Hall of Fame: Scott Craig (Newport Harbor)

Richard Dunn

Once Newport Harbor High lineman Scott Craig saw the path ahead of

him, there was no turning back and certainly no screwing up in front of

Coach Mike Giddings.

So Craig, following a long trail of Newport All-CIF Southern Section

offensive linemen in the 1980s, learned how to mix it up in the trenches

and protect quarterback Shane Foley’s backside.

“(Giddings) believed in getting in your face, that Vince Lombardi type

of fear for motivation,” said Craig, who later starred at tackle at

Orange Coast College and Northern Arizona University. “You didn’t want to

mess up with him. You didn’t want to look bad in front of the others. You

didn’t want him yelling at you, so you performed.”

Before Craig, Newport Harbor was an offensive lineman’s showcase with

Dave Cadigan, Brett Kacura, Mike Beech and Tom Kitchens, each an All-CIF

pick.

“The next year (1985) I figured it was my turn to step up and become

an All-CIF player,” said Craig, whose play indeed earned him a spot on

the All-CIF Central Conference team, as Giddings’ Sailors (10-3) shared

the Sea View League crown and set a school record for victories, while

reaching the CIF semifinals after being seeded first.

“Giddings took a bunch of beach boys with Hawaiian shirts and shorts,

then took them in and made them football players,” Craig added. “He made

a big impact on putting Newport Harbor back on the map. Nothing against

the coaches before him, but he brought Newport back ... I love him very

much.”

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Craig was one of five Sailors to be voted

All-CIF in ‘85, along with USC-bound Foley, kicker Sterling Coberly,

linebacker Kevin McClelland and his brother, Mark, a wide receiver.

“As a lineman, it’s just knowing you did the job and there’s a victory

up there, and knowing you didn’t give up any sacks as a whole group,” he

said.

Craig also played basketball and was an All-Sea View League baseball

pitcher in 1986, when he posted a 1.51 earned-run average under Coach

Wayne Heck.

After graduating in June 1986, Craig turned down an appointment to the

U.S. Naval Academy to fulfill a two-year Mormon mission in Chile. By the

time he returned home, his mother, Rosemary, “already had me signed up”

at Orange Coast College, where football coach Bill Workman was eagerly

waiting.

Craig started three games at tackle in the fall of ‘89, when his

brother was the Pirates’ most valuable player, then played a huge role on

OCC’s Mission Conference championship team and Orange County Bowl winners

in 1990, beating El Camino in the dense fog, 23-20.

Craig accepted a scholarship to Northern Arizona, where he thrived,

meriting All-Big Sky Conference as a tackle in ’91 and guard in ’92.

“At Coast, I was weighing 300 pounds, then at NAU I was 270 and

stronger,” Craig said. “I was no faster or no more agile, but I was at

least stronger and lighter.”

Never strong or fast enough to consider a pro career, Craig was only

interested in “doing his job” and “hopefully helping to put that big W up

there.”

Among Craig’s OCC highlights in 1990 were the Bucs’ 35-34 upset

victory at Fullerton, a game in which the Hornets were celebrating the

25th anniversary of their national championship, and Coast’s 10-9 win

over Riverside on Mike Wade’s 52-yard field goal in the waning seconds.

“We ruined (Fullerton’s) parade in a bad way,” he said.

Craig added that his brother and OCC wide receiver Derek Whiddon were

“the most incredible athletes I’ve ever seen.”

Currently living in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Craig is studying to follow

in his father’s footsteps as an optometrist. He’s a third-year intern and

on schedule to graduate with his doctorate in optometry in June 2002,

when he’s planning to move back to Orange County. His father, Ronald, has

been a local optometrist for several years.

But for Craig, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame, life took a recent detour.

In December, Craig was diagnosed with a large kidney tumor, which,

after surgery, was malignant.

“I am a survivor, so far,” Craig said in an email. “It was renal cell

carcinoma. I had the whole kidney removed in a five-hour procedure down

here in Puerto Rico by an excellent surgeon/urologist named Jose Mamyi,

and so far, (six) months post-op, (I) have a clean bill of health.”

Further, Craig and his wife, Noelia, became first-time parents to a

baby boy (James Allen) on March 28.