Larry Fitzgerald calls the three semesters he spent at Valley Forge Military Academy the most difficult of his life. But they were also the most important.

Before the beginning of this season, Fitzgerald, a freshman wide receiver for Pittsburgh, spent two years at Valley Forge studying, playing football and changing his life.

Yes became yes, sir. No became no, sir. And I don’t want to became I will.

On Saturday, Fitzgerald, the Big East’s leading receiver, and Pittsburgh face Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.

Fitzgerald signed with Pittsburgh out of high school but failed to earn qualifying grades. He instead enrolled at Valley Forge, an all-male, military school serving seventh grade through college. Instead of dorms, Fitzgerald lived in barracks. Rather than deans, he was accountable to officers.

‘It was probably the furthest thing from what I wanted to do,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘I really didn’t want to go one bit.’

Understandably so.

At Valley Forge, Fitzgerald lost the power to plan his daily life. Wake-up calls came at 5:45 a.m. Students had exactly seven minutes to dress, shave and appear in formation outside their barracks. From there, regardless of the weather, they marched in companies of 105 to breakfast.

‘We teach them pride and organization,’ Valley Forge Athletics Director and football coach Jim Burner said. ‘They can go through inspection at any time during the day.’

After an allotment of 20 minutes to clean their rooms, shine their shoes and carry out a daily chore — Fitzgerald washed the windows of the barrack’s bathroom — the students took formation again and marched to class.

At most schools, class would have been a relief from the omnipresent authoritative pressures — not at Valley Forge.

When students aren’t listening to lectures, they attend study halls. Until 3:15 p.m., students are required to either be in class or studying. The school also mandates that all cadets play sports, so Fitzgerald and the rest of the student body practiced from 3:15 to 6:30 p.m.

After eating, all students attend a mandatory study hall. Fifteen minutes after the study requirement ends, the campus’ lights shut off.

Valley Forge also requires daily parades, where the companies of 105 march, synchronize and stiff-leg through the campus. Judges watch the procession, awarding the top performer ‘best company of the day.’

At the end of each month, the number of awards are tallied and the company who wins the most times earns the school’s most precious reward — 48 hours off campus.

‘That was the most cherished thing you could get,’ Fitzgerald said, ‘a weekend away from the place. It was priceless.’

Fitzgerald knows none of this suffering was necessary. His high school courseload shouldn’t have been a problem. But mid-week movies and hanging out with friends took precedence over reading. Fitzgerald just didn’t feel like doing his homework.

‘I was just immature,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘I didn’t feel like doing the work. I had a lot of growing up to do.’

Now that’s he’s finally done growing — into a 6-foot-3 frame — Fitzgerald can’t fight off comparisons to Pittsburgh’s last elite wide receiver, former Biletnikoff Award winner Antonio Bryant.

But Pittsburgh offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart prefers another comparison. He likens Bryant to Randy Moss, for his explosive on-field ability and volatile off-field behavior. Fitzgerald better fits the mold of straight-laced and even-keeled Cris Carter, a former receiver for the Minnesota Vikings.

‘Randy and Antonio both have that big-play ability,’ Brookhart said. ‘Carter and Fitzgerald are sure-handed and reliable.’

The comparison comes as no surprise to Fitzgerald. After all, he’s been emulating Carter since he was 13 years old.

Though Fitzgerald’s father, Larry Sr. — whose own football career ended prematurely due to injuries — didn’t want his son to play football until high school, he persuaded Vikings coach Dennis Green to let his son be Minnesota’s ballboy.

Each day, as Carter practiced, Fitzgerald mimicked him on the sideline. He’d catch balls the same way. He’d run routes the same way. And most importantly, he’d work the same way.

‘He’s had some real good role models as far as running routes goes,’ Brookhart said. ‘A lot of times, freshman do try to get by on their athleticism. By being there, he learned you can’t do that all the time.’

These days, Fitzgerald arrives at Panthers’ practice 20 minutes early to warm up and work on catching fundamentals. After practice, he remains on the field, catching 150 to 200 extra passes to keep his route-running crisp.

Carter still checks in on his prodigy. On Monday night, he called Fitzgerald’s parents, asking them to have their son call him. Fitzgerald said he and Carter talk almost every two weeks. Their conversations run the gamut from aerial adjustments to attitude adjustments.

‘We don’t just talk about football,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘We talk about making good decisions every day, working hard, because there’s so much to work on.’

Fitzgerald signed with Pitt as the fifth-rated high school receiver in the country, according to recruiting guru Tom Lemming. Attending Valley Forge didn’t decrease his stock, as he totaled 420 yards and seven touchdowns in only six games for the academy’s football team.

Fitzgerald continues a trend of talented Pittsburgh wide receivers. In each of the past five seasons, a Panther has led the Big East in receptions or receiving yards. Fitzgerald currently leads the conference with 299 yards receiving and is second with 20 catches.

‘He’s got a maturity that you just don’t see in freshmen,’ Syracuse offensive coordinator Chris Rippon said. ‘He’s got lots of potential, but we’ve got a long way to see. There are a lot of good receivers in this conference. Will he be at the top at the end?’

If Fitzgerald has his way, eventually he will.

While he admits the speed of opposing cornerbacks is shocking and some of the audible calls are still shaky, he believes Carter’s tutelage and the hard-work lessons from the barracks will help him.

‘I feel like I’ve got to be better than the next guy,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘I can’t settle for anything less than that. Everyone’s only a step behind you. That’s why I work so hard.’

Published on October 2, 2002 at 12:00 pm