The unknown UCLA quarterback strolled across campus, just another anonymous face among students headed to early-morning classes.
"I blend in," says Kevin Craft, who played for San Diego State and Mt. San Antonio College before joining the Bruins. "I always have.
"When I was at San Diego State, I was the starting quarterback, had my photo in the student newspaper, but no one recognized me. I would be in class and people next to me would be saying, 'Did you go to the game? They lost again. Those guys are terrible.'
"No one noticed me."
At least his current classmates have an excuse. Craft has yet to play a down for UCLA and his recruitment didn't make headlines. He was brought in as disaster insurance where disaster has happened too often in the past -- and did so again in the final days of spring practice.
On consecutive plays, the Bruins lost their two seniors. Patrick Cowan sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, prematurely ending his 2008 season. Then Ben Olson suffered a broken bone in his foot.
Just like that, Craft was already No. 2 on the UCLA depth chart -- right behind a guy with a screw in his right foot.
Yes, Olson is expected to be healthy enough to participate when practices begin in August, but there certainly are no guarantees who will be commanding the offense come Labor Day, when the Bruins open against Tennessee.
Craft's attitude? Come what may.
"My mom jokes with me, 'You got it real hard, don't you?' " Craft says. "I've gone to San Diego State, lived in San Diego, took a trip out to Hawaii, and now I'm at UCLA.
"She tells me, 'Some people have to go Laramie, Wyoming.' "
And others roll with the punches.
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The early-morning ringing of metal on metal echoes through the UCLA weight room, the sound of a football program trying to bulk up after not doing squat in 2007.
Craft and freshman Chris Forcier, the only other healthy quarterback on the UCLA roster, are finishing up their workouts as a second wave of Bruins arrives, including Olson, who hobbles through on crutches.
"It is going to be interesting to see how Ben responds to the treatment on the foot and how ready he is to go," first-year Coach Rick Neuheisel says. "It's going to be one of those three guys."
Craft, who has two seasons of eligibility left, had a gunslinger's reputation at Mt. SAC, where his father, Tom, was offensive coordinator.
