ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030005
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
TYPE: HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Should your heart yearn for the days when a high school football hero would gallantly and courageously pound his opponent to a quivering, helpless blob of protoplasm then, after the game, help a little old lady cross a busy thoroughfare ...
If you admire a guy who ,when asked whether he would mind learning to play tailback, fullback, tight end, split end, linebacker, defensive end, quarterback, and place kicker, replies: ``Yes, sir'' ...
Had you been dreaming of the day when an amateur football star held down a paying job in which he actually had to work ...
Then this Bud's for you.
It is universally assumed in Radford's sparsely furnished dressing quarters that it is much better to have Bud Redden for you than it is to have him against you.
``Bud is like one of the kids that we used to have a lot of in Radford - a tough, blue-collar kind of kid,'' Radford assistant coach Tony DeHart said. ``That's the way it used to be. This town has changed. Now, all there are are lawyers, doctors and professors, and it shows.''
The blue collar fits Redden like a tailored Italian dress shirt.
``How long is this going to take?'' he asked a post-football practice guest. ``I have to go to work at 6.''
That's going to work at 6 p.m. He's been known to begin a day of labor at 6 a.m., hunk of iron in sweaty fist.
``I've let him in so he could lift,'' Radford assistant coach Wayne Frye said.
So it's lifting weights before school and lifting cans of soup (he stocks shelves at the local Food Lion) afterward.
``Mom told me I couldn't date unless I got a job,'' Redden said.
Another point in his favor there: He minds his mother.
``I can't think of a single negative thing to say about him,'' Radford coach Norman Lineburg said.
Lineburg has had adequate time to find something by now. Redden, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior, has been a starter for the varsity since he was a freshman. Like money, talent is one of those things you can't hide.
Nor has Radford tried to. Redden is liable to turn up anywhere on the field. Probably his best position (certainly, it's his favorite) is linebacker. That didn't stop Lineburg and staff from switching Redden to defensive anchor end last year prior to a playoff game with Giles. The Spartans from Giles won the game, beating the Bobcats for the second time that season, but the switch of Redden to end was cited as the central reason the Bobcats gave up yards much more grudgingly than the previous time the teams played.
As Radford has rolled out to a 3-2 record and is again positioning itself for a run at Giles for the Three Rivers regular season title, Redden has plastered 76 ballcarriers either by himself or in collaboration with others. That is the fourth highest total in Timesland.
``Anything for the team,'' DeHart said. ``Bud will do anything you ask him to do ... .''
``... And do it with a smile on his face,'' Lineburg said. ``Everywhere he goes, he's always smiling. Except when he's playing football.''
These days, his opponents are smiling even less.
For those who long for the days when a single player could elicit such a somber reaction, then this Bud is indeed for you.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: RAY COX. Bud Redden, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior, hasby CNBbeen a starter for the Radford High varsity since he was a freshman.
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