Laboring for life

For nearly 90 minutes Tuesday, on an unforgiving artificial turf surface and under a scorching sun that pushed temperatures high into the 90s, the Terrapin football team labored for a battle it knows won't be won anytime this fall.

At their "Lift for Life" event sponsored by this university's chapter of Uplifting Athletes, the Terps raised nearly $9,000 for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, a charity founded by the former Terp quarterback to raise awareness of and assist research for cystic fibrosis.

"Being part of the Maryland community and being part of the Maryland football team, that's kind of what we want to represent, someone who's involved in the community, someone who's a role model and someone who wants to give back," said guard Andrew Gonnella, the chapter's president. "Since I've been here, it's always been promoted for every player to pick one thing you can do to give back. I've done Big Brother, Little Brother. I've done reading across different classrooms in D.C. and Baltimore, different things like that. This is just one way we can keep carrying that on."

And carry they did. When the Terps weren't throwing themselves into sleds weighted down by managers or zig-zagging between cones in a race to the finish Tuesday, they were hauling 80-pound weights in each hand across the field.

But those sideshows proved only undercards for the main event. As the Terps' linemen split into offensive and defensive sides, some of the team's wide receivers and defensive backs shouted with glee: The tire flip was next, and they'd only have to watch.

The competition wasn't much of one, as the defensive linemen flipped the monster-truck-sized tire across the field's 100 yards long before their offensive counterparts could do the same.

"On the record, the black tire is heavier," offensive tackle Justin Gilbert said, "so we did have a little disadvantage there."

Afterward, the team huddled together with the smattering of alumni on hand — including wide receiver Torrey Smith, linebacker Adrian Moten and safety Antwine Perez, among others — as the event's organizers thanked the sponsors for their donations and help in improving on last year's inaugural event.

"We wanted to double [donations] last year," said Gilbert, a co-vice president of the university chapter, which set the donations goal at $10,000. "As long as every year we're making more, it's kind of one of those things whether we make a dollar or $10,000, as long as we're giving back and stuff like that, it helps. Everywhere we can get it, it helps."

With fewer than four weeks remaining until the start of summer practice, Tuesday's action also provided a preview of the fierce competition officially set to resume Aug. 9.

"I was looking around, and you can see a lot of the guys really getting into competitive attitudes," Gilbert said. "When we go into camp ... pretty much, the team splits. It's offense versus defense the entire camp, and you can see that out here. The guys start to get a competitive edge, and it was nice being away from the regular, old ‘get out here and run.'"

TERP NOTES: Defensive tackle Joe Vellano was named to the Lombardi Award watch list on Tuesday. Vellano, a preseason first-team All-ACC selection, led the Terps with five sacks and 10.5 tackles for a loss in 13 starts last season.

Linebacker Kenny Tate, already on the watch list for the Bednarik Award, one of the country's top honors for defensive players, was named one of 37 candidates for the Jim Thorpe Award on Monday. The award is bestowed annually on the nation's best defensive back.

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