ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
TOM LOCKLIN ENJOYED beating Florida State, but his mom may have liked it even better.
If there were any bragging rights stemming from Virginia's stunning upset of Florida State last season, they belonged to center Tom Locklin, the Cavaliers' lone starter from Florida.
There was only one problem with that: Locklin's family moved to Shales Ford, N.C., during his sophomore year at UVa.
``I don't see much of my old friends anymore,'' said Locklin, originally from Jacksonville, Fla. ``My brother and sister still live down there, so they brag for me.
``Even when I was down there, I wasn't really into Florida State. I was more of a Florida fan.''
Like many of his teammates, however, Locklin has a tape of last year's Virginia-Florida State football game and says he watches it at least once every time he goes home, which isn't too often.
``My mom watched it constantly all year long,'' Locklin said. ``She drove home after the game last year and stayed up all night watching the replay.''
Locklin's father played football at Wisconsin, but he says it is his mother, Shirley, who has a coach's mentality.
``My mom's always taken a suck-it-up attitude toward me,'' Locklin said. ``Jeremy Raley [a fellow offensive lineman] asked me what my parents think about me playing. I told him, `They just hope for the best.'''
Locklin's well being is the subject of some concern because he has played the first six games of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
``I don't know how he does it,'' UVa head coach George Welsh said. ``He only practices half the time. As late as the middle of last week, we had to take him out of practice midway through it.
``I just hope he's not mad at me when he's 35 years old.''
Welsh doesn't need to ask for a waiver. Locklin knows what he's doing.
``The doctors said I couldn't do any more damage,'' Locklin said. ``I don't really think about it. You have to make one of the padded practices [Tuesday or Wednesday] to play in the game, but, really, I go out there with the intention of practicing all week.
``The coaches think it hurts a lot, but it's just sore. I don't know what it is about the games - maybe it's adrenaline - but it doesn't hurt as much once I'm playing. Every once in awhile [the joint] will slip, though, and that kills me.''
Locklin seemed surprised that a couple of reporters hadn't noticed him rolling around the field during one of those instances Saturday.
``All the people around my parents knew about it because they were yelling, `Get him out of the game,''' Locklin said.
``After the Georgia Tech game, I was on crutches. I could hardly walk [the following] Sunday afternoon and Monday. I almost thought it was over for me then.''
Locklin was a relatively anonymous back-up, with hopes of becoming a starter this season, when starting center Dave Gathman suffered a knee injury early in the 1995 season. Gathman eventually required surgery on both knees and elected not to use his final season of eligibility.
``We called it the curse of the centers,'' said Locklin, who started the last 10 games of the 1995 season despite the first signs of knee problems.
Locklin is one of seven scholarship players from Florida on Virginia's roster. He and freshman defensive back Johnny Ponder played at Robert E. Lee High School, the same program that produced promising linebacker Bryce Cox, who last week committed to the Cavaliers.
Locklin's only campus visits were to Virginia and Georgia Tech, although he heard from Miami and Florida State, as well as the other Division I program in Tallahassee, Florida A&M.
``I also took a lot of `unofficial' visits to Florida to see games,'' he said. ``I think I was on Florida State's list, but they called and said they had all their scholarships filled, so they kind of dropped off.
``I don't know how we all ended up here,'' Locklin said. ``Some of my friends hadn't even heard of Virginia. They all thought I was going to Virginia Tech. I still have my yearbook where somebody signed, `Good luck at Virginia Tech.'''
If there were any Florida State fans in the group, what they didn't know hasn't hurt them.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Locklin. color.by CNB