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30 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 f nights, making Edgar football the town's biggest draw. "That's pretty much all you knew from the time you were 4 or 5 years old until the time you actually got a chance to play when you were in high school," said Jor- dan Sinz, who helped Edgar win a title as a junior in '99 before his senior season loss. "That's just the way it was, you spend all your time there at practice after school, then every Friday night you were traveling to a game some- where, so that was certainly a huge part. I would say that we learned a lot of life lessons having gone through that." Those lessons helped Justin Sinz transition. He could have stayed at quarterback if he wanted, but staying under center would have sent him off to a smaller collegiate program, probably in the Mid-American Con- ference and certainly not in the Big Ten. The summer before his senior season, he went to a camp at Purdue, working out as a quarterback before Danny Hope's staff asked him to shift into the slot and receive some passes. For the first time in his life, he ran a few routes, showing athleticism and a knack for catching the ball, enough to get Purdue's attention. The Boilermakers offered later in the fall, after one of their top tight end choices fell off the board. Sinz chose Purdue, picking tight end at a Big Ten school over the other options. "I really did like playing quarterback and thought I was pretty good at it," he said. "But ultimately I said I'd rather play in the Big Ten than go farther away from home and play at a school that probably doesn't have as much support or whatever." Sinz took his lumps in those early years at the new position. Certainly his size helped, being about 6-foot-4, 240 pounds as a freshman, but other than that he didn't have much in the way of ex- perience. "I had never been in a three-point stance my whole life," the now 251-pounder said. "I had never blocked anyone my whole life, so I definitely needed that redshirt year. Blocking All-America end Ryan Kerrigan as a true freshman in 2010 certainly wasn't a good thing for me. I remember joking, 'You thought you were blocking him as good as your body was able to and you could hold him up for a second and he'd just do a counter move and rip right through you.' That was definitely a good learning year." It's been a steady progression, with Sinz playing a little as a sophomore in 2012 as Purdue's third tight end, then last year being alongside Gabe Holmes early in the sea- son, until Holmes' wrist injury sent him to the sideline. Sinz rose to No. 1 in Holmes' absence, leading the Boilers in receptions last year, catching 41 passes for 340 yards, with four touchdowns. "Justin is a reliable guy," offensive coordinator John Shoop said. "I think we often remind Justin don't just be satisfied with that. I think he's capable of more, in the run game, in the pass game, even some more downfield things." But it's Sinz's steadiness that is a particularly good trait right now, considering the personnel chaos that's erupted around him lately. Tom Campbell Sinz was Purdue's only experienced, healthy and eligible tight end leaving the spring, but it could be a deep position this fall.