The staffs of the Cardinal Courier Sports Department and Fisher Sports Desk chose two St. John Fisher athletes, one male and one female, who have demonstrated athletic excellence, to be honored as the 2006-2007 Cardinal Courier Athletes of the Year. Athletes from all Fisher sports (fall to spring) were considered for the award. Each staff member ranked nominees on a scale of one through ten by means of a secret ballot. The results then were tallied using a point system, determining the winners.

Most people would tell you that a middle linebacker listed as 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds doesn’t have the size to play the position.

Tell that to a linebacker with 147 tackles, 67 of them solo, in the 2006 season.

Tell that to a linebacker that was a two-time D3football.com All-American.

Tell that to the Don Hansen Football Gazette Linebacker of the Year.

Tell that all to Gene Lang.

“Gene never let his size get in the way and he always played bigger than he is,” Cardinals head coach Paul Vosburgh said. “I’ve told people that if three or four guys were walking down the street together, the guy that you wouldn’t pick out that was the All-American would be Gene Lang. He just has natural instincts for playing football which makes him a very good football player and leader.”

Many times during the year, Lang exhibited his leadership abilities. One such example was before the last regular season game when the Cardinals played the Alfred Saxons. In the 2005 season, the Cardinals lost at home to the Saxons, which prevented them from going to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Lang wasn’t about to let that happen again in his senior year.

Before the game, Lang stood up in the locker room and said that he was going to the playoffs and asked who was going to follow him. All of the players were behind Lang as the Cardinals’ beat Alfred 41-13.

“[That speech] was very inspirational to me,” sophomore linebacker Kevin Reeverts said. “You could see the drive that he had, and everyone knew he was going to be the one to get us into the playoffs.”

Although it was important, Lang didn’t consider the Alfred game the key point in the season. After getting embarrassed by Springfield’s junior quarterback Chris Sharpe, who ran for 280 yards and seven touchdowns on Oct. 21, the Cardinals’ defense would have a second chance against the Pride in the playoffs on Nov. 25.

“The defense really took a step back that week,” Lang said. “I’m just glad we had a second chance to play them again.”

Lang took that second chance very seriously.

Perhaps the most important play of the year happened in that game, with 12:26 remaining in the second quarter. Sharpe handed Springfield fullback Andrew Jackson the ball at Fisher’s goal line. He pounded through the middle of the defense, but Lang was standing there, poised to make something happen.

He did.

Lang stripped the ball and Fisher gained possession of the ball. The Cardinals went on to win by six points, 27-21.

“The ball was there and I was just the guy to strip it out,” Lang said. “I think that really helped give us momentum for the rest of the game, and in the end turned out to be the touchdown difference in the game.”

The big win against Springfield propelled the team past Rowan University and all the way to the Final Four game against Mt. Union. The Cardinals lost that game, 26-14, but Lang finished with a career-high 21 tackles.

Although Lang ended his career just one step away from the national championship game, he is not done with Cardinals’ football just yet. He hopes to earn his Masters for Education at Fisher and possibly be a linebackers’ coach for the Cardinals.

“We’d love to have him here as a linebackers’ coach,” Vosburgh said. “You always want to keep players like him in the program, because I think people respond to him.”

For his career, Lang finished with 325 tackles, which put him third on Fisher’s all-time list, seven forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. His 147 tackles was the 16th highest season-total in Division III history. He finished this year as the 2006 Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, garnered First Team All-Empire 8 selection honors and, as mentioned, capped it all off with the Don Hansen Football Gazette Linebacker of the Year award.

“I was really proud to win all those awards and it was a really good cap to my career,” Lang said. “Football’s been my whole life, and I’m thankful to all the people that got me to where I am now.”

Although Lang has many accolades and awards, his lasting legacy for this program will be to have always been the one to look towards as being an example of professionalism, leadership and high standards.

“I sincerely hope that the guys behind him learned from him, and that they are going to say ‘that’s the way things are supposed to be done, the way Gene Lang did them,’” Vosburgh said.