Montague High School Football Coach Pat Collins watches four of his seniors sign national letters of intent to play football in college. From left are, Drew Pineda, Matt DeJong, Cody Kater and Kyle Eilers.

After the parents, media and well-wishers had gathered, Montague Athletic Director Ken Diamond welcomed everyone, and established a time-table for the signings. Then he made it clear that the whole event would have to be over by the end of the school day, less than an hour later. Montague’s FFA (Future Farmers of America) group would need the space at that time.

Now, how many student signings taking place across the country Wednesday could claim such student equality? I suspect not many.

It’s important to know, at least for me, that none of these kids — the ones we call hero athletes, especially football players — gets too big a head during their respective journeys through the gauntlet that is high school sports. As a culture we too often look the other way when it comes to bestowing favoritism upon popular student-athletes, or too quickly forgive bad behavior by grid-iron and hard-court heroes. That fact is, looking the other way doesn’t do anyone a favor. In fact, it’s lunacy.

Same goes for the expectations we place on these kids, telling them, sometimes when they are still in middle school, that they have the ability to save an entire sports programs. Hell, at 15 I couldn’t save enough lunch money to last me all week, let alone save an entire football team.

For instant, take the way top-rated kids are held up by coaches and sports boosters when nobody has any idea how their careers will ultimately turn out. This is an excerpt from Kimberley Nash’s piece on bleacherreport.com entitled ‘National Signing Day 2010: Has It Become Too Much of a Spectacle?’

“For every Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy,” Nash writes, “there is a Mitch Mustain and a Brent Schaeffer. Not every player will live up to the hype and it’s unfair to anoint them as the next great one without letting them prove their merits on the field first.

“In 2005, the top rated player in the nation, according to Scouts recruiting service, was Mitch Mustain. He was considered the ‘can’t lose’ player of the year and was the jewel of the University of Arkansas’ recruiting class.

“Know who was 12 spots behind him? Sam Bradford.

“Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten that these are teenage boys, not men. The elevation of the high school game via televised broadcasts, prep magazines, and national rankings has made it possible to start scrutinizing kids at 14 and 15 years old.

Can you imagine being barely out of middle-school and someone is already asking for your allegiances? Your autograph?”

That’s one reason like this crop of future college football players at Montague, and also Whitehall’s Tyler Van Bergen — who will be joining Eilers at Grand Valley. All five are humble kids, soft-spoken and polite, which is what I’m sure their future college coaches have noticed as well.

Maybe coaches are starting to learn their lesson when it comes to signing the most talented over the kid who will work his or her tail off, be a good influence in the locker room and someone who looks at college as an opportunity to play sports and get a degree?

So while other schools may choose to over blow and over hype student-athletes, at the expense of students’ perspectives and well-beings, Montague made it clear Wednesday that while signing national letters of intent was indeed important, having their sports stars live in reality with the rest of us is important too.

Besides, from where I come from, FFA should be as important as GVSU, FSU, MTU and UC.

Even if we don’t fill stadiums every Saturday with screaming FFA fans.

Kater takes game to even bigger stage

MONTAGUE — It’s been a stressful couple of months for Montague senior Cody Kater.

After deciding last summer that he would be continuing his student-athlete career close to home, at Central Michigan University, Kater was shocked to learn in December that Butch Jones, the former CMU head coach, had taken a job at Cincinnati, replacing fellow former CMU coach Brian Kelly, who now coaches at Notre Dame.

“Since Christmas it’s really been on my mind,” Kater admitted Wednesday, moments after signing his letter of intent to play at Cincinnati. “It kind of broke me down when I found out” Jones had left CMU."

Over the next couple of weeks, Kater had to decide if he had really committed to Central Michigan or to Jones and his staff. “I like how Coach Jones approaches the game, and I know I’ll get a fair shot with him.”

So it was off to Cinci for a mid-January visit, one that Kater needed before he would commit to a school he’d never really considered before. He returned a believer. “It’s a great time, very vibrant,” said Kater. “There’s tons of new stuff; it’s kind of an up-and-coming city.”

Now that Kater’s a Bearcat (which is fairly close to a Wildcat), he’s excited to show the world what he’s got.

“Hey, everybody wants to play for the best,” he said, “and (Cincinnati) has had a lot of success lately. It’s a bigger college, a bigger stage.”

Then he added, “It’s time to show the world what this small-town boy can do.”

Eilers eager to meet former teammates on the gridiron

MONTAGUE — There were lots of reasons Montague senior lineman Kyle Eilers chose to continue his academic and athletic career at Grand Valley State University: “They have great academics there,” Eilers said after signing his letter of intent Wednesday to play next fall for the Lakers. “They’ve had incredible success as a team and they have a winning tradition. Plus it’s pretty close to home, so I’ll still be close to my family and Montague.”

While those are all strong reasons to attend GVSU, there is another reason that factored into the mix. Eilers will get a chance to face his now-former teammates Drew Pineda (Ferris State) and Matt DeJong (Michigan Technological University). The Lakers face Ferris Oct. 23 and MTU Oct. 30.

“Oh, it’ll be fun to see them,” joked Eilers. “I’ll have to look for Drew, maybe give him a cheap shot or something. I’m looking forward to it.”

Montague’s Drew Pineda - Ferris State University

The quiet confidence of Montague senior Drew Pineda, a linchpin on the school’s second-straight state title team, was as noticible as his impressive commonsense Wedneday afternoon, after Pineda signed to attend Ferris State University in the fall.

The All-State linebacker had good, practical reasons for choosing the Bulldogs as the team he’d be continuing his play career.

“It was a pretty easy choice for me,” Pineda, who plans on majoring in welding, said. “They have my (major) and I like their football program.”

Pineda said the values he learned playing for Coach Pat Collins and the Wildcats should translate easily to Ferris. “The value of team work and working hard should help me. I lnow I’ll have to work hard to get any playing time. I’m ready for that.”

Just like his teammate Kyle Eilers — who will be attending Grand Valley State — and Matt DeJong — who is attending Michigan Tech, Pineda looks forward to seeing his former teammates on the playing field.

“I’ll be looking for Kyle,” Pineda joked.

Whitehall’s Tyler Van Bergen - Grand Valley State University

Whitehall senior Tyler Van Bergen is chomping at the bit to continue the next phase of his student-athlete career at Grand Valley State.

Van Bergen, whose older brother, Ryan, plays on the defensive line at the University of Michigan, said there are tons of things he likes about GVSU.

“The facilities, the coaching staff...and I definitely like the winning,” he said of the highly successful program.

Van Bergen, expected to be a receiver for the Lakers, said he looks forward to joining forces with Montague’s Kyle Eilers, who should see plenty of time on the line.

“It’ll be nice having Kyle blocking for me, instead of chasing me all over the field,” Van Bergen said with a smile.

Now, with two kids on athletic scholarships at two different schools, the only trouble the Van Bergen household should have to deal with is who to go watch on Saturday.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll go watch (Ryan) the next couple years,” Van Bergen said, without a hint of jealousy. “That’ll get me time to get things going (at GVSU).”

Montague’s Matt DeJong - Michigan Tech University

Matt DeJong is realistic ....and honest.

Regarding the reasons he decided to continue his education and playing career at Michigan Tech, in remote Houghton in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. DeJong said: “Definitely not for the location,” he joked.

On second though, DeJong said he thinks Tech has “a great atmosphere,” with a size that won’t swallow him up the minute he steps on campus. “It will be a release to get away,” the potential sports or computer science major noted.

One gets the sense that DeJong longs to get a bigger taste of the outside world.

He said he’s learned the value of commitment from the Montague football program, his teammates, and coaches.

“I know it’s going to take a lot of commitment,

he said, “to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”