He sits outside the Intercollegiate Athletics building massaging his right knee -- a knee that needed surgery two years ago. If that knee buckles one more time, it could be the difference between playing a game on Sunday or working an eight-hour shift.
He stares at his scar, a constant reminder of why he came back, though it's no bigger than the size of a quarter.
Former ASU wide receiver Shaun McDonald understands the game of life. He knows the average career of a player in the National Football League is less than four years. He isn't finishing up his degree at ASU in interdisciplinary studies to get another job.
He's just preparing for that dreaded "what if."
"I don't really plan on getting a job that's going to really do anything with my degree," McDonald said. "Just to have that paper, it should help me down the road somewhere, hopefully."
McDonald left ASU for the NFL with one semester to go before graduating -- a decision he said he hasn't regretted.
After scorching cornerbacks for 2,867 receiving yards in his three-year tenure as a Sun Devil, McDonald decided to forego his senior year.
Known by coaches and teammates as the type of person who always finished what he started, McDonald enrolled for his final spring semester almost three years later.
"I'm hoping I can [play football] for years to come," McDonald said. "I was real close to getting [my degree], so I just wanted to get it out of the way so I can concentrate on making plays out on the football field."
McDonald has done just that, catching 46 passes for 523 yards as a wide receiver for the St. Louis Rams last season.
Entering the 2006-07 season as a restricted free agent, McDonald said making it into the League still doesn't guarantee him security in the future.
"I'm not financially set right now. It'd help to be, but everything doesn't really work out like that in the league," McDonald said. "You've got to be ready to go out into the real world."
Taking 12 credits to fulfill his degree requirements, McDonald said it's been a tough road getting back into school mode.
"I've never really been a class guy, it's just something I got to get through," he said. "I just always find myself looking at the clock hoping the time goes by faster."
With two seasons under his belt, McDonald has become accustomed to the NFL schedule which includes a training camp he'll need to report to on July 28.
He'll now have to balance his schedule between staying in school and reaching pay dirt.
"I really didn't know how the offseason works, so now I'm accustomed to this stuff," McDonald said. "When I've got to go to St. Louis, I'll just come back on Fridays and finish up my class."
Raven re-hits books
He signed a multi-million dollar contract with a hefty signing bonus directly out of the 2003 NFL draft. He won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in his first year with the Baltimore Ravens and has played in the NFL Pro Bowl.
But former Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs wishes he was still a college kid. "If I could [play for ASU] all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Suggs said. "That's the type of stuff that you can't buy."
Suggs set an NCAA record his junior year with 24 sacks and then turned pro.
"The guys in college will never understand how precious it is to wake up at 5:45 a.m. with 100 of your teammates," Suggs said. "It's not just you and another player and the guy that's getting the most money is a no-show. No, in college, all of you guys are there building it together. Everybody is putting in the same work together.
"It's not like that in the NFL. NFL has endorsements, TV, the whole celeb life and fame. But that's just a whole bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with football."
It was a tough decision for Suggs to make, but considering his first round draft status and a childhood dream to always make it to the next level, Suggs grudgingly bowed out of his final year as a Sun Devil -- but not before vowing to someday return.
"I told myself I was going to take my first year off and come back the second year," Suggs said. "But I didn't come back the second year. And it was getting harder and harder."
Corinne Corte, ASU's academic coach and coaching specialist of football, said former student athletes who return after a long absence depend on their commitment to tackling the issue.
Suggs, who made a promise to his parents that he would return, said it was Corte who helped him crack open his first book and make the commitment to come back.
"If it wasn't for Corinne, I wouldn't know how to write my first paper," Suggs said. "Some kids need more attention in school than others and she gave me the extra attention and made sure I got it."
Taking a full load of classes, with his tentative graduation date set for the spring of 2007, Donald and Lavern Suggs will get their chance to see their son walk across the graduation platform as an Arizona State Sun Devil.
"My parents don't miss graduation, they may miss a game here or there," Suggs said. "But, when it comes to something this important, they don't miss."
Reach the reporter at james.schmehl@asu.edu.
