Man in the Middle

Dayton Daily News
September 20, 2002
By Mark Gokavi

HUBER HEIGHTS — Long before he morphed into "The Deuce," Marcus Freeman was the pudgy kid not catching any fish.

Freeman would follow his older brother, Mike, to the home of Wayne High School football coach Jay Minton. The younger brother was a 5-foot-10, 230-pound eighth-grader whiling away time next to Minton's pond.

He likes to fish but he can't catch fish," Minton said. "He fishes at my house and he doesn't catch anything."

To that, Freeman takes exception.

"Oh, man, I might catch one now," the 6-2, 225-pound junior linebacker said. "The problem with me is taking the fish off the hook. I don't like to do that. I may be a big guy but I'm a little boy when it comes to taking the fish off."

Even when Freeman was a little boy, he was a big boy.

"He was just a big fat butterball," said senior Alex Pruitt, Freeman's best friend and teammate. "We always gave him a hard time."

Freeman's physique changed drastically.

"It ain't like I started working real hard and doing situps," said Freeman, an offensive lineman in junior high. "Between eighth and ninth grade I got taller and my weight stretched out. That was a big part of it."

Said Pruitt: "He calls himself "The Deuce." He says, "The Deuce is here." or "The Deuce has arrived."

"But he's still the same person, the same old Marcus. He's just matured. His outer appearance may look big and tough, but he's a little kid on the inside."

The Deuce — Freeman wears uniform No. 2 — has arrived as a football player. Scouting services list him as one of the best junior linebacking prospects in the country. Through four games, Freeman has about 60 tackles, two caused fumbles, two blocked punts and one fumble recovery for the 3-1 Warriors.

Luckily, he's got friends like Pruitt to keep "The Deuce" in his place.

"One thing is he's this big athlete but he's always clumsy," Pruitt said. "You would never think he is but sometimes he just trips or knocks over something. It's weird."

No clumsiness shows on the football field. Freeman is stationed in the center of Wayne's defense, and any way you go, he will try to hunt you down. He lets no offensive player off that hook. He's the man in the middle.

"That's the design of a 4-3 defense," Minton said. "It's built around a middle linebacker to run to the football and go get it. He could have more of a punishing technique but he's getting better all the time."

The coach said Freeman is the star athlete who works as hard and is stronger than anyone else.

"He's a funny young man with a great sense of humor and he's got great character," Minton said. "He has — or will have — what you need to put into a player, including academics.

"There's little things he does that are so Marcus-like. He's kind of a shy guy but he talks big. He's a dream to coach and a fun kid to be around."

Now, major colleges are fishing to land the formerly overweight boy who couldn't catch any fish.

"In middle school you saw him and thought is he ever going to make it and be a player," Minton said. "Boy he has, or he's on his way. If you took a picture then and a picture now it's a testament to hard work and what he turned into."

Contact Mark Gokavi by e-mail at mgokavi@coxohio.com