The Rutgers field hockey locker room was the scene of what was supposed to be the changing of the guard for Syracuse quarterbacks. The Orange had just lost to Rutgers, 38-7, to end the season and Perry Patterson took his final snap as Syracuse quarterback. He was turning the spot over to Andrew Robinson, the freshman quarterback who threw his first career touchdown pass just minutes before.

The field hockey locker room was the scene of Syracuse’s postgame press conference, and Robinson stood behind the lectern for what appeared to be his final time as a backup quarterback. He was asked a question about taking over for Patterson next season, and Robinson answered the question diplomatically, insisting he hadn’t earned the starting job yet. After all, Syracuse is bringing in two freshmen quarterbacks – Cody Catalina and David Legree.

But that’s not how Robinson started his answer.

‘There’s still Cameron Dantley back there who no one’s really seen, but he has a cannon for an arm,’ he said at the time.

Collectively, the media shrugged the statement off as Robinson being polite. Dantley was a walk-on and was never considered a viable option for the starting quarterback job in 2007.

Five months later, the situation has changed. It’s true no one outside the football program has watched much of Dantley, a rising redshirt sophomore who has yet to appear in a game. But he’s no longer a walk-on. He now has a scholarship, rewarded to him during the offseason. And he’s fighting in spring practice to earn the starting quarterback job, just like Robinson is and Catalina and Legree will when training camp starts in August.

‘We both know nothing is guaranteed to us,’ Dantley said. ‘(Robinson) is a top recruit who came in here. Everyone sees him as the next kid on campus to take the ball. But we both know, us being buddies and all that, that we both have what it takes to control this team.’

From the outside, the job seems like Robinson’s to lose. As Dantley said, Robinson was a decorated recruit – the first quarterback head coach Greg Robinson ever brought to Syracuse. Dantley was actually former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s recruit, an invited walk-on who passed up on offers from Miami (Ohio) and Kent State to come to Syracuse and try to earn a scholarship the hard way. Dantley said Greg Robinson has been as inviting as Pasqualoni was and finally rewarded Dantley that scholarship – which appears like a testament to Dantley.

‘It took a burden off me,’ Dantley said. ‘All the hard work in the offseason, all the people telling me, ‘You can do it if you put your mind to it,’ that wasn’t just a bunch of words. That was actually a true story.’

Dantley’s first call when he earned the scholarship was to his father, former NBA star Adrian Dantley. And that’s where the story becomes more interesting.

Cameron Dantley earning a scholarship is impressive enough. But fair or unfair, Dantley has the burden of a famous father. Adrian Dantley played 15 seasons in the NBA, scoring 23,177 points (24.3 career scoring average) and reaching six All-Star games. He’s considered one of the finest players not in the Hall of Fame and is currently an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets.

None of those achievements are related to Cameron Dantley, although he can’t escape his name. When Dantley and childhood friend Luke Russert – son of ‘Meet the Press’ host Tim Russert – attended the NBA All-Star Game in New York City in 1998, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant spotted the kids and belted, ‘That’s A.D’s son’ and ‘That’s Tim Russert’s son.’ While playing in a baseball tournament in Florida for St. Albans School in Washington D.C., a newspaper article featured a few paragraphs on the game and the rest of the story devoted to the players with famous last names.

‘It was weird for us,’ Russert said, ‘but it was a bond we shared.’

Dantley played basketball in high school, said he drew some college interest, but was constantly in the shadow of his father. Dantley admitted that helped steer him to football.

‘In terms of sports, in terms of basketball, it’s been real tough for me,’ Dantley said. ‘It was always, ‘Your dad did this, your dad that.’ Don’t get me wrong, I love playing basketball. But when I got to playing football and became serious about it – around eighth grade – that was like a freedom for me. Not because my dad didn’t play it, but I started playing well and developing some notoriety and making my own name in football, rather than playing under the shadow of my dad.’

Russert remembers sleepovers at the Dantley’s home in fourth and fifth grade when Adrian Dantley would help Cameron and Luke on defensive slides at midnight.

‘Usually at sleepovers, kids play video games and eat pizza,’ Russert said. ‘We were working on good defensive plays.’

Dantley is mature about the pressures of having a famous father, speaking frankly and honestly. He admits even still – in a different sport and different generation – the shadow looms.

‘It’s kind of funny because even for football, where my dad had nothing to do with the sport, Cameron Dantley is Adrian Dantley’s son,’ Dantley said. ‘You start to kind of get tired of it. The tag of former celebrity, former basketball player.’

Dantley has other friends in similar situations. He’s also close with Florida point guard Taurean Green, who’s made a name for himself as a two-time national champion. Green’s father is Sidney Green, former NBA player and Florida Atlantic head coach. But Taurean’s no longer in that shadow.

‘We always had that tag, and now it’s kinda funny because you talk to him, and he’s known as Taurean,’ Dantley said. ‘A lot of people don’t know he’s the son of a former player.’

That leads back to the quest for the starting quarterback spot. It’s a longshot, especially considering he’s competing against three players who’ve generated more attention than he has. But having his name into discussion – and his name’s been offered by both Andrew Robinson and Greg Robinson – is a positive step in a process Cameron Dantley is well on his way to achieving: making a name for himself.

Zach Berman is sports editor for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear every Wednesday. E-mail him at [email protected].

Published on April 3, 2007 at 12:00 pm