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UNM football: Senior Lobo Vince Natali is ready to bring leadership to the offensive line

By Iliana Limón
Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Vince Natali is back at Lobos football practice and happy to have both his arms the proper length. Natali missed spring football while recovering from shoulder surgery. He has rejoined his teammates in fall camp, which began last week, with full shoulder strength. "It feels great to be back," he said. "I'm just working on getting my footwork and timing back, but I feel like everything is coming along."

Photo by Erin FredrichsTribune

Tribune

Vince Natali is back at Lobos football practice and happy to have both his arms the proper length. Natali missed spring football while recovering from shoulder surgery. He has rejoined his teammates in fall camp, which began last week, with full shoulder strength. "It feels great to be back," he said. "I'm just working on getting my footwork and timing back, but I feel like everything is coming along."

Vince Natali is willing to do anything for his team.

Need proof?

Natali, a senior center on the University of New Mexico football team, played three years with a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

"It hurt, but it wasn't like awful," he said. "I could tolerate it."

Natali upped the ante during the New Mexico Bowl in December. During the game, he suffered a torn rotator cuff in the same injured right shoulder.

"My right arm was hanging 3 or 4 inches longer than my left arm, and that really hurt," he said. "It was awful. But I really wanted to play in that game, so I just kept going and tried to ignore it."

Natali missed spring football while recovering from shoulder surgery. He has rejoined his teammates in fall camp, which began last week, with full shoulder strength - and both arms about the same length.

"It feels great to be back," he said. "I'm just working on getting my footwork and timing back, but I feel like everything is coming along."

Like the rest of the Lobos, Natali is charged with learning a new offense.

His job isn't as simple as hiking the ball and blocking the guy in front of him. Natali must listen to the call the quarterback makes, identify how he sees the defense lining up and make a second round of calls for the offensive line to follow.

But the type of studying it takes to memorize a new playbook has never been an issue for Natali. He has always maintained good grades and was senior class president at Main South High back in Park Ridge, Ill.

"He is extremely bright, and I'm thrilled to have him back out here," offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin said. "He is so smart that if the quarterback makes a mistake on a call, he recognizes it and adjusts. He makes sure the offensive line is doing the right thing. I can't begin to say how valuable it is to have someone like that out there."

The Lobos need that kind of intelligence and leadership on their offensive line.

Last season, the linemen struggled to learn then-offensive coordinator Bob Toledo's new game plan. Without a strong front line, UNM's offense sputtered.

"I think we all understand how important it is for us to do a good job," Natali said. "We have to work hard and work together as a team to protect our quarterback and set up our offense. We can't move the ball if we don't do our job."

Baldwin said the offensive line is off to a solid start in fall practices despite having only eight offensive linemen available for most of spring workouts.

"They look much better than they did in the spring," he said. "I think we're about where I wanted to be right now. Of course, you always want to do better and you're never satisfied, but we aren't running behind schedule.

"It's a testament to our guys, who worked really hard this summer to learn the offense."