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At any college football program it’s not at all unusual to find players who played other sports during their high school years.
The Houston Cougars’ roster is littered with players who excelled in sports like basketball (L.J. Castile, Justin Johnson, Wesley Scourten and Josh Bell), baseball (Mark Hafner, Blake Joseph and Isaiah Agson), track (Ell Ash, Tyron Carrier, Patrick Edwards and Chaz Rodriguez heading a list of several players), soccer (Ben Bell, Chase Turner and Tommy Skinner), swimming (Sebastian Vollmer), wrestling (Marcus McGraw, Mohammed Usman and Jaryd Anderson) and even golf (Quinte Williams).
And then there’s Matt Nicholson.
Since his elementary school days in Plano (TX), the junior linebacker’s passion has been lacrosse, a sport he hopes to play again after his football career is over.
"They started a youth program when I was in the fifth grade," Nicholson said. "They had a big meeting where they described the sport. I didn’t even know what it was. I went there, decided to try it out, and I’ve liked it ever since."
So do many others, apparently.
The Men’s Lacrosse Championship is the highest-drawing NCAA event — it outdrew the men’s basketball Final Four, with 48,970 fans watching Syracuse beat John Hopkins 13-10 for the 2008 title (43,257 fans watched Kansas knock off Memphis for the national basketball championship).
Nicholson understands perfectly that level of interest.
"What’s actually kind of cool about lacrosse is that it’s a mixture of so many different sports," Nicholson said. "It’s like basketball because you’re setting up pick plays and fast breaks, and it’s like hockey, too, because you can have a man down or a man up.
"Like soccer you have to run, and like football you get to hit and all that. It’s really a great sport, and it’s a great sport to play in the offseason, too, for a football player. Or any athlete, for that matter."
After being a four-year starter at Plano, Nicholson put lacrosse on the backburner when he decided to walk on at the University of Houston.
"I don’t play so much anymore because I’d hate to go out there and blow out a knee," said Nicholson, who led the Cougars in tackles (57) entering Tuesday’s 37-23 loss to Marshall. "I really haven’t played much other than throwing the ball around. But I enjoyed it a lot. Once I’m done playing here I’m sure I’ll get back into it, playing in a men’s club league or something like that."
This article was written by Michael Murphy of the Houston Chronicle. |
