Aug. 10, 2010
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Bronx, N.Y. -
It was a long day for the 2010 Fordham football Rams. Up at 5:00 a.m. for Judgment Day 2 in the pool, the Rams hit Jack Coffey Field in the afternoon for their first full practice of the season.
The morning session consisted of team building exercise in the Col, Frances B. Messmore Aquatics Center under the guidance of the team from The Program Athletics, a program that instills courage, commitment, integrity, perseverance and selflessness to the team and inspire it to superior performance on the athletic field.
In the afternoon, the Rams took to Jack Coffey Field for the first full practice of the summer. The practice was the third of five NCAA required acclimation days. The players are allowed to wear only helmets for the first three days of acclimation before donning shoulder pads for the fourth day and full pads for day five.
Practice started with head strength and conditioning coach Ted Perlak running the team through its new prepractice stretching program. The stretching, as was the practice, was spirited with the Rams applying many of the team building exercise they acquired from the two Judgment Days.
"It was nice to get out here and start working out the team," said head coach Tom Masella. "The guys seemed to have picked up some important things from the judgment Days that will carry over to the season. Our focus now is to work hard and get better every day."
One of the biggest questions facing Masella is who will replace graduated record-setting quarterback,
John Skelton, who was the fifth round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals last June. The two leading candidates are sophomores
Ryan Higgins and
Blake Wayne, with junior
Doug Papy and sophomore
Benjamin Heiser and
James Avedesian also pushing for the position. Of the five, only Papy has any varsity experience, that coming in three games last year.
"I'm excited to get things going today," said Higgins. "I think I learned a lot last year from John Skelton, who taught me the importance of the speed of the college game."
Wayne reiterated the excitement displayed by Higgins and spoke of the competition. "We have some big shoes to fill but the competition will make everyone better."
There will also be competition at running back as the rams return their top two runners from last year, senior Xavier Martin and junior Darryl Whiting, who will be joined by Hofstra transfer Carlton Koonce and junior Jamir Livingston.
"We have a wealth of talent at running back," said Masella. "That gives us a lot of options. We may even line up two backs in the backfield at times."
Defensively, the Rams will be led by captains
Jordan Bledsoe and
Nick Magiera, who will be joined by five other returning starters from 2009.
2010 summer camp is also historic as the Rams welcome their first class of scholarship players to Jack Coffey Field. These players are the first scholarship football players at Fordham since 1954.
Notes: Three Rams celebrated birthdays today with David Mendez and Wendell Joly turning 22 and Langston Lacroix celebrating his 19th.
