The phone rang and the fax came in. Parker Cantey had made up his mind. They got him. The 2005 Brooklyn Player of the Year would be donning orange and blue in the fall.

‘We were very excited,’ said Jim Salgado, Syracuse’s secondary coach. Salgado was the main coach recruiting the 6-foot-3, 205-pound outside linebacker. ‘The day he called and told us, there were a lot of people jumping around. A guy his caliber recruit from New York; it’s just something special, and we’re real excited about it.’

For a program that, under its previous coaching staff, was criticized for not recruiting the local players, Cantey’s decision is a huge deal. While he’s not from Central New York, he is an in-state prospect. Cantey is listed as New York’s eighth ranked recruit and the 28th best outside linebacker in the country by ESPN. He’s one of 11 ‘in-state’ recruits – which Syracuse coaches consider New York and its surrounding states – and one of six from the Empire State for the Orange.

A lot of the reason Cantey committed to SU was the coaching staff’s recruiting.

‘Those guys and (SU head coach Greg) Robinson said they were going to build a wall around New York and try to keep the best prospects in the state,’ said Thomas Salvato, Cantey’s coach at South Shore High School in Brooklyn. ‘This is not taking anything away from the other guys that recruited Parker, but those guys did a nice job. They really made him feel comfortable.’

Part of the reason the Orange went so hard after the all-New York City first-teamer was a matter of pride.

‘We’ve got great football players right here in this state and in surrounding states,’ Salgado said. ‘These are guys that know Syracuse. They hear Syracuse. They see us on TV week in and week out. My attitude is, hey, these kids, they need to know about Syracuse … take some pride in where you’re from.’

But another reason SU’s coaches went so hard after Cantey was he’s just that good. He played both offense and defense in high school, returning punts and kicks in between. His senior season saw him make 70 tackles, including eight sacks and two fumble recoveries run back for touchdowns. His junior year he posted 68 tackles in addition to his 14 sacks. Last year on offense, he carried the ball 22 times for 223 yards and six touchdowns, catching 28 passes for 468 yards and five touchdowns. Cantey also visited the end zone on both a punt and kick return last season.

Salvato noted Cantey has a ‘nose for the ball.’ Not only will he attempt to make a tackle, but at the same time he’ll go for the strip, and then try to return the fumble for a touchdown. Plain and simple, Salvato called his player a big-play guy. The SU coaches agreed.

‘When you see him on film and on defense,’ Salgado said, ‘the way he went after the ball and how many sacks he had and turnovers and touchdowns he had on defense. He did it all. That excites us … he goes out there and makes plays, not just be where he’s supposed to, but goes out there and makes plays. That’s special.’

Syracuse chose Cantey for his skill and hometown. But Cantey chose Syracuse for three distinct other reasons, the first being SU’s strength of schedule. While Rutgers, SU’s main competition in the chase for Cantey, took on Big Ten basement-dweller Illinois and I-AA Villanova as part of its non-conference schedule, Syracuse played Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State and ranked Virginia. The Orange also played Big East and Sugar Bowl champion West Virginia very tightly in week one.

‘In Rutgers, I didn’t see the tough competition … and when they got to the bowl game, they lost,’ Cantey said. ‘They (Syracuse) played Florida State, Virginia and West Virginia…West Virginia blew out Georgia in a bowl game and they didn’t even score a touchdown when they played us.’

Reason No. 2 was the coaching staff, especially Robinson with his NFL background in defense. Cantey noted all the great players Robinson has coached in the past – for example, Bill Romanowski – and said every time the two spoke, Cantey learned something not just about football, but about life.

Cantey’s final reason was academics. A relatively good student – Cantey has a 2.9 GPA according to Scout.com – he has always wanted to play in the NFL, but understands life is more than football.

‘I’ve gotta train hard, do my work in school and stay out of trouble,’ Cantey said. ‘In my mind the education is what I gotta do. The NFL – if it comes it comes. Something my father told me. You can’t put everything in the NFL. If you slip and fall, it’s your whole career.’

A lot of Cantey’s mentality comes from his family. His father, Ray, said he and his wife Anna tried to raise him with the best morals, knowing how to talk to people and to always show respect. More of his motivation stems from remembrance of his grandmother.

‘I think about my grandmother,’ Cantey said. ‘She never got to see any of her grandkids do anything successful. It made me kind of sad, because I was real close to her.’

As for his Syracuse career, coaches have big expectations from Cantey, but it all starts with him filling out his frame in the weight room. Salgado said the linebacker has big, broad shoulders, and once he starts lifting and eating three good meals a day, he’ll start putting on weight.

Salvato made sure to let Cantey know the difference from one level to the next.

‘You’re going to a new environment,’ Salvato said. ‘You’re not the main guy. You’ve got to prove yourself over and over. When the coaches tell you to do something you gotta do it. You gotta bust your (butt) like you did for me and everything else will work out.’

Parker’s father, Ray, explained with Cantey in hand. Syracuse should expect special things in the future.

‘Parker likes to win. He doesn’t like to lose,’ Ray Cantey said. ‘And if that team wants to win and the coaches want to win, then Syracuse should make some improvement … he’s pretty anxious, but he has some more things in high school down here to do before he gets up there. But he’ll be there July the 4th.’

Published on April 11, 2006 at 12:00 pm