Football players know about the look. When executed correctly, an intense glare can do wonders for intimidating opposing players on the gridiron.
Christian Olsen is no exception. But in addition to the game-face glare Virginia's top returning quarterback gives under center he has some other looks in his arsenal that would make Derek Zoolander stop dead in his tracks.
Forget about Blue Steel or Magnum. Olsen's online Explore Talent modeling profile features several photos of the 23-year-old New Jersey native showing off his sensitive side. And his pensive side. And his thoughtful side. My personal favorite features Olsen in a black blazer and white dress shirt with the first three buttons undone, leaning up against a wall and staring off into the distance with a look on his face I like to call "Orange Fever."
Forget about model/actor. Olsen is the new breed of model/athlete.
Groh has already named Olsen, who transferred to Virginia in 2003 after spending a year in Notre Dame backing up Carlyle Holiday, the frontrunner to take over the starting quarterback position four months before the start of the 2006 season.
Redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell received much of the buzz heading into the spring, and many question whether Groh should throw so much support behind a senior when there is a freshman waiting in the wings who has the potential to be a four-year starter, but I think Groh has made the right move supporting Olsen. The quarterback has done everything asked of him so far and has been, pardon the pun, a model team member in his two years with the squad.
The Newark Star-Ledger offensive player of the year in high school, Olsen was the Most Valuable Player of the 2003 Notre Dame Spring game. He hasn't had much of a chance to show off his skills since, however, as former starter Marques Hagans stayed healthy enough to start all 25 games of his junior and senior seasons.
Almost three years after leading his Blue team to a 17-14 victory over Gold in South Bend, Olsen will have another chance to shine with the spotlight on him Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium. He will be under center when the Offense goes up against the Defense during the 2006 Spring Football Festival.
During one of Virginia's four open practices a couple of weeks ago I saw Olsen clearly outperform the other signal callers, setting himself apart from his teammates. He consistently threw crisp and accurate passes and seemed the most focused of the four scholarship quarterbacks practicing at the position.
Several reports of the more recent practices confirmed my suspicions -
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