Sept. 26, 2007

Bronx, N.Y. - It's said that there are two seasons in Texas: Football and Spring Football.

Anyone who has spent any time in the Lone Star state quickly discovers that Texans take their football seriously. As evident in the book, "Friday Night Lights", Texas football is almost a religion. The games bring entire towns together, with thousands of fans packing the stands and cheering for their favorite high school program. With ten native Texans on the 2007 Fordham roster, nine of whom were recruited over the past two years, Rams fans are hoping that the Lone Star Rams bring that excitement with them

"High school football in Texas is unique," said sophomore quarterback John Skelton, a native of El Paso. "It's exciting every Friday night to go out under the lights with the entire school and a lot of people from the community in the stands."

Fordham head coach Tom Masella and assistant coach Bryan Volk, who also serves as the recruiting coordinator, lead the Rams' recruiting efforts in Texas. Masella became familiar with the Texas football scene as recruiting coordinator in that region for Louisiana Tech, where he and Volk both served as assistant coaches.

"When you get a player from Texas you get three things," said Volk. "You get someone who football is important to, you get players with good character and you get good football players. There are a lot of players there who aren't being heavily recruited and we've been able to pick up some outstanding talent."

Skelton had never heard of Fordham University before he was recruited by the Rams, but a visit to campus made a big impression

"I had been to New York before I came to Fordham since I have an uncle who lives in Connecticut and I would come up to visit him, but I didn't know about Fordham," said Skelton. "But when I took my visit here and saw what Coach Masella was building, I got excited and wanted to be a part of the program."

Other native Texans on the 2007 Fordham roster are junior quarterback T.J. Jordan (Friendswood) and freshmen David Moore (El Paso), Stephen Skelton (El Paso), John's brother, Bryson Wilson (Dallas) and Brandon Anderson (The Colony) along with two sets of twins: Ahmed and Jamal Haruna (Grand Prairie) and Nnamdi and Nndozie Onyeabor (Keller).

Adjusting to college and collegiate football wasn't the only transition facing the transplanted Texans. Leaving Texas, with its wide open prairies, to head north to the Big Apple can be intimidating to some.

"It was a little bit of an adjustment at first but I really love it here," said Skelton. "Actually one of the biggest adjustments has been playing Saturday afternoon games instead of Friday night."

With ten Texans on the roster, it's inevitable that some of the Texas attitude would come with them.

"T.J. Jordan and I are always talking about how much better Texas football is than in other states," said Skelton. "But it's all in good fun."

The Fordham football connection with Texas actually dates back to the 1930's. According to Ed Gilleran's "They Wore Their Laurels Bright", the Texas schools of the 1930's believed in their programs but were finding it difficult to showcase their talents to the rest of the country. Matty Bell, head coach of Texas A&M and Southern Methodist University in the 1930's, realized that there were only two ways for his teams to earn national recognition: play in the Rose Bowl or at the Polo Grounds. Since Southwest Conference teams did not receive regular invites to the Rose Bowl, they decided to bring their teams north.

The Rams played seven games with Southwest Conference schools between 1934 and 1941, going 2-1 against SMU, 2-0 versus TCU and 1-0 in a match-up with Rice, with all games played to a large crowd at the Polo Grounds. The TCU game in 1937 featured a showdown with Davey O'Brien, who would win the 1938 Heisman Trophy, with the Rams pulling out a 7-6 victory.

The 1940 Rams also ventured down to Texas for a game, appearing in the 1941 Cotton Bowl where Fordham fell to Texas A&M, 13-12.

Much has changed since the 1930's and 1940's, but the Rams' Texas contingent is focused on the future, hoping that a successful Fordham football program will bring the fans to Jack Coffey Field, making it seem a little more like a football Friday in Texas.