Familiar faces
Lulay, Meyer could face each other in Europe
By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

There are a number of important dates on Travis Lulay’s calendar this year.
There’s July 14, the day he will marry high school sweetheart Kim Tower in their hometown of Stayton, Ore. Another biggie is July 23, the day Seattle Seahawks’ training camp is scheduled to begin.
May 5 also has gold-star potential: That day, Lulay is likely to be facing his former Big Sky Conference rival and nemesis, Erik Meyer.
In Germany.
Lulay is one of five former Big Sky stars who will play in NFL Europa League (formerly NFL Europe) this spring. The former Montana State quarterback is currently in Tampa, Fla., for a four-week training camp before he departs for Germany early next month to play for the Berlin Thunder.
Lulay, who is property of the Seahawks, started two-a-day practices Wednesday. He hasn’t taken a snap in a game since Montana State defeated rival Montana 16-6 in Bozeman on Nov. 19, 2005.
After the Seahawks cut him in September of 2006, Lulay became an assistant coach at MSU.
“I’m real excited about getting the opportunity to play again,” he said from Tampa Monday, “and getting to meet a whole new bunch of people.”
There are some familiar faces, however.
Such as Meyer, who won the Walter Payton Award after his senior season at Eastern Washington. Meyer and Lulay, while both were juniors, played in one of the wildest games in Big Sky history, with Eastern winning 51-44 in overtime.
Come May 5, however, they will be auditioning for NFL jobs when Berlin plays Meyer’s Cologne Centurions. NFL Network will carry the game live, beginning at 10 a.m. (MDT).
“I didn’t know if I’d ever play against him again,” Lulay said. “We had some battles in college. It’ll be fun to square off against him again.”
But Meyer’s football career nearly ended last year after he was cut by the Cincinnati Bengals. He then signed a contract to play for baseball’s San Francisco Giants.
The Giants, who drafted Meyer twice, took him in the 30th round of the 2005 draft. (The Giants also selected Meyer in the 37th round in ‘04, and the Cincinnati Reds took him in the 37th round in ‘01).
But while Meyer’s fastball has been clocked at more than 90 miles per hour, he jumped at the chance to play in Europe when the Centurions signed him as a free agent.
Baseball is now more of a fallback option.
Meyer could not be contacted, but his agent, Scott Smith, explained that his client “signed a dual sport contract which allows him to pursue football to the fullest extent. His first love is football.” That means if football does not work out, Meyer becomes property of the Giants.
On Nov. 13, 2004, Meyer and Lulay put on a show at Bobcat Stadium. The pair combined for 929 total yards (125 rushing, 804 passing) as Eastern denied MSU’s bid for the Big Sky championship. Lulay had 432 passing yards and another 110 on the ground. Meyer passed for 372 yards.
The Bobcats led 31-10 early in the third quarter before Meyer threw four touchdown passes. The third came with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. He threw the fourth one on the second play of overtime.
The teams combined for 1,219 total yards, including a school-record 683 for MSU.
Meyer’s Eagles also defeated the Bobcats the next year, 35-14 in Cheney, Wash., though neither quarterback threw for more than 300 yards.
Earlier this week, they met again.
“We hooked up the other night and talked for a long time, catching up a little bit,” Lulay said. “It’s good to see some familiar faces.”
The two other quarterbacks on Berlin’s roster are Omar Jacobs and Walter Washington. Jacobs, who was allocated to NFL Europa League by the Kansas City Chiefs, threw 71 touchdown passes and only 11 interceptions at Bowling Green. Washington was more of a runner during his Temple career. Like Lulay, neither has thrown a pass in the pros.
Each quarterback is getting equal playing time for now.
“Our coach (John Allen) said that he will name a starter by the end of camp,” Lulay said. “The starter will play three quarters, our second guy will play the second quarter and the third guy will play in spot situations here and there.
“It’s pretty much open competition. We’re all here for the same thing.”
Lulay, who has distant relatives in Germany that he has never met, has been out of the country just once when the family went on a Caribbean cruise. That means he already has a passport.
Now, if he can only gain entry into the NFL.
“It’s fun to be playing again and meeting a bunch of new guys and the camaraderie of being on the team and all that, but it’s pretty mentally and physically tough,” Lulay said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”