season because he'd violated team rules.
Although he finished fourth on the team in tackles with 80, Emanuel also was looked upon as an underachiever by the UCLA coaching staff.
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