If he did nothing else during his four years at San Diego State, former SDSU quarterback Lon Sheriff certainly smashed the stereotype of football player as basket-weaving major.
“I was pre-med at San Diego State,” Sheriff said. “I was a double major in both English and biology. …
“My courseload would consist of Shakespeare, early American literature, cellular and molecular biology, organic chemistry and some sort of physics course. It was definitely challenging.”
Reading defenses must have been a breeze after reading his textbooks.
Sheriff, of course, did something else at SDSU.
The East County native quarterbacked the Aztecs during the from 1999-2002. He guided some teams that while not the most successful from a wins and losses perspective were nevertheless entertaining offensively.
Sheriff, who lives now in Tierrasanta with his wife and four children, will be the Honor Warrior for Saturday’s Mountain West opener against Hawaii.
“Going to SDSU and representing San Diego and the Aztecs was very, very special for me,” Sheriff said.
He still has his hand in football as quarterbacks coach at Canyon Hills High School, where his son Taylon is a freshman wide receiver on the varsity team. Sheriff’s primary job is as a local representative for a medical device company.
Sheriff considered becoming a doctor after his playing career.
“I actually took the MCAT on a Saturday and signed with the Miami Dolphins on a Sunday of the same weekend in April 2003,” Sheriff said. “I was always interested in medicine.”
Sheriff observed several surgeries while at SDSU — beginning with his own.
“The first surgery I ever watched was my shoulder surgery,” said Sheriff, who had a torn labrum repaired after his redshirt freshman season. “I was able to stay awake and watch the monitor as they did the surgery arthroscopically.
“I’m watching it on the monitor while they’re manipulating the cartilage in my shoulder. You don’t feel anything in the soft tissue, but they have to drill a couple holes in the bone in order to anchor that cartilage back down.
“When they drill into the bone, there’s no way to fully numb that up. What you feel is a very intense, deep pressure. That made me grip the blanket a little bit with my other hand and grit my teeth a little bit. After they drill these holes, they have to hammer in these anchors with a mallet. … You definitely feel that.”
Suffice it to say Sheriff is more comfortable as the observer than the participant in such circumstances.
He planned to go into medicine, perhaps becoming a surgeon. That would have meant several years of medical school — and then years of paying off the bills that come with it — when he already was married and starting a family.
So Sheriff chose an occupation related to the medical field in which he could get started immediately. He still finds himself in observing in operating rooms on a regular basis.
“I deal with a lot of brain surgery and a lot of facial trauma-related surgeries,” Sheriff said. “This morning I was in a skull reconstruction. We’ll create a custom cranial implant based off of a CT scan that fills that defect like a puzzle piece.
“I have the titanium screws and plates that are used to reconstruct the face and the skull. Sometimes these sets can be a little complicated or elaborate, so as a medical device rep I’m in the operating room for onsite technical support.
“We are there to make sure the surgery goes as smooth as possible, that the products work how they’re suppose to work.”
But enough of talking shop. Sheriff was more excited to talk SDSU football.
Asked about his most vivid memory from his playing days, Sheriff excitedly recounted SDSU’s 16-15 victory at BYU in 2000 like it was yesterday.
A homecoming crowd of 61,194 at Cougar Stadium as well as viewers on ESPN+ watched BYU’s Owen Pochman kick a 50-yard field goal for a 15-13 lead with less than a minute remaining.
“On the TV screen,” Sheriff said, “they flashed a graphic that said Owen Pochman was their Player of the Game. Game-winning field goal. Well, there’s still 46 seconds left on the clock.”
Sheriff directed a six-play, 62-yard drive that began with a first down pass to J.R. Tolver and was keyed by a 39-yard completion to Derrick Lewis.
“As soon as I let the ball go, I get hit,” said Sheriff, who was still on his back when he heard the crowd go silent. “I push this guy off of me and get up and look and my guy Derrick Lewis went up, got hit in the back of the head by their safety but held onto the ball inside their 20-yard line.”
A run set up the ball in the middle of the field for a 36-yard field goal attempt by SDSU kicker Nate Tandberg.
“He drilled it right down the middle,” Sheriff said. “On the TV feed, it’s great. You can see all the fans behind the goalposts on their feet screaming and waving their arms.
“The second that ball comes off his foot you can see it’s going right down the middle. The entire crowd falls back to their seats. Dead silence.
“And the 500 or so Aztecs fans in the top corner of the stadium you can hear screaming their heads off. Our team rushed the field. I actually got carried away on a couple guys’ shoulders. It was absolutely tremendous. … To this day, that’s one of my favorite sports-related memories.”
It was only the second victory ever for the Aztecs In Provo. The first was in 1992 when a Marshall Faulk-led team won 45-38.
It was Faulk who inspired Sheriff to become an Aztec, when, as an 11-year-old, he watched the future Hall of Famer rush for an NCAA-record 386 yards and seven touchdowns in a 1991 game against Pacific.
“I ran into Marshall not too long ago and told him the story about going to my very first San Diego State football game with my father and some friends,” Sheriff said. “On the scoreboard, they flashed a stat like, ‘Marshall Faulk just set the conference single-game rushing record.’ Then the national freshman rushing record. Then, at one point, it said, ‘Marshall Faulk just set the NCAA single-game rushing record.’
“Sitting in the stands that night as an 11-year-old who hadn’t even played Pop Warner football yet,” Sheriff said, “I told myself if ever get a chance to play football, I want to be a San Diego State Aztec. That thought never left my mind.”
He got that chance just eight years later after starring at West Hills High School.
Sheriff’s four years coincided with SDSU’s first four in the Mountain West.
He had four 300-yard passing games during his career, was among the school’s top 10 quarterbacks with 21 career starts, 11th in pass attempts (675) and 14th in passing yards (4,533) and completions (356).
“For me, going to San Diego State and representing San Diego and the Aztecs was a very personal goal that I was able to fulfill,” Sheriff said. “There’s so many great football players that have played at SDSU over the years. To have any mention within that group is a huge honor.
“It is a school and a football program that has meant so much to me for so much of my life that to have that opportunity as Honor Warrior I’m extremely thankful and grateful.”
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