Rose in bloom as quarterback of Ivy League champ Harvard

By Curtis Murayama
Advertiser Sports Editor

Al Gore and Ted Kennedy have been to his football games.

Former Pac-Five star Neil Rose has been elected Harvard's team captain for next season. Harvard University Media Relations photo

In a Shakespeare class, he was identified among the masses and given an ovation.

Life can't be better for Harvard quarterback Neil Rose, a 1998 University High graduate and former Pac-Five player from Mililani.

Rose became a big part of Harvard's football history when he led the Crimson to the Ivy League championship and a 9-0 overall record — their first unbeaten and untied season in 88 years.

The experience has been so gratifying that he plans to relive it.

Throughout the year, Rose has been listed as a senior. But because he missed the 1999 season with a broken foot, Rose plans to make use of a medical hardship to gain another year of eligibility.

During Monday night's football banquet, the team elected Rose captain of next season's team. It was the first time a quarterback was chosen Harvard's captain in 50 years.

"Neil has been a leader for us all year long, and it is fitting that his teammates have recognized his contributions to Harvard football and acknowledge the leadership role he plays for our team," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said.

"I guess the bottom line is, this is a pretty hard place to leave," Rose said in a telephone interview. "The guys I play with are the best people I've ever known. I'd be kicking myself (if I didn't come back). It's also the game of football that I love playing and I'm not going to be able to play for that much longer."

Another year would help Rose add to his school records — including career passing records for yards (4,511) and touchdowns (33) — as well as gain more notoriety.

In Boston, where not everyone will know your name even if you're the team's standout quarterback, people are taking notice.

"I walk around with him and he gets recognized quite a bit," said his father Keith, who flew to Boston to watch his son's final two games.

"During a Shakespeare class, the professor asked where did the playwright mention football? Someone answered. The professor then asked, 'I don't suppose the quarterback is here?' Someone said, 'Oh yeah, he's here and they gave him an ovation,' " Keith Rose said.

"I didn't know the teacher knew who I was," Neil Rose said.

But Rose will be the first to tell you that he doesn't play for recognition or even victories.

"It's not the wins and losses; it's about the relationship you build and things you learn — learning to work with people," Rose said. "You ask any coach and he'll tell you that's what it's all about. The wins make it fun, sweeter, but it's definitely the people."

Coming out of University High where he was a straight-A student, Rose was hoping to get a scholarship from a "school like Stanford," which is known for its high-level of academics and athletics.

"I never got one," Rose said.

Still, Rose said, "Harvard turned out to be the best mix of academics and athletics I could ask for."

The annual tuition at Harvard, which does not award athletic scholarships, is around $36,000, according to Rose. But "the financial aid I'm receiving from Harvard is like a full scholarship. Without the great financial aid I wouldn't be able to come here."

To be sure, Rose wasn't an overnight success.

As a freshman, he played in one game. His sophomore year was lost to injury. He got his chance in his junior season.

Rose entered the season opener in 2000 against Holy Cross in relief and directed three scoring drives.

The following week, he got his first start against defending Ivy League champion Brown. Rose threw for three touchdowns, set a school record with 412 yards, and led Harvard to a 42-37 comeback victory.

He's been the starter since, except for one game in 2001 when he sat out because of a pinched nerve.

"This place in general has taught me that hard work does pay off," Rose said.

"Above all, I learned a sense of empowerment. That I can do anything I really want. No goal is too high. I can go in any field of study or profession. It makes me see that, with drive, the future is wide open. I hope to take advantage of that."

Rose is an economics major and carries a 3.3 grade-point average.

"I want to be the entrepreneurial type ... start and run a bunch of companies ... do writing later on ... maybe politics."

While Rose's future appears to be bright, he hasn't forgotten his past.

He credits Pac-Five coach Don Botelho as being "one of the most influential people in my life."

Rose didn't start playing football until the ninth grade. In his first game, he lined up at defensive end. By the end of the game, he was the quarterback.

"He took me in and basically instilled in me a love for football," Rose said of Botelho. "It didn't matter that we didn't win much at Pac-Five (1-11 his senior year). He taught me so much about people. He's a guy I'll treasure for the rest of my life. The kids there are lucky to have him."

Rose said Botelho taught him strategy, mechanics, and most important, throwing on the run, something he had to do a lot at Pac-Five, where it has been reported that he was sacked 26 times in one game.

"That's been one of my signatures here, to be able to throw on the run, and off balanced," said Rose, who is 6 feet 2, 220 pounds.

"I had a 26-yard touchdown pass (against Yale) where I was rolling left and threw to my right. A couple of minutes after it happened I thought about Pac-Five football."

Despite the domination of St. Louis School during his time, Rose still holds single-game Interscholastic League of Honolulu records for completions (31) and yards (432).

But he was overshadowed by then-St. Louis quarterbacks Jason Gesser (now at Washington State) and Tim Chang (Hawai'i).

"He was smarter than I was," recalled Botelho, who has coached football in Hawai'i for 37 years. "If you know the kid, you'd say, 'Wow, he's an All-American kid.'

"He's an outstanding young man," added Botelho. "A great athlete, a great student, an all-around great citizen. Everything he did, whether it was athletics or school work, he had total commitment. I'm not surprised he would be a success at anything he does."

Hula Bowl invites Huskies' Walker

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Walker is the starting fullback for the 12th-ranked Huskies. In his four-year career, Walker has started at both fullback and linebacker, the only Husky to be a two-way starter in the last six years.