T Lake:
1 A hailstorm in Colorado, summer 1993. A mother and her son were riding bicycles along the edge of Horseshoe Lake, in the town of Loveland. They were three miles from home, a mile above sea level, and the mother wished she had not led them so far. But they had only one choice. “Pedal through the pain,” she told the boy. And he did. The path was rough, and the hail stung their faces, but three-year-old Collin Klein would not quit. The whole way home she heard him talking to himself. Pedal through the pain, he was saying. Pedal through the pain.
2 Other sayings attributed to Klein include “Gosh,” “Golly,” “Jeepers,” “Oh, heck,” and, at least once, when a high school basketball teammate complained about the required running in practice, “Don’t get bees in your bonnet.”
3 In September, for a segment on ESPN’s College GameDay, Scott Van Pelt visited Klein on the Kansas State campus. Klein has scored more rushing touchdowns (46) in the past two seasons than any other quarterback in any two seasons in Football Bowl Subdivision history, and he has done so on an astounding 471 carries, which means he has taken a pounding that is extraordinary for a quarterback. So Van Pelt asked Klein about his toughness, and Klein dodged the question, talking instead about how tough his teammates were. Van Pelt relayed an encouraging text message from Tim Tebow, to whom Klein has been favorably compared, and Klein said, “I respect the heck out of him.” As they walked off the field together, Van Pelt said, “For a tough guy, Collin, you have an artistic side, too. If only we could find a stage with a giant piano.” So they found one, and Klein played a fine rendition of Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” as Van Pelt danced a little jig.
That’s what you saw on television. The rest of the story is this. Bill Snyder, the Wildcats’ ancient and venerated coach, releases as little information as possible on the injuries of his players. He has his reasons. For one, dark and terrible things happen in the pile on the field, and if the other guys know you’re hurting in a particular place, they just might grab you there and make it even worse. Well, Klein had, in fact, been hurt in Kansas State’s 52–13 win over Miami on Sept. 8. But he couldn’t tell Van Pelt. Sure, he could have responded to the piano request with “No, thanks” or “I don’t feel like it.” But Collin Klein has always quietly done what was asked of him. And so he banged out the “Maple Leaf Rag” without complaint while his right hand throbbed with the pain of a broken finger.
4 Violin, mandolin. He plays those too.
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