Meet the young men who will lead CU football on and off the field in 2008
With spring football seemingly in the distant past and fall camp nearly over, the Buffs are eagerly preparing for their first game against Colorado State just three days from now. Last week, the team completed what is possibly the final step in solidifying their identity as a team- they named their captains.
In a vote by the players, four fifth-year seniors, fullback Maurice Cantrell, center Daniel Sanders, free safety Ryan Walters and wide receiver Patrick Williams, were named the team captains for the upcoming 2008-09 football season.
Each entering his fifth year in the program, the four captains have a distinguished understanding of what it means to be a Buff and what it takes to succeed in Division I football. Each expressed great pride in that fact and credited their tireless work ethic and die-hard team mentality as the qualities that make them suited to lead.
Head coach Dan Hawkins said each of his new captains has displayed all the abilities a leader should have, as football players and as individuals. He said that throughout camp, each has been a constant example for the younger players on the team to follow.
“Those guys have done an exemplary job,” Hawkins said. “To me, they really typify what it is to be a leader. It’s about being a great person, being a great student and being a great football player. It’s about balancing all that stuff and taking all that stuff seriously.”
Hawkins added that aside from the example each sets on the football field, each of the four super-seniors possesses invaluable qualities as teammates that have brought the team closer throughout the preseason.
“You have to have enough guts to say something, have enough compassion to hug somebody, and have enough concern to reach out to somebody,” Hawkins said. “You have to be able to evaluate, take the pulse of, and be responsible for everybody, and have the courage, fortitude and insight to go out and do all those things. Those guys can do that.”
As much as it means to these young men to earn the respect and approval of their head coach, each said that it means even more to be awarded a title such as ‘captain’ from their teammates.
“These guys are who I’m between the lines with,” Walters said. “I bleed with these guys, I sweat with these guys and we overcome adversity together, so for it to come from them means a lot to all of us.”
Walters, who started all but one game last season, which he missed due to a concussion, will be the vocal leader on a Buff defense that lost several key players to graduation last season.
The 6-foot, 205-pound free-safety tallied 63 tackles last season, as well as five passes broken up and one key interception in the Buffs’ upset against Oklahoma last season.
On the other side of the ball, Williams, Sanders and Cantrell said they are focused on leading their teammates into the end zone this season.
Many believe that a good offense begins at the point of attack, with the offensive line. If that is indeed the case, the Buffs should be in good shape with Sanders at the helm.
The Buffs expect big things this season from Sanders, who is on the official watch list for the Dave Rimington Award, given to the nation’s top center.
Sanders said he has high expectations of himself and his young offensive line, which includes talented sophomore Ryan Miller and the athletic Nate Solder, who converted from tight end to right tackle in the spring.
“I’ve had a lot of playing experience, and all the guys feel that I’m somebody they can come and talk to about any matter in their life,” Sanders said. “Right now we’re looking real good. This is by far the best camp I’ve been in since I’ve been here. These guys are real headstrong right now and are keeping their nose to the grindstone.”
Sanders started all 13 games last season and did not allow a single sack. He will look to continue his streak this Sunday against Colorado State.
Should any opposing defenders find their way past Sanders in 2008, they will have to deal with powerful lead-blocker Cantrell, the winner of the Iron Buffalo award for hard work among running backs as well as the Jim Hansen award for outstanding academics following spring ball.
Cantrell, known to his teammates simply as “Moe,” said he is excited for the opportunity to lead the talented young backfield that Buffs will have this season. He said all three freshmen tailbacks, including top recruit Darrell Scott, have impressed him this preseason. He said he is excited to help them improve this season.
“In the first week of camp, I came out to a few of the sessions for the younger guys, and I told coach Hagan that I was really excited about the backfield,” Cantrell said. “Just seeing the young guys practice out here and watching them improve has been exactly what I expected, plus more.”
Although he is a great lead-blocker, like any player on a football field, Cantrell said he likes to get the ball as well. With the Buffs running more tight end-heavy sets this season, it looks like Cantrell, whose career offensive production as a Buff consists of the two passes he caught in 2006 against Texas Tech, may get his chance.
“In the new offense, there are more opportunities for me to be on the field, be a part of the routes, and be a part of the explosive plays rather than just lead blocking,” Cantrell said. “I’m pretty excited about it.”
One of the 2008 captains who is no stranger to getting the ball is wide receiver Williams, who is 20th all-time in receptions at CU with 74. Of those passes, 27 came last season. He is also 28th all-time in receiving yards with 748.
Like the Buffs’ offensive line and backfield, Williams will lead a talented young receiving group into the 2008 season, highlighted by speedster Josh Smith and shifty slot man Scotty McKnight.
Williams echoed his fellow captains’ expressions of pride at being asked to be captain by the rest of the team. But like the others, he made a point of emphasizing that nothing has changed now that he has been named a captain, other than the application of a formal title.
“That was one of my main focuses- I didn’t want anything to change,” Williams said. “I’ve always been a person that leads by example, I’ve never been a big ‘rah rah’ speech kind of guy. I speak from my heart and I leave it at that. If the team needs some motivation I can help provide that, but I’m just the person that I am, and they chose me to be a captain for a reason. I’m just going to be that person.”
The deeply religious receiver also said that, as a captain, one of his most important responsibilities is to enjoy what he does, and to keep a smile on his face every day.
The 6-foot 2-inch, 205-pound receiver is so suited to the leadership role, it seems he has lead the Buffs’ offense from the first offensive play of the season two years running.
He gained 24 yards on a reverse to open up last season for the Buffs’ offense, and pulled in a 42-yard pass on the first offensive play of the 2006 campaign. He holds the records for longest initial rushing and initial receiving plays in Buffs history.
Now that the Buffs know definitively who to look to for leadership, they will be able to focus their efforts on opposing teams.
If all the Buffs players approach their season opener against Colorado State in the Qwest Rocky Mountain Showdown with the same attitude as Williams and the other captains, then the Rams should be in for a tough contest.
“They’re the Green Bay Packers to me,” Williams said. “They’re the NFL team coming to put us in the dirt. I fully expect to get their best shot, and they can expect to get ours. We’re ready, we’re prepared, we’ve got a couple more days to polish things up, and we’ll be ready to go.”
