Post by azadrenalinejunkie on Apr 25, 2008 0:02:37 GMT -5
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Sporting a well-coiffed Mohawk and a free spirit, Arizona Adrenaline center Matt Mason doesn't mind traveling to a different beat as he continues to feel his way through the football ranks.
But in some ways, the Adrenaline's "wild child" might seem more like a "mild child" when moving just one rung up the family tree.
That's where his father, Gary Mason, hangs out.
Like Matt, Gary played football on the line at ASU. Like Matt, Gary still plays football on the line. But unlike Matt ... Gary is 61 years old.
It's an age normally reserved more for grandchildren, C-SPAN and slow-pitch softball than helmet slaps, elbow raps and trash talking.
But this isn't your typical silver-haired baby boomer.
"I guess you could say he's crazy, sort of like me," the 26-year-old Matt Mason said. "The only difference is, he has a full head of hair."
And he plays defense instead of offense.
For the past two seasons Gary has been in the trenches, chasing quarterbacks and dropping jaws while playing for the South Phoenix Runnin' Rebels of the very competitive semi-pro Copper Football League, which includes the Prescott area's Tri-City Titans. In fact, in 2007 Gary's first year with the Rebels, they won the Copper crown with the help of current Adrenaline players Robert Jones, Kentrell Williams, Don Drew and Matt Mason.
The championship came about 48 years after Gary Mason's foray into tackle football, and about 40 since his days as a squad leader and Purple Heart winner while serving the country as a Marine in Vietnam.
It also came 12 years after his last "retirement" from football, which was 27 years after his first "retirement." The oldest player he's ever played against is young enough to be his son. The youngest player he's ever played against?
"He looked like he just got his driver's license."
South Phoenix Rebels coach Kris Lee thought for sure it was nothing more than Matt Mason being Matt Mason when he was approached at a team practice one day in 2007.
"I thought he was joking," Lee remembers with a laugh. "I knew Matt's dad had been coming to all of our games to watch, then one day Matt comes up to me and says, 'My dad wants to play.' I was kind of like ... 'you sure, man?' At first, I really wasn't sure if it was a good idea, just for safety reasons. But I left it up to Matt. Here I am 30 years old and I'm coaching a guy 60. It was strange at first, but it's not a big deal anymore. He's been playing with us for two years and I listen to him as often as I can. Everyone around the league knows and respects him."
But they still don't necessarily believe what he's doing.
Even back in 1996, at the tender age of 50 when Gary played his first competitive football in 27 years for the Outlaws - a team playing in Phoenix's short-lived semi-pro indoor "Ironman League" - players on his own team weren't sure what to think.
"The majority of the guys were from the inner city," Gary remembers. "And some of them had spent some time with Sheriff Joe. One day they gave me the nickname 'OG.' I figured at first it stood for 'Old Guy.' But then I find out later from a policeman friend of mine that OG means 'Original Gangster,' which is the oldest surviving member of a gang. It's actually a term of endearment ... I guess."
Matt Mason isn't likely to be one-upped when boasting that "Not many people can say they played on the same football team as their dad."
But he also admits to having apprehensions when first told of his father's latest comeback with the Rebels. Not that he didn't think pops could take care of himself. After all, Gary stands 6-feet-5 and weighs 280, which is roughly the same size as Matt. But when told that Gary Mason, the longtime Phoenix insurance agent, youth football coach and current owner of a repossession business, wanted to go head-up with guys one-third his age ...
"Matt told me, 'I'll take care of you, dad, don't worry,'" Gary said. "I told him, 'just worry about your own job, son. I'll be fine.' "
In one game that job consisted of playing alongside his dad on special teams:
"He was on our field goal protection team," Matt said. "He got knocked back and the guy started talking a little trash to him. My dad looked at him and said, 'Son, I've been doing this since before you were in diapers.' The guy's jaw just dropped. I'll never forget that one.
"I'll admit, at first I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea or not. But hey, the more power to him. He loves it, and he's always supported me during my athletic career, so I'm not going to stop him from playing. I think it's great."
Don Drew, an offensive lineman for the Adrenaline who also played on that 2007 Rebels championship squad, considered Gary Mason a "surrogate coach" to a group of young guys that at times might have needed more guidance than they thought.
"At first I thought, 'does the old man have anything left?' " Drew recalled with a laugh. "But as time went on and we all got to know him we cherished his wisdom, probably more than he realized."
So, just how much more football does Gary Mason have left? As of now, he expects to be playing in the Copper Football League again next season.
"I always tell people, 'I've still got all of my original body parts,' " he said.
"When we scrimmaged Glendale Community College, after the game we walked through the line shaking hands and a few of their kids asked me how old I was. I just said, 'how old is your grandfather? See ya' in 20 years.'"
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Sporting a well-coiffed Mohawk and a free spirit, Arizona Adrenaline center Matt Mason doesn't mind traveling to a different beat as he continues to feel his way through the football ranks.
But in some ways, the Adrenaline's "wild child" might seem more like a "mild child" when moving just one rung up the family tree.
That's where his father, Gary Mason, hangs out.
Like Matt, Gary played football on the line at ASU. Like Matt, Gary still plays football on the line. But unlike Matt ... Gary is 61 years old.
It's an age normally reserved more for grandchildren, C-SPAN and slow-pitch softball than helmet slaps, elbow raps and trash talking.
But this isn't your typical silver-haired baby boomer.
"I guess you could say he's crazy, sort of like me," the 26-year-old Matt Mason said. "The only difference is, he has a full head of hair."
And he plays defense instead of offense.
For the past two seasons Gary has been in the trenches, chasing quarterbacks and dropping jaws while playing for the South Phoenix Runnin' Rebels of the very competitive semi-pro Copper Football League, which includes the Prescott area's Tri-City Titans. In fact, in 2007 Gary's first year with the Rebels, they won the Copper crown with the help of current Adrenaline players Robert Jones, Kentrell Williams, Don Drew and Matt Mason.
The championship came about 48 years after Gary Mason's foray into tackle football, and about 40 since his days as a squad leader and Purple Heart winner while serving the country as a Marine in Vietnam.
It also came 12 years after his last "retirement" from football, which was 27 years after his first "retirement." The oldest player he's ever played against is young enough to be his son. The youngest player he's ever played against?
"He looked like he just got his driver's license."
South Phoenix Rebels coach Kris Lee thought for sure it was nothing more than Matt Mason being Matt Mason when he was approached at a team practice one day in 2007.
"I thought he was joking," Lee remembers with a laugh. "I knew Matt's dad had been coming to all of our games to watch, then one day Matt comes up to me and says, 'My dad wants to play.' I was kind of like ... 'you sure, man?' At first, I really wasn't sure if it was a good idea, just for safety reasons. But I left it up to Matt. Here I am 30 years old and I'm coaching a guy 60. It was strange at first, but it's not a big deal anymore. He's been playing with us for two years and I listen to him as often as I can. Everyone around the league knows and respects him."
But they still don't necessarily believe what he's doing.
Even back in 1996, at the tender age of 50 when Gary played his first competitive football in 27 years for the Outlaws - a team playing in Phoenix's short-lived semi-pro indoor "Ironman League" - players on his own team weren't sure what to think.
"The majority of the guys were from the inner city," Gary remembers. "And some of them had spent some time with Sheriff Joe. One day they gave me the nickname 'OG.' I figured at first it stood for 'Old Guy.' But then I find out later from a policeman friend of mine that OG means 'Original Gangster,' which is the oldest surviving member of a gang. It's actually a term of endearment ... I guess."
Matt Mason isn't likely to be one-upped when boasting that "Not many people can say they played on the same football team as their dad."
But he also admits to having apprehensions when first told of his father's latest comeback with the Rebels. Not that he didn't think pops could take care of himself. After all, Gary stands 6-feet-5 and weighs 280, which is roughly the same size as Matt. But when told that Gary Mason, the longtime Phoenix insurance agent, youth football coach and current owner of a repossession business, wanted to go head-up with guys one-third his age ...
"Matt told me, 'I'll take care of you, dad, don't worry,'" Gary said. "I told him, 'just worry about your own job, son. I'll be fine.' "
In one game that job consisted of playing alongside his dad on special teams:
"He was on our field goal protection team," Matt said. "He got knocked back and the guy started talking a little trash to him. My dad looked at him and said, 'Son, I've been doing this since before you were in diapers.' The guy's jaw just dropped. I'll never forget that one.
"I'll admit, at first I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea or not. But hey, the more power to him. He loves it, and he's always supported me during my athletic career, so I'm not going to stop him from playing. I think it's great."
Don Drew, an offensive lineman for the Adrenaline who also played on that 2007 Rebels championship squad, considered Gary Mason a "surrogate coach" to a group of young guys that at times might have needed more guidance than they thought.
"At first I thought, 'does the old man have anything left?' " Drew recalled with a laugh. "But as time went on and we all got to know him we cherished his wisdom, probably more than he realized."
So, just how much more football does Gary Mason have left? As of now, he expects to be playing in the Copper Football League again next season.
"I always tell people, 'I've still got all of my original body parts,' " he said.
"When we scrimmaged Glendale Community College, after the game we walked through the line shaking hands and a few of their kids asked me how old I was. I just said, 'how old is your grandfather? See ya' in 20 years.'"