It was just a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night for Rhett Van De
Mark that ended with an invite to Las Vegas and a starting
quarterback position for Team USA football.
Ho-hum.
It was just a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night for Rhett Van De Mark that ended with an invite to Las Vegas and a starting quarterback position for Team USA football.
Ho-hum.
The Hollister resident and former Haybaler who quarterbacked the Central Coast Barnstormers this past season was chosen to line up behind center for Team USA’s game against Team Canada in Mesquite, Nev.
USA’s starting quarterback left the team due to a family emergency that week, while their backup was not suited for the system they planned on implementing against Canada.
Basically, they needed a pocket-passer, and rather out of the blue, Van De Mark was their man.
“They needed someone with passing experience,” Van De Mark said. “I thought I was going to be the backup quarterback. On the way to Mesquite, (the offensive coordinator) told me I’m the starting QB, which really added pressure. I couldn’t sleep the day before the game.”
Van De Mark’s Barnstormer teammate Lance Goularte, also of Hollister, was competing that week for Team USA as a cornerback. He said the coaches knew of Van De Mark already, and made the call for him to fly out to Nevada.
“They called Rhett in and they flew him out,” Goularte said. “He had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to learn a majority of the plays. They absolutely loved him right off the bat.”
On Saturday night, when USA battled their neighbors to the north in semi-pro football, there was no love lost between the two teams but plenty of love for Goularte and Van De Mark.
Team USA had defeated Canada 19-0, and ended a three-game losing streak as a result. Goularte made six tackles, blocked a punt, and made a one-handed interception that he returned for 30 yards.
On the offensive side, Van De Mark threw the first touchdown pass for USA in three games, and was named Offensive MVP.
Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even on the team at the beginning of the week.
Considering Team USA’s defensive playbook was 80 pages, Goularte said, the offensive playbook was guaranteed to be no joke. Van De Mark said it was about one-and-a-half inches thick and approximately 300 pages, about three times the size of his playbook for the Barnstormers.
With only three days to learn as much as he could, the Hollister quarterback entered the contest last Saturday with 60 plays on his wrist.
“The playbook we used for Team USA was a Norm Chow offense,” said Van De Mark, referencing the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. “Yeah, it was pretty fun.”
No statistics were provided as of press time, but both Goularte and Van De Mark have already been invited back to play for Team USA at their next game, a March 15 battle against Austria in Miami.
The weather in Florida will probably be better than it was in Nevada last Saturday, as both players described pouring rains and near-freezing temperatures. Said Goularte, “The field was just a mudpit.”
In fact, Van De Mark described one play in which his receiver was wide open downfield, and as he leaned back to throw, the wet football slipped out of his hands.
Both Goularte and Van De Mark are already planning trips to Miami in March, while Van De Mark is also currently studying the massive playbook for Team USA, looking to bone up on what’s in the book and not just on his wrist.
