His teammates call him Slash. For Darryl Kennedy, the name fits.

That’s because Kennedy, a quarterback turned-fullback turned-safety turned-quarterback again, is the most versatile player on Syracuse.

‘Darryl is probably the best athlete on the team,’ fullback Thump Belton said. ‘I don’t think there’s a position on the team that he can’t play.’

Kennedy shrugs at the suggestion, then laughs, somewhat embarrassed. His laid-back attitude suits him well. He’s been repeatedly moved around the field so much it’d make most anyone fairly annoyed. Still, Kennedy remains relaxed, even without a distinctively identified role.

Originally brought in as a safety, Kennedy played eight games last season, his first at Syracuse after two years of junior college, at either fullback or special teams. After losing three members of the secondary – Maurice McClain, Keeon Walker and Will Hunter – coaches moved Kennedy to defensive back for last spring.

But after second-string quarterback Perry Patterson tore his anterior cruciate ligament, coaches again moved Kennedy, this time to quarterback as a backup. Since Patterson has returned nearly two months early, Kennedy endured yet another shift. Now, he splits reps almost evenly between fullback and quarterback.

‘Going from fullback to safety was weird,’ Kennedy said. ‘Then I move to quarterback, and there’s so many plays. I’ve got the defensive plays in my head. Then I’m trying to learn the offensive plays again. I’m still a little jumbled.’

Fullback fits Kennedy best. The soft-spoken, often humble Kennedy enjoys a sharp contrast in attitude when he’s on the field.

In the eight games Kennedy’s played, teammates have learned he notorious for hitting.

‘Darryl is a wild child in my opinion,’ said Belton, who missed parts of spring practice with a knee injury. ‘When they moved him in the spring to safety, I didn’t want to face Darryl. I’m glad I didn’t have to. Darryl is a hard-hitting kid.

‘If I had seen him and had to come across him, I don’t know what I would’ve done then. He comes in, and he doesn’t care who you are, he’s gonna come and try to knock your head off.’

As a quarterback, Kennedy runs the option efficiently. As a four-year varsity quarterback in high school, he rushed for 5,076 yards and 60 touchdowns in his career, including 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior.

His arm, though, is a problem. Kennedy suffered a right-shoulder injury in high school and continued playing. He says he hasn’t fully recovered yet.

‘Playing quarterback has been good, but I’ve been nervous, too,’ Kennedy said. ‘I haven’t thrown a ball in two years, and my arm is still a little soft.’

Still, Syracuse recruited Kennedy hard out of high school before his test scores failed to qualify him for college.

‘Academically, I wasn’t taking school seriously like I should,’ Kennedy said. ‘Then you start getting letters from colleges, and you wake up. I wasn’t really thinking about school. I was all about football. But I was young. I was nave. What can I say?’

Kennedy enrolled at Nassau Community College, where he continued to shine. He scored 126 points as a sophomore, second nationally among junior college non-kickers.

Rutgers and Syracuse showed interest in Kennedy. But as a sophomore in high school, he watched the Orangemen run the option with quarterback Donovan McNabb, and he always wanted to attend SU.

Now, as a senior, Kennedy fills spots when he’s needed. This fall, Kennedy’s been working with the first, second and third units at both quarterback and fullback.

But besides Belton, Kennedy is SU’s only player with game experience at fullback.

‘When he moved back to quarterback, I didn’t say too much to him except that I want him back at fullback,’ Belton said. ‘But the coaches are just trying to do what’s best for him, get him on the field anyway they can. And he needs to be on the field.’

Published on September 1, 2003 at 12:00 pm