EAGLE ALUMNI

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State players were gathered on the field at Doak Campbell Stadium so photographers at the team's annual media day could snap some pictures. Everywhere, players mugged for the cameras.

Defensive tackle Travis Johnson, cornerback Leroy Smith and a group of 10 others yelled to Chris Rix, asking him to pose alongside them. Rix, walking toward the Seminoles' other quarterbacks for another group photo, turned on a dime. The players cheered. Rix walked behind Johnson and jumped onto the big defensive lineman's back and smiled.

On the eve of the third-ranked Seminoles' season opener, a transformation has taken place in the FSU locker room.

After two tumultuous years in Tallahassee, Rix finally has started to win his teammates' affections -- and their hearts.

"I'm not saying he was a bad guy when he first came in, but his personality just was different," Johnson said. "But he's starting to become more of a people person, I think. Now people are starting to accept him more."

When Rix enrolled as a 19-year-old freshman in the summer of 2000, many teammates didn't understand him at all. They considered him arrogant and aloof.

"He overwhelms you at first," offensive tackle Brett Williams said. "Last year I think we kind of mistook him for being too cocky and everything."

FSU Coach Bobby Bowden says he understands where the perceptions come from.

"He's from another country. He's from California," Bowden said. "Quarterbacks from the East Coast are different from the West Coast. . . . Easterners are the more conservative and more humble, whereas out there they're flashy."

Take the personalized license plate on Rix's Mustang. It read "LKOUTDB," a brash warning to defensive backs everywhere. Some of his teammates didn't like it.

During his redshirt freshman season at FSU, Rix often upset the team's veteran defensive players in practice. He took his job as the scout team quarterback to heart, playing as hard as he could.

"I wanted to make the team better," Rix said. "Some of the defensive guys didn't like me [with] how I'd run and make them run extra after practice for not getting the quarterback. But at the end of the year, Tay Cody and Tommy Polley and all those guys, they thanked me. They understood that I was just trying to make them better."

It also didn't help matters that Rix wasn't close to then-starting quarterback, Chris Weinke. They were polar opposites in many ways.

After beginning at Florida State at the age of 24 after years of toiling in baseball's minor leagues, Weinke was a man. Rix, on the other hand, was a teenager. Weinke hailed from Minnesota. Rix spent most of his high-school years in Southern California. Weinke attended parties. Rix, a devout Christian, doesn't drink or go to parties.

When Weinke called a huddle as a senior contending for the Heisman Trophy, he commanded respect. Rix? Well, what had he accomplished?

At the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Kickoff in July, a reporter asked Rix whether Weinke had called him after Rix fumbled twice and threw an interception in the Seminoles' stunning 41-9 loss to North Carolina last September. Did Weinke -- who threw six interceptions in an upset loss to NC State in his first season as the starter -- call to offer support?

"With all due respect to Chris, I know he's busy with his NFL career and other things," Rix answered. "But the last time I talked to him was at the Orange Bowl [on Jan. 3, 2001]. That was the last time I've seen him or heard from him."

A different kind of humor

Weinke's final college game was the 2001 Orange Bowl, leaving the quarterback job open. When junior Jared Jones was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons, it became clear Rix would be a serious contender for the starting job in the 2001 season.

Rix had business cards printed, intending to make a joke and to poke some fun at himself. They read, "CHRIS RIX, QUARTERBACK, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY."

His teammates didn't see the humor.

"He gets these business cards printed off the computer," Williams remembered. "He'll just walk up to you and hand you one of his business cards. At first, we were like, 'Is this guy serious?'

"But then after you get to know him, you know he just does it jokingly."

The Seminoles didn't get to know Rix during his first year in Tallahassee. Rix often spent much of his free time attending church services and Bible-study classes, and didn't socialize much with teammates.

Shane Mielke is the offensive line coach at Santa Margarita Catholic High, Rix's alma mater, and a close friend. He says he believes Rix is generally a shy person.

"He keeps to himself for the most part," Mielke said. "He keeps a close group of friends. Most of those friends aren't even football players. They're the members of his church group. I can definitely see how that would definitely turn some people away from him.

"Chris isn't out there at all the parties. He's not out there drinking. He's got a priority and he's got a plan, and he knows what's important to him."

But with Rix, it can be easy to jump to conclusions. His high school coaches consider him a complex person who is far more mature than most 21-year-olds.

"He tries to lead a good Christian life by just showing an example that you could enjoy life without doing the typical college routine," said Sergio Muñiz, the offensive coordinator at Santa Margarita Catholic.

Rix credits his dad, Chris Sr., for helping instill his faith. Theda Rix died of cancer when Chris Jr. was 7, and Chris Sr. raised his son alone.

Theda Rix's picture hangs in her son's locker. Whenever he throws a touchdown pass, Rix stops and points skyward, a tribute both to his mom and to God.

"It's not something he does for the camera, he does for the crowd or does to be a good guy," said Clay Shiver, a former FSU and NFL center who attends Rix's church and directs Tallahassee's chapter of Champions for Christ.

Rix says his faith has deepened in his time at Florida State.

When asked the greatest thing about being FSU's quarterback, he responded quickly. He loves football and he wants to win desperately, but the "platform" he has been given is what he cherishes most.

"Whether it's helping a kid with his throwing or speaking to a group of kids or speaking to a church, it's a real blessing to have the platform that I've been given," he said. "I never would have guessed as a kid growing up, even in high school, that I'd be where I am today.

"It's something that my dad and I talk about all the time. It's just a miracle that I'm here."

Rix hopes to play in the NFL eventually. A career in the ministry also intrigues him.

Winning them over

Rix said his faith and his family's support enabled him to weather the storms of the 2001 season. Several turnover-laden performances prompted Bowden to re-open the competition for the team's No. 1 quarterback spot midway through the season.

The week before the Seminoles' game against Maryland, Rix and Adrian McPherson, a popular and talented true freshman from Bradenton, were locked in a quarterback derby.

"Coming in here from California with LOOKOUTDB on his tag, everybody had different opinions on him and Adrian McPherson," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said.

But Rix showed his moxie against the Terrapins on Oct. 27. Early in the game, Maryland star linebacker E.J. Henderson delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Rix that knocked the quarterback out of the game. Rix returned to throw for 350 yards and five touchdowns as the Seminoles won 52-31.

"No matter what kind of criticism Chris Rix faced, he never gave up and never quit," guard Todd Williams said. "He wants to give as much as anybody on that field."

Chipping through Rix's exterior was the trick. During the off-season, Rix made efforts to spend more time with his offensive linemen and receivers off the field.

He has grown particularly close to the linemen, whom he occasionally takes out to dinner. The big guys have grown particularly fond of Rix's Arnold Schwarzenegger imitation, which Rix performs daily. "I basically think this year is going to be the perfect opportunity for us to go 14 and 0," Rix said in an impeccable imitation at media day. "Perfect!"

Rix is more at ease with his teammates, and they are more comfortable with him.

"Last year we didn't kind of understand what he was doing. We weren't on the same page with him," Brett Williams said. "I just think it was good for us to hang out a lot with him this year, just to get to know him and let him get to know us and just build trust."

Given that trust, Rix said he'll feel more comfortable being a vocal leader this season. While that's a change Bowden welcomes, he still wonders whether older players will listen to a sophomore.

"I felt like Chris Rix was as good a leader as we had on our football team last year," Bowden said.

"But the kids ain't going to accept that. They're not going to follow a freshman. So as he's here longer . . . they'll put a little bit more faith in him. There were questions there the first year, no doubt about it."

Rix's love for his school is obvious. He had his new Chevy Tahoe painted in FSU colors: garnet with a gold stripe running down the sides. His teammates' affection for him has grown, too.

Rix said he is ready to lead Florida State to a national title.

This season, his teammates say they are ready to follow.

Josh Robbins can be reached at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com