Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/22/2010 at 7:03pm

HOOVER, Ala. — Everywhere Ryan Mallett turned in the Wynfrey Hotel folks were looking for an opportunity to visit. And the list of those seeking an audience with the Arkansas junior quarterback at Southeastern Conference Media Days wasn’t just limited to reporters.

Even SEC Commissioner Mike Slive — arguably among the most powerful men in college athletics — sought out a chance to chat it up with Mallett. Slive caught Mallett between national interviews and welcomed the Heisman Trophy candidate back to the SEC for another year.

If anyone didn’t yet realize that Mallett was among the rising stars in college football, then this week should have clinched it.

Mallett, who decided against leaving for the NFL, was named the SEC coaches’ first-team quarterback. He was named to the watch list for the Davey O’Brien and Manning awards.

And, perhaps most significantly, Mallett became the first Arkansas player in more than three decades to go it solo on the football media guide cover.

Why is that such a big deal? Razorback Coach Bobby Petrino is not the sort of guy who hypes players without merit. He’s a team-first guy.

So it was a bit of a shock to see Mallett as the lone Razorback on the cover of the 2010 media guide. Without question Mallett is the face of the program this year, something the quarterback said would not go to his head.

“[Coach Petrino] knows that all this is not going to get to me,” Mallett said. “I’m here to play football and go to school. Going into the season, I feel like he has the confidence in me that I’m going to take care of my business and I’m going to lead the team like I’m supposed to.”

Teammates seem just fine with the attention Mallett is getting. Defensive end Jake Bequette and tight end D.J. Williams were on hand here as part of the Arkansas media days contingent, but you might have never known it by the hordes of cameras following Mallett from room to room.

Bequette was asked about his teammate’s spot on the media guide cover, but his quote on that best summed up the whole summer of Mallett.

“He’ll tell you he hates that,” Bequette said. “But he’s loving every second of it. He deserves it.”

Mallett is garnering this much attention despite an injury that left him off the field for spring practice. And Mallett has been in a protective boot for most of the last five months. He broke a bone in his left foot during off-season conditioning work and had a surgery to fix it in February, then went under the knife again in June to replace a screw.

Mallett and Petrino stressed that the record-setting Texarkana native would be back in action in time for fall camp. A rigorous rehab schedule, including a swimming regimen Mallett joked would have him ready for the 2014 Olympics, was put in place to aid the recovery process.

There were stretches this summer where Mallett was convinced people were more interested in his left foot than his overall well being. No matter where he turned, the question always came up about his foot.

Even Mallett’s foot has reached celebrity status.

“It’s been crazy. It’s the only question I get,” Mallett said. “‘How’s your foot?’ It’s everybody. Fans. Students. Guys at the store buying a PowerAde. Everybody I run into is asking me about it.”

And the answer is always the same. Mallett expects to be back on the field soon. He’s been leading 7-on-7 drills even in his protective boot.

There is a good chance Mallett’s health will be in question up to the beginning of camp Aug. 5 and when he is witnessed on the field going full-speed.

But any questions about Mallett’s ability to handle the spotlight? Those have been answered.

Tagged: D.J. Williams, Jake Bequette, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ryan Mallett, SEC, Bobby Petrino, SEC Media Days, Mike Slive