by Kimberly Wooten
September 23, 2009 - The Nerf football. You know it, you love it, and if you're freshmen place kicker Brett Baer waiting to practice field goal kicks, you may even fling it around a bit for good measure.
Running back snapping the ball or wide receivers trading their speed and good hands for a quarterbacks tight spiral, it's not uncommon to catch players wearing different hats during, before, or after practice.
Take starting quarterback Chris Masson and back-up quarterback Brad McGuire. Wide receiver would be the home for these two Gulf Coast natives if not for their talent with the long ball.
But, a shared interest in the same position is not the only thing these two Cajuns have in common, not even by a long shot.
On paper number 7 (Masson) & number 8 (Mc
Guire) are almost identical. 6'2, 210 pounds, sophomores hailing from the beaches of Florida, which both say is what they miss the most about their home state, and parallel athleticism.
McGuire was the go to guy last season as former QB Micheal Desormeaux sat sidelined with a knee injury and started his first college game against Arkansas State where the Cajuns rallied in the final 4 minutes of the game for a comeback win with a score of 28-23.
Masson served as the number 3 man behind Desormeaux and McGuire and saw his first career pass against FAU.
After 2008 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year Desormeaux left the battle for the top spot began.
Spring drills and a closed scrimmage later Masson found himself in the top spot.
From the naked eye this storyline may give you reason to believe there may be bad blood between the teammates, but after spending a couple minutes with the two QBs after practice, nothing could be further than the truth.
"Offensive line," stated Masson as the most important position in football. "Oh, I mean I was gonna say quarterback." joked McGuire.
"It starts and ends with the offensive line." stated Masson. McGuire agrees, "They make everything happen."
"Every play relies on them, if somebody slips through there could be a sack, if somebody misses a block on the running game the play is done. I think that's why it's so important to have a great offensive line and I think that's why we have a great offense this year and in the past years."
Sports Information Director Mr. Daryl Cetnar joined the conversation when the topic of playing with the greats came about. "If I was a quarterback I'd say Barry Sanders." "I almost said him." chimed in McGuire who would play with running back legend, Walter Payton "No, he gets the ball every play" rejected Masson who would play with record breaking wide receiver Jerry Rice if given the chance.
"I want to throw to someone I know will catch the ball every time." stated Masson.
With a roster including senior RB Undrea Sails, freshman RB Draylon Booker, junior WR Marlin Miller, and sophomore RB Julian Shankle I don't think catching the ball will be any kind of problem.
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