CMU Football Seniors Look Back
11/9/2018 1:46:00 PM | Football
CMU's 17 Seniors play their final home game on Saturday.
Seventeen seniors, seventeen stories.
For every Malik Fountain, a four-year starter, a two-time all-leaguer and one of the nation's top tacklers, there are many more like Alex Neering, like Jack Sheldon, and like Trevor Apsey.
They are among the 17 Chippewa senior football players who will be honored on Saturday prior to CMU's final home game.
For some, such as Fountain, it has been an uninterrupted arch, if you will, through four years of college, starting every game since setting foot on campus to, he hopes, a professional career in 2019.
For most, it isn't a straight line, but rather a meandering path that sometimes doubles back on itself; and it's also about awaiting a chance, preparing, and being ready. It's about controlling what you can control, and reacting to what you can't.
Sure, Saturdays matter, as do numbers and performance and potential and health. But for most, four or five years in the Central Michigan football program can mean so much more. The internal growth is exponentially larger and often much more rewarding than what may or may not have been achieved on the field.
Sheldon is unquestionably the Chippewa who has come the farthest, literally, in pursuit of his football dreams. A native of Victoria, Australia, he is one of dozens of Aussie punters who have followed the path to a U.S. college.
He played Australian Rules Football where he, and so many others, refine the distinctive Aussie rollout punting style. Then he went through Prokick Australia and followed the pipeline to the U.S. His brother, Tom, punted at North Carolina.
Learning the game wasn't so difficult. The culture? That wasn't too bad, either. But there were obstacles.
"I think having an Australian accent made it kind of easy to make mates over here," said the highly affable Sheldon. "The first person that I met was Da'Quaun Jamison and he's from down in Georgia. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and I couldn't really understand a word he was saying and I don't think he could understand a word I was saying."
Apsey, an outside linebacker, didn't have to travel nearly as far as Sheldon did to get to Mount Pleasant, but his journey was certainly no easier.
A native of the tiny hamlet of Empire on the Lake Michigan shore due west of Traverse City, Apsey was a star at Glen Lake High School – enrollment 248 -- in Maple City. He was a walk-on at CMU and was awarded a scholarship before the 2017 season, his junior year.
Apsey received the news that he was to receive a scholarship during a team meeting. Coach John Bonamego stood at the front of the room, the players sitting in chairs in front of him. Bonamego's cell phone rang, and on the other end was Apsey's father. Bonamego summoned Apsey to the front of the room, handed him the phone, and Apsey's father delivered the news that a scholarship offer was on the table.
"That was really cool -- a really cool experience," the soft-spoken Apsey said. "It was like all the hard work had paid off."
A country boy through and through, Apsey, who now sports a hefty red beard, said fishing and snowmobiling are his passions. CMU football has given him the opportunity to do things that few from his background might otherwise get to experience.
"It's definitely been a really cool experience being able to go to the Bahamas, to Idaho, to Miami – all the cool places that we've been to for our bowl games," he said. "I'm pretty fortunate."
Neering is another native Michigander – he hails from Essexville, about an hour east of Mount Pleasant -- who chose to continue his education and athletics at CMU.
Neering began his career as a defensive lineman and then switched to offensive tackle before the 2017 season. He was a starter at the beginning of the 2018 season, but was injured in the Chippewas' third game of the year.
No, Neering's senior year has not played out as he would have hoped. Still, he harbors nothing but great memories of his time in the program and at CMU.
"I've enjoyed it," said Neering, who will earn his degree in construction management in December. "It didn't go as I would have hoped, but I know that happens for a lot of people. I've met a lot of friends, a lot of great people I'm going to be in touch with forever. It was 100 percent worth it.
"From being a freshman to now I've grown up a lot. I've become a lot more responsible. I've realized how much work you have to put in to be great at something. Just growing up in this program it's taught me to put in all the extra days and hours behind the scenes that people outside don't realize."
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For every Malik Fountain, a four-year starter, a two-time all-leaguer and one of the nation's top tacklers, there are many more like Alex Neering, like Jack Sheldon, and like Trevor Apsey.
They are among the 17 Chippewa senior football players who will be honored on Saturday prior to CMU's final home game.
For some, such as Fountain, it has been an uninterrupted arch, if you will, through four years of college, starting every game since setting foot on campus to, he hopes, a professional career in 2019.
For most, it isn't a straight line, but rather a meandering path that sometimes doubles back on itself; and it's also about awaiting a chance, preparing, and being ready. It's about controlling what you can control, and reacting to what you can't.
Sure, Saturdays matter, as do numbers and performance and potential and health. But for most, four or five years in the Central Michigan football program can mean so much more. The internal growth is exponentially larger and often much more rewarding than what may or may not have been achieved on the field.
Sheldon is unquestionably the Chippewa who has come the farthest, literally, in pursuit of his football dreams. A native of Victoria, Australia, he is one of dozens of Aussie punters who have followed the path to a U.S. college.
He played Australian Rules Football where he, and so many others, refine the distinctive Aussie rollout punting style. Then he went through Prokick Australia and followed the pipeline to the U.S. His brother, Tom, punted at North Carolina.
Learning the game wasn't so difficult. The culture? That wasn't too bad, either. But there were obstacles.
"I think having an Australian accent made it kind of easy to make mates over here," said the highly affable Sheldon. "The first person that I met was Da'Quaun Jamison and he's from down in Georgia. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and I couldn't really understand a word he was saying and I don't think he could understand a word I was saying."
Apsey, an outside linebacker, didn't have to travel nearly as far as Sheldon did to get to Mount Pleasant, but his journey was certainly no easier.
A native of the tiny hamlet of Empire on the Lake Michigan shore due west of Traverse City, Apsey was a star at Glen Lake High School – enrollment 248 -- in Maple City. He was a walk-on at CMU and was awarded a scholarship before the 2017 season, his junior year.
Apsey received the news that he was to receive a scholarship during a team meeting. Coach John Bonamego stood at the front of the room, the players sitting in chairs in front of him. Bonamego's cell phone rang, and on the other end was Apsey's father. Bonamego summoned Apsey to the front of the room, handed him the phone, and Apsey's father delivered the news that a scholarship offer was on the table.
"That was really cool -- a really cool experience," the soft-spoken Apsey said. "It was like all the hard work had paid off."
A country boy through and through, Apsey, who now sports a hefty red beard, said fishing and snowmobiling are his passions. CMU football has given him the opportunity to do things that few from his background might otherwise get to experience.
"It's definitely been a really cool experience being able to go to the Bahamas, to Idaho, to Miami – all the cool places that we've been to for our bowl games," he said. "I'm pretty fortunate."
Neering is another native Michigander – he hails from Essexville, about an hour east of Mount Pleasant -- who chose to continue his education and athletics at CMU.
Neering began his career as a defensive lineman and then switched to offensive tackle before the 2017 season. He was a starter at the beginning of the 2018 season, but was injured in the Chippewas' third game of the year.
No, Neering's senior year has not played out as he would have hoped. Still, he harbors nothing but great memories of his time in the program and at CMU.
"I've enjoyed it," said Neering, who will earn his degree in construction management in December. "It didn't go as I would have hoped, but I know that happens for a lot of people. I've met a lot of friends, a lot of great people I'm going to be in touch with forever. It was 100 percent worth it.
"From being a freshman to now I've grown up a lot. I've become a lot more responsible. I've realized how much work you have to put in to be great at something. Just growing up in this program it's taught me to put in all the extra days and hours behind the scenes that people outside don't realize."
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