Safety Anthony Bass steps up for Vikings.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Browse back issues of this publication by date December 30, 1999 | Johnson, GregEDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. _ For someone who had to be talked into playing football in high school, Anthony Bass has overcome the long odds of becoming an NFL player. Bass' professional career could have taken a different turn if he hadn't accepted an invitation from Bryce Casto. Before two-a-day practices started at South Charleston (W.Va.) High School in 1991, Casto made a request. ``(Bass) didn't play football his sophomore year, and when he came to our school he was a basketball player,'' said Casto, who was Bass' high school football coach and now is the athletics director at West Virginia State. ``We asked Anthony to come out before his junior year. I asked him to give it a week to see if he liked it. If he did, then stick with it, and if not, there would be no hard feelings or anything. He came out and excelled. I knew he had been an excellent football player in junior high school.'' Bass, a free-agent signee by the Vikings who has become their starting free safety because of season-ending shoulder injury to Orlando Thomas, competed against DuPont High School stars Randy Moss, Eric Moss and Bobby Howard, who later became Notre Dame's captain. Bass, 24, remembered those days as he prepared for the regular-season finale Sunday against the Detroit Lions. ``At first I was like, `Man what is (Casto) talking about,' '' said Bass, who made his first career interception Sunday in a 34-17 victory over the New York Giants. ``But he really wanted me out there, and it made me feel good. The first game I caught a 50-yard touchdown, so I said, `Oh, I can still play football.' They had a lot of talent in that area around that time for whatever reason. Most of the guys didn't make it to college. But we had a plethora of talent in that area, so I went against good competition.'' Bass, whose father, William, was his secondary coach, became a better football player and was West Virginia's player of the year after his senior season, when he played wide receiver as well as on defense. He played at Division I-AA Bethune-Cookman and spent most of his 1998 rookie season on the Vikings' practice squad. Bass was signed to the 53-man roster and played late in the season, including in the 41-21 divisional playoff victory over the Arizona Cardinals. This season he has bounced from being on the first nickel defense to playing exclusively on special teams to being inactive to starting. ``Mentally it's tough, but realistically the whole time I could say, I'm in the pros,'' Bass said. ``I could sit here and complain about not getting a shot but like (former Viking and current West Virginia State coach) Carl Lee said, `You're getting paid and you're still living your dream.' Chris Doleman told me it's best to be on the inside looking out than the outside looking in. I took that into consideration and kept my mouth shut. I just kept working as hard as I could.'' Bass has used Lee, a Viking from 1983-93, as a mentor in the offseason whenever he visits home. Applying what he has learned from others who have traveled a similar path is one of Bass' strengths. ``(Bass) is a product of what everybody around here wants,'' Vikings defensive coordinator Foge Fazio said. ``You develop a young guy, and you keep him around. You put him on the practice squad, then you elevate him and he learns. If he stays with it, then he probably is going to get a chance to play. He has done everything. The big thing with him is he listens.'' Bass is making sure he enjoys the moment. ``It's very exciting,'' he said. ``When I wake up in the morning, I'm just smiling for more reasons than just football. Life is so short, and this is an opportunity to do something I love to do every single day. It helps me feel good, and when you go out on the field, the whole city is cheering for you. We're all working together for a common bond. When people support you like that, it makes your job a whole lot easier.''< X X X (c) 1999, Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.). Visit PioneerPlanet, the World Wide Web site of the Pioneer Press, at http://www.pioneerplanet.com/