By Steven Lau, editor-in-chief

It was a hot afternoon in early June 2006 at the University of Southern California’s high school football camp, and USC head coach Pete Carroll stood on the field watching a small group of players that had been designated as possible recruits.

Among this group was Jeff Meads, a Cal High junior who had been named part of the all-EBAL first-team and was being recruited by several universities, including UC Berkeley and USC.

But Meads’ rising football career took a sudden change of course that afternoon when during a routine drill his cleat caught on the turf as he lurched forward to make a hit. Screaming, Meads fell to the ground with a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus in his left knee.

“It was really a shock at the time. You think this stuff won’t happen to you, that other people have these kinds of injuries,” said Meads. “I was thinking how I wouldn’t be able to play my senior year at all.”

The offers from big universities quickly disappeared as news broke about the injury’s extent and the months of rehabilitation that would be needed.

“It’s a business, and that’s what I didn’t realize when I first got into it,” Meads said. “(The colleges) act like your friends, but they are just trying to get the best players possible.”

Despite what could have been a football career-ending injury, today Meads is a fourth year junior at the University of Nevada and the starting center for the No. 15 ranked Wolf Pack (12-1), the Western Athletic Conference co-champions after having upset previously ranked No. 3 Boise State on Nov. 26.

The University of Nevada is set to compete in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Jan. 9 at AT&T Park in San Francisco against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Boston College Eagles (7-5).

The game, in a way a homecoming for Meads, is the culmination of what was a fantastic year for both Jeff and his team.

This season was the first time since his junior year at Cal that Meads started a football game. Though getting to this point has taken tremendous work, it has been worth it for Meads.

“I just tried being the best I could, and eventually I got to the point of feeling like nothing was wrong with my knee,” Meads said. “I had to get over the mental aspect at first, but my knee hasn’t been a thought since.”

During his senior at Cal, after the major universities had rescinded their offers, Nevada and several other smaller schools began pushing hard to recruit him. To his surprise, Nevada offered a full-ride scholarship, and in January 2007 he committed to the Wolf Pack.

After red-shirting his first year, Meads played in a total of six games during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. But this year, Meads stepped up to be the offensive line’s starting center.

Meads said every afternoon during the week is dedicated to football, whether it is for drills, weight lifting, team meetings, or watching film. And nearly every weekend is taken up by a game or practice.

“It’s a full-time job,” he said. “But you get as much as you put into it.”

In addition to fulfilling his commitment to the football team, Meads, a psychology major, also must balance his school work and social life, which has not always been easy.

Having worked back from a major injury, dedication and hard work are nothing new to Meads, said former Cal High head coach Tony Sanchez.

“His junior year he blows his knee out and all the recruiting stops. But he stayed positive,” said Sanchez, who coached Meads his junior and senior seasons. “He was there at practice every single day. He couldn’t compete, but he was there, and that shows character and resolve.”

Jeff credited Sanchez as one of the primary reasons he was noticed by colleges, recalling the efforts his former coach made to invite coaches to games and send out game tapes.

“You demand a lot from your kids, and you’ve got to go all the way to get them an opportunity to play at that next level,” said Sanchez.

Now that he has reached the collegiate level, Meads has not disappointed his supporters, the biggest of which are his family members.

So far this season, Meads’ parents have traveled to all but one game.

“When you have a child who works so hard to reach their dreams, to finally see it come true is just incredible,” said his mother, Jenny Meads, who works in Cal’s front office.

When Meads was younger, he would do extra practice and training with his father, Jon, who played as a safety for UC Berkeley during the early ’80s.

But Meads said neither of his parents pushed him into playing football. It was something he decided to do for himself.

It was not until part way through high school, though,  that he began to think of football as a possibility in college.

Now that possibility has become a reality, and Meads intends to continue as the Wolfpack’s starting center next season, though beyond that his future is unclear.

You always want it to be like this, but you never expect it to actually happen,” he said. “Everything that’s happened this year is a dream come true.”