Ex-PCA star Gordon toiling in anonymity for Bulldogs
Published 11:40 am Thursday, November 10, 2011
Former Porters Chapel standout Reed Gordon is easy to spot on the football field.
On punts and place kicks, just look for the slender guy lining up in the middle with gargantuans on each side of him.
The redshirt freshman has taken over as Mississippi State’s long snapper, a job known for its thankless nature.
It’s a position where one mistake can doom a team’s hopes, causing a missed kick or worse. His job is made even more difficult by the fact he not only has to zip the snap perfectly, every time, but then block a sprinting defender flying up the middle with malicious intent.
It’s not a job for the weak-willed, that’s for sure. He’s gone up against the nation’s top team in the BCS standings, LSU, a team whose players Gordon said hit harder than anyone else. He gets another challenge against Alabama, ranked third in the BCS, on Saturday.
He’s lucky if the most ardent Mississippi State fan even knows his name. And it’s probably for the best that he toils brilliantly in obscurity. But Gordon has no problem with that. He’s just soaking it all in.
“It is nerve-wracking,” Gordon said. “But you’ve got to pretend it’s practice and just do your job. As long as no one knows your name, you’re doing a good job.”
Gordon visited Porters Chapel’s homecoming game a few weeks ago. He arrived a different man than the one who was a two-sport standout on the gridiron and as part of the Eagles’ 2009 MAIS Class A baseball championship team.
At PCA, he was a pass-catching tight end who was one of the many stars on some of the school’s most high-flying offenses. Now, he’s a key, anonymous cog in a greater machine, and Gordon has no problem with that sacrifice.
“Not that many people can say they’ve played for an SEC team,” Gordon said. “I do miss doing that (catching passes), but that’s part of it. It’s always good to come back to your roots and see some familiar faces. I had a great experience here.”
The difference is even more than mental.
Preseason workouts, similar to what U.S. Navy SEALs endure, were so intense that Gordon shrunk to a svelte 218 pounds. The Bulldogs see more of strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis than they do anyone else and the words “ease up” are not in his vocabulary. But Gordon has enjoyed the challenge and the results.
“It’s so much different stuff we do,” Gordon said. “Coach Balis is the best strength coach in the nation. He’s put us through some tough workouts, but it’s worked out well.”
The future is bright for the young specialist. With his ability to fire an accurate snap to the kicker faster than a speeding bullet, an NFL future could be in the cards for Gordon.
But even then, anonymity is the name of the game.
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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.