Nov. 27, 2005

Ask the coach how he'd describe the senior who's played most of his career in anonymity as a receiver rarely called upon to receive, and it won't take long to elicit a response.

Nor will it require many words to learn nearly all you really need to know.

"When I think of Mick Yokitis," says Navy head coach Paul Johnson, "the first thing I think about is toughness."

Pose the same question to Johnson's assistant, Brian Bohanon, and while the answer is more expansive, the sentiment is the same.

"Mick's a real hard worker who comes to work every day," Bohanon tells you. "He's an old school, kind of grind-it-out, tough-it-out (guy). Every time you turn around you see him in the weight room, always trying to better himself."

Not that one would expect Yokitis to be any other way. Not when you hear him talk about the work ethic he acquired from his father.

And most definitely not when you consider his background - a mix of Greek, Lithuanian and, as Yokitis says, "a little bit of everything" else - as a kid reared in a blue-collar part of the world.

Where football fans still lift an Iron City as a toast to the halcyon days of the Steel Curtain and to current favorites like The Bus and Big Ben.

When you grow up like Yokitis, a football player in Pittsburgh - where even the coaches, like Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher, seem to be sent from central casting for the Steel City - you don't just look the part of rough-and-tumble. You live it, in the weight room, on the field.

And you do so unselfishly, just as he has since his arrival at the Naval Academy coincided with those of Johnson and an option offense which demands that Yokitis give more than receive.

"Mick's not your typical receiver," explains Bohanon, who coaches the position for the Mids. "His role on this team in what we do is to (primarily) be a blocker and be physical."

"You're a receiver so you want to catch the ball," says Yokitis, who has only four career catches, including his first of the year last Saturday at Notre Dame. "But your main goal is to win games. I mean, in this offense you can't be a selfish person. If you are, you can't play here at wide receiver."

When the Mids put the ball in the air, it's with a purpose. They average more than 19 yards per reception, with 51 of 57 completions resulting in first downs or touchdowns.

But usually, the target is either a slot back or another receiver, like junior Jason Tomlinson or freshman Tyree Barnes.

Which, in no way, diminishes what Yokitis contributes to a program trying to play its way into the postseason for a third straight year.

"The way I look at it, I'm not the fastest guy and I know my role, as coach said, is to mainly be the blocking guy," says Yokitis. "So that's what I'm going to try to be dominant at, to go out there and show that I can block. And if I get a ball thrown my way, it's a bonus.

"I'm not too worried about it. Let the other guys make the plays and if they call on me, I know can make the catch and I know they know it too."

Of course, they do. And with good reason.

His first career reception was as a sophomore, leaping in front of the sideline to prolong a touchdown drive against Air Force. It was a milestone play in a watershed game - the first step toward Navy's first Commander-in-Chief's title since 1981.

Yokitis' then recorded his only career touchdown to help the Mids defend that C.I.C. crown with last December's win over Army.

"It's something I'll never forget," he says of the 12-yard pass from Aaron Polanco late in the 2nd quarter. "I knew I was the primary (receiver) on the play, so...I was excited. I thought, 'This is going to be the one.' Sure enough, it was."

The play unfolded directly in front of Yokitis' family, seated at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

"They were literally right there in the end zone when I caught it," Yokitis recalls. "They were more emotional after it than I was.

"I got up and looked around. I'd actually scored a touchdown in the Army-Navy game," he added, breaking into a laugh. "Everybody was going crazy. All (my teammates) were great about it."

Scoring in such a setting, before a network television audience in college athletics' most meaningful rivalry, accorded the rare moment of public adulation for one whose name rarely echoes from a stadium loudspeaker.

Still, what remains constant is the recognition of and appreciation for Yokitis - and others like him - from teammates like Marco Nelson, who has five touchdowns this season either rushing or receiving as a slot back.

"I think they know that everybody on the team appreciates everybody," Nelson said, thinking of classmates Yokitis and Lloyd Regas. "We're all yelling about the big blocks. I guess it puts more pressure on us, those of us who do touch the ball (often). You want to make big plays to make the whole team look good and win the game."

"The first thing that (a slotback) will do, Marco mostly, is say, 'That's a heck of a block,'" said Yokitis. "They're giving the credit to us. They love it. On all the long runs this year the receivers have had great blocks."

In essence, there is great pride in doing the grunt work so someone else gets the glory.

"All of us know the chance of getting the ball isn't that great. We can joke about it with each other," Yokitis says of those like himself, Regas et al. "At the same time, we don't really talk about it that much, because we don't really care about it that much.

"Nobody's concern is getting the ball. Honestly, we go into a game to see how many people we can hit and knock down. That's more what we're going for, to see who can get more knock downs than catch more passes."

There are even times he takes up residence as an offensive tackle. Difficult as it may be to fathom - unless one has seen Navy's offense at work - the 6-2, 223-pound Yokitis will actually block defensive linemen.

"At first, I didn't really know what to think. But the more I did it, the more I liked it, getting down there with the big boys," he says of a feature long part of Johnson's option offense. "It's all about quickness and getting on people's legs."

"I think Mick's taken that role and run with it," adds Bohanon. "He's sort of an old tough guy and I think he enjoys being in the thick of things."

Although clearly Yokitis has found his niche in the Navy offense, it's the last thing he expected when he left North Hills High for the Academy's prep school in Newport, R.I.

With Charlie Weatherbie in his final season as head coach, the winless Mids seemed schizophrenic - running the option one play, abandoning it the next in favor of a shotgun - while Yokitis was playing in a pass-happy offense on Rhode Island.

"We probably threw the ball 50 times a game and I probably caught the ball seven times a game on average," says Yokitis, chuckling at the idea of yesterday's expectation versus today's reality.

Smiling with the understanding that often what doesn't work out as planned, works out for the best. As evidenced throughout his athletic career.

Like the day Yokitis decided to try out for his high school football team, after some prodding from friends as well as a North Hills coach.

While his father, George, played quarterback for Indiana University of Pennsylvania well enough to draw interest from the New York Jets, Mick's mother, Toni, preferred the European brand of football. So, Mick and his three brothers enrolled in soccer.

The oldest, Matt, and a younger brother, David, also excelled in tennis. Another younger brother, Dan, turned out to be a very good baseball pitcher. And Mick was best at basketball, earning selection to a state AAU all-star team as an eighth-grader.

Playing soccer helped develop footwork and quickness that later would serve him well. But it was what Mick gained while playing youth basketball for his father that served him best.

"That's where I learned the most. He's probably one of the hardest working people I've met," Mick says of George, who graduated from IUP magna cum laude Phi Beta Kappa, before attending the Temple University School of Law. "It's just the way he is. I try to base myself on what he taught me, that whatever you do, you have to try your best and work real hard."

By the time Yokitis got to North Hills, his football identity was emerging on the basketball court.

"I played it like football," he says with a laugh. "I think that's my mentality as a person."

When he finally tried football on a field instead of hardwood, Yokitis quickly became the first-string receiver as a sophomore. Soon, he attracted interest from his favorite college team.

"I was looking at Pitt as a junior, but I didn't have the senior year that I wanted to go (there)," says Yokitis, who eventually appeared to fall off the Panthers' recruiting radar. "I always thought I'd go to Pitt when I was a little kid."

Instead, he is about to play his final home game for the Midshipmen, hoping to be commissioned this spring as an officer in the Marine Corps.

"I was a little wilder (in high school)," Yokitis says, again with a laugh. "Some people said, 'I don't think you're going to make it through that place (the Naval Academy).'

"So, I said, 'We'll see. I haven't quit on anything in my life. I'll be alright.'"

Of course, it's just another example that of how life rarely unfolds as expected. Regardless of whose expectations they are.

The doubters back at North Hills. The mother who wasn't particularly fond of football at first, but now never misses a game. Or the kid who, it seems, would rather record knock downs than first downs.

The ball may not be thrown his way and you may never hear his name. But keep an eye out, nonetheless, for number 83 in Navy Blue.

He'll be the one proudly paving the way for anyone else, as long as it helps Navy get where it wants to go.

And while the team he still roots for is in danger of its first losing record since 1999, the team he plays for is on the verge of another winning season and another bowl game.

"My dad and I were talking the other day," Mick Yokitis said last week. "(Dad) told me, 'I think you guys would beat Pitt. I think you made the right decision. Things work out for a reason.'"