Tempe, ARIZ. “”mdash; Redshirt freshman linebacker Reggie Carter
straggled behind his teammates following UCLA’s 24-12 win
over Arizona State on Saturday night.
As the rest of his team disappeared into Sun Devil Stadium,
Carter stood at midfield and paused for a few moments.
He held above his head a towel that had been written on with
black ink in salute to his fallen former teammate, the late Marcus
Cassel.
Carter’s solemn act captured the emotions of a team that
had taken the field Saturday night not just looking for a sixth win
to become bowl-eligible.
The Bruins were playing to purge their grief, if only for a few
hours.
A starting cornerback in all 12 games for last year’s
team, Cassel died early Friday morning after being involved in a
one-car accident in Santa Monica. He was 23.
As a universally admired and respected member of the program
during his college career, Cassel had visited with his former
teammates as recently as two weeks ago.
Junior wide receiver Brandon Breazell, who caught touchdown
passes of 56 and 35 yards in the game, said he saw Cassel and
former Bruin linebacker Wesley Walker at a bar on Wilshire
Boulevard at 9 p.m. ““ just hours before the accident at the
corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Ocean Avenue.
Cassel was suspended for the first game of the 2003 season
because of an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. He
later pled no contest to misdemeanor DUI.
Breazell said he played the game with a heavy heart, knowing
that Cassel had been at a bar on the night of his fatal car
accident.
“It was real hard because I saw him that night,” he
said.
Cassel was playfully called “Grandpa” by current
UCLA players for his calming influence on the team and the advice
that he never seemed to be without.
The news that he had suddenly passed away sent emotional shock
waves through the UCLA locker room on Friday, just hours before the
team flew to Arizona.
Coach Karl Dorrell had called his players together following a
walk-through practice on Friday morning. It was then that Dorrell
told his players what he knew: Cassel had been involved in a
serious car accident sometime around 5 o’clock that morning
when he was found by the Santa Monica Police Department at 5:15
a.m. and taken to the UCLA Medical Center. He died at 9:30 a.m.
with both his parents by his side, according to a UCLA
statement.
“Coach (Dorrell) usually does a good job of hiding his
emotions,” said junior cornerback Rodney Van, who backed up
Cassel last season. “But he was close to tears when he told
us the news.”
This happened the day after freshman wide receiver Jeremy McGee
left for his native Louisiana after learning that his mother passed
away.
All of a sudden, UCLA was coming to terms with what Dorrell
called “two deaths in the family” just hours before a
game that could give the team its sixth win and bowl
eligibility.
With one teammate absent from the team, reeling from the loss of
his mother, and the death of a former teammate, players said it was
an emotionally confusing time to play a football game that would
define so much about their season.
“We worked so hard this season and we knew how important
this game was,” Van said. “But at the same time, most
of us have never dealt with death before and we weren’t
really sure how to act or feel.”
“Emotionally, we’ve been high and low, but we wanted
to play the game on a high,” junior offensive guard Shannon
Tevaga said. “Marcus would have wanted us to come out here
and get that sixth win.”
Each UCLA player wore a left wristband with No. 15 ““
Cassel’s old jersey number ““ written across it in honor
of their fallen friend and teammate.
Dorrell said that once the game started, all their attention was
shifted to the two teams playing on the field. Players echoed that
sentiment, but there were clear signs that each big play carried a
spiritual weight that served to exorcize some demons.
The most emotional outburst of the game came after reshirt
junior cornerback Matt Slater ran downfield to cover redshirt
sophomore punter Aaron Perez’s punt in the third quarter.
After Slater tackled ASU’s Kyle Williams, he jumped up and
started tapping the No. 15 on his left wrist as he looked over to
the UCLA sideline.
After the game ended, and UCLA had secured its sixth win of the
season, Dorrell led the players in a quiet prayer at midfield.
Following the game in the locker room, UCLA players reflected on
the past 24 hours, and each said that their eyes had welled up with
tears at different times in the game just at the passing thought of
Cassel and his family.
Carter was still holding his towel when he sat back and thought
about everything that had transpired.
“I’m happy to be bowl eligible,” he said.
“But I’m not going to jump up and down.
“I can’t get too happy about this win,” he
said. “A friend is gone, and another friend’s mother is
gone. Those are things that mean a lot more than a football
game.”
But for at least one night, players could channel their grief
into a game and find a common thread that brought them
together.
“Marcus would have been the guy to bring us all together
after a tragedy like this,” Van said. “So I’m
happy we could get the win for him.”