Junior Dan Juvan is Ithaca College’s first black quarterback. And he couldn’t think less about it.

While Donovan McNabb insists that black quarterbacks get grilled more than an overcooked steak, Juvan would much prefer to talk about football.

“I just never really think about it,” he kept saying, even as I prodded him over and over again to say something even the slightest bit controversial.

What’s the opposite of a lightning rod? The opposite of a Terrell Owens, looking to make a mountain out of every molehill?

Well, that’s Juvan. If he’s cool in the pocket, he’s just as relaxed talking — or not talking — about his race at a position that breeds contention.

“It’s a distraction to even think about it,” he said. “It only takes your focus away from the game and your studies.”

Sometimes, though, it’s not that easy.  McNabb, after all, hasn’t always started the conversation. A leader of the NAACP criticized him earlier this year for “not scrambling enough,” code for not being a black enough quarterback.

Juvan doesn’t play in the NFL, but he’s still in a high profile position at a school steeped in football tradition with a student body almost as white as Sweden.

To look at a school like Ithaca that is nearly 94 percent white, a black quarterback, the first black quarterback, might be something to applaud, or at least notice. But not for Juvan.

“I’ve never heard a word about it from anyone,” he said. “Everyone’s just been real nice since day one.”

For every word Juvan’s never heard about breaking the white quarterback mold on South Hill, that’s exactly how many times he’s ever brought it up, too.

“That’s just not how I was raised,” he explained.   

So what about the identity crisis McNabb has to deal with, the one that had Michael Vick more confused than a cross-dresser? The one where you see a black guy taking snaps, and everyone in the stadium wonders how often he’s going to pull the ball down and run.

“You can’t tell if someone’s going to run by the color of their skin,” Juvan said. “That’s just stupid. I scramble when I see grass, and that’s it.”

It’s as simple as Saturday’s game against SUNY-Cortland, where white quarterback Ray Miles finished with four carries, the exact same number as Juvan.

“Black, white, green or purple, I think people are just more concerned about your character,” Juvan said.

That’s pretty good for someone who never thinks about it.