By Kevin Hampton
Corvallis Gazette-Times
CORVALLIS - Ben Terry puts his gloves on the same as everyone.
It’s just that the gloves Terry uses as a defensive end for the Oregon State football team have been specially made.
Terry has six fingers on both hands.
It’s called polydactylism and it’s not all that uncommon. It occurs one in every 500 live births, although many people have the extra digits removed.
Bond girl Gemma Arterton had it, as did Major League Baseball pitcher Antonio Alfonseca, rock musician Sid Wilson of Slipknot and jazz pianist Hampton Hawes.
Terry was given the option to get rid of his extra fingers by his mother when he was in grade school because he can move his fingers and most with polydactylism do not have that ability.
“So it was an option I had to keep them or get rid of them in about third grade and I just chose to keep them,” Terry said. “It’s just a nice little trait I have. It’s just a little different from everybody else. God made me that way.”
He did get picked on for a while as a youngster, but that faded and Terry said his extra fingers became cool.
It hasn’t hindered him in the slightest. Terry became good at sports and his hands were part of his success.
“If anything, it helps,” Terry said. “Football, I played a little receiver in high school, so catching the ball was a little bit easier and in basketball, palming (the ball was) a little bit easier.”
He got so good in football that he was rated as the 33rd best outside linebacker in the nation after his senior season in 2005 at Capistrano Valley High in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
After becoming an all-Mission Conference player at Saddleback Junior College, Terry landed at OSU for the 2008 season and is in the running to become a starter for the Beavers this season.
“It’s a great opportunity, so I’ve got to take advantage of it,” he said. “We have a lot of great guys at the defensive end position and the d-tackle position and we go up against a great offensive line to help me get better every day, to help all my teammates, the Gabe Millers, the Kevin Frahms, the Matt Lagrones, help us get better.”
He said he’s not worried about the pressure of taking over at a key position for the Beavers, who relied on Victor Butler and Slade Norris to pressure opposing quarterbacks into mistakes and pile up sacks.
Butler finished the season with 12 total sacks and Norris had 10. Defensive tackle Stephen Paea was third with five.
Terry said he can use his playing time from last year — he finished with 11 total tackles — as a springboard into this season.
“I’ve just got to come out here every day and work hard, just do my job and work with my teammates,” he said. “They’re going to get me better and I’m going to get them better and everything will fall in place.”
Defensive end Matt LaGrone said he worked out with Terry all summer.
“BT’s more of a lead by example kind of guy,” LaGrone said. “He’s a calm and collected kind of guy. He doesn’t say much, but once he’s out there on the field he does what he has to do to make plays.”
Terry has the speed to make the transition to starter, having been timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40 in junior college.
LaGrone said he’s relentless when pursuing a quarterback.
“He’s always trying to get to the quarterback,” LaGrone said. “His get-off is so explosive and fast, you can’t help but watch him sometimes rushing the quarterbacks.”
Terry knows he needs to bring that speed to the table, but he is working to become a well-rounded player.
He wants to take that next step for OSU.
“I got a good burst off the ball, a little quickness, some speed, but I don’t want to just be that, I want to try to be an overall player,” he said. “The d-ends have different traits to help me perfect my craft in different ways, so it’s good.”
LaGrone said he didn’t notice Terry’s extra fingers until somebody pointed them out to him.
Opponents most likely won’t notice, either.
“When I first saw it, it was kind of a surprise,” LaGrone said. “But he does what he does.”
