Behind the Facemask: Marcus Forston
June 8, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — They want to tell their story. They want you – their loyal fans – to get to know them better. Over the next two months, HurricaneSports.com will continue the unique journey into the lives of each and every one of Al Golden’s Hurricanes.
Marcus Forston | Defensive Line | Junior | Miami, Fla.
I was raised in one of the deadliest projects of Liberty City. I never went to jail, never had any problems with the police, always respected every man and every woman. I grew up with manners because my mom was hard on me; she started on me when I was small. Opening the door for any lady, no matter what. Saying “thank you” is big and it’s something I don’t think people respect. More people need to use those words more in this country.
Competition is something that every kid in the projects knows about first. It’s one of the first things you learn. Playing street basketball, everything. Who can run to the candy lady first, who can run the ice cream truck down. Everything you do growing up is competing to be better than your neighbor, to be better than the next man.
Miami Northwestern made me the guy I am today. Going there, not having the teachers that everybody else had, not having the education on the level it was supposed to be. I was behind when I first came in. You can’t make excuses, but I came in here knowing I was behind. I had to do extra reading, had to meet with my tutor two or three times a week, meet with my teachers. There are things that you learn that you have to do. When I first came here, I didn’t know how to eat with a proper fork coming from that place. Only thing I knew was football. Now today I’ve know which fork is the salad fork, which is the dinner fork, how to cut meat with your knife. There are certain things you gotta learn and things you gotta grow out of. You can’t stay in that place. You can’t forget about the projects that you came from, but you can make a better living for you and your family.
Playing football has given me a more positive impact on kids in my community. Growing up, I always knew I was going to be a leader. I was going to come back and show them anything is possible. Playing football gave me that extra edge.
I was the baby in my family. Right now, when I graduate in December, I’ll be the first on either side of my family with a college degree. Growing up I was the man of the house. They would come to me for advice even though I was the youngest. I always knew I had those leadership skills in me.
The U is something serious. It’s the biggest fraternity in the world. People always say, “Are you gonna pledge this or that fraternity?” and I say none of them are stronger than what we do. There’s no fraternity where you see your brothers everyday, there’s no fraternity where you sweat and bleed together and have that passion together, there’s no fraternity like it.
I secretly wish that marriage could come earlier. A lot of people are out here for the wrong reasons. Once you find that girl, I don’t feel like you should wait long, cause they don’t come around that often. If you have that person, why wait if you feel it? If the feeling is right, you gotta go all in, and the pot has to be full with everything in it. If you feel like it’s right, then you gotta go in there, and if you lose, man, you lose, but if you win, then it’ll be amazing.
I didn’t think I would be the first one to graduate from my family. I was the baby, and getting this college degree is gonna mean way more than going to the NFL, maybe getting a million-dollar contract, way more than buying my mother the house that she needs and deserves. It’s gonna mean so much, because I’m gonna have that on my wall forever, you can never take it away. You can take away the NFL, the money, the cars, but that paper can never go away.
When I was six years old I was overweight. I had to play two pounds over my age. When you’re six years old, you have to play 65. I was playing against 85-pounders, and they were eight years old.
Legacy is something that doesn’t come overnight. Like Coach Golden, when he first got here, there were 196 more days before the Maryland game. He could have waited until camp to put up “54 more days” or he could have waited the week before Maryland. He started 196 days before the game, during spring football, and that’s how legacy is starting to take place this year.
I’ll never forget growing up and seeing my mom take care of six kids by herself. My dad was around, but not in the same household. Not having a male figure in the house was hard. My mom had to play both roles; she had to be tough on the boys but be passionate and there for the girls. I always knew I was gonna treat every woman I step close to well because I didn’t want anyone to treat my mother and my sisters like that.
Three-technique is when you put your hand in that dirt and come off that ball as hard as you can. Because nine times out of ten, you’re not gonna get double-teamed, because the tackle is right next to you. But whoever that is outside of you, you’re one-on-one. You know you have to beat your man cause the one-technique is doing all the dirty work, so you can’t let your teammates down.
Everybody can criticize where we’ve been the last couple years, but this year is gonna be special. I know that, I feel it in my heart. I know this team is on the same heartbeat; our blood is pumping the same way. If you cut us open, all of us are gonna bleed orange and green because guys believe in the program, believe in Coach Golden, and believe in each other, building our team chemistry. We’ve always had talent and some of the strongest and fastest guys, but if you don’t have that team chemistry, nothing is gonna happen. Knowing that the guy next to you is gonna do his job and that you don’t have to worry, that makes a big difference in having a championship team.
We are all in right now. We’re all focused, 110% effort. Listening to the coaches, giving it all in the weight room, in the classroom and on the football field. Players are sitting in front of the classrooms now, and the professors are walking in shocked right now because they’ve never seen it. We’re doing it on every level.
Make sure to check in for a new Behind the Facemask profile each and everyday in preparation for the Hurricane football season opener. For a review of all past profiles, check out Behind the Facemask Central.
