Linebacker Ayinde Eley admits he was “kind of nervous” before his first start for Maryland football against Rutgers last October.
So he turned to older players on the team to help him prepare for the big moment.
“‘It’s just football,” Eley recalled linebacker Tre Watson telling him. “Once you get out there and get in the groove of things, it’s just like Pop Warner or just little league, just football all over again.”
The Silver Spring, Maryland, native, known by his teammates as ‘Big Ace,’ finished second on the team with four solo tackles in that game.