June 7, 2004

by Adam Lucas
Tar Heel Monthly

The Mike Mason Weight Loss Plan doesn't have anything to do with counting carbs, South Beach, or Richard Simmons.

All it involves is getting hit in the mouth.

Mason, a rising sophomore wide receiver, suffered a broken jaw on a tackle by D.J. Walker midway through spring practice. In one of those freak occurrences that happens on a football field, Walker's hit wasn't especially hard, but was in precisely the right place to cause Mason's jaw to break in the middle of his chin.

At the time of the collision, Mason weighed 190 pounds. After five weeks with his jaw wired shut, during which he had to eat through a syringe because he couldn't suck through a straw, he dropped to 172.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever been through," Mason says. "I had worked so hard during the spring to gain strength and weight, and then to watch all that go down after one hit was frustrating. It was so hard to get it all back."

As the Tar Heels began their summer conditioning drills on Monday, he's back close to his pre-injury weight. The wires have long since come off, and he's been able to fully participate in the three-days-per-week pass skeleton drills organized by senior quarterback Darian Durant.

In addition to his on-field contributions, Durant has noticed a change in Mason's approach to the game over the past 12 months. At times in 2003, the quarterback couldn't always rely on the rookie receiver to run the proper routes or make the right reads. This summer, that has changed.

"He has grown up a lot," Durant says. "Coming in fresh out of high school and having to step up right away, I'm not sure he was mentally ready for that. Now he understands what it takes to be successful at this level and has matured a lot."

One of those elements for success is film work. Rocky Mount High School didn't have the luxury of the elaborate video system featured in the Kenan Football Center, so Mason had very little experience with film breakdown. This summer, however, he's begun to appreciate the extensive library of tape made available by the Carolina video staff.

It's not unusual for Mason to spend two and a half hours in the darkened film room, all alone except for the flickering images. No music, no teammates, just Mason and the video. It's valuable time for him, because his injury forced him to miss significant snaps this spring. With the Tar Heel coaching staff eager to experiment with their young receiver talent in different positions on the field, Mason wasn't able to get the physical repetitions enjoyed by some of his teammates. Instead, he's having to watch and learn in the film room.

"We have the resources, so you might as well use them," he says. "They can cut it up for us by different defenses or different plays or different teams...I look at different receivers from other teams, guys like Lee Evans [of Wisconsin] and Craphonso Thorpe [of Florida State]. I watch how they do things. And I watch defenses and study them."

Despite the film study, despite the encouraging words from Durant, the truth is that no one can officially declare Mason back until he goes over the middle during training camp, makes a reception, and takes a tough hit from a defender. He doesn't seem nervous about contact, saying that he hopes to retain his position as a gunner on the punt coverage team and looks forward to challenging defensive backs this fall.

"It's just like getting knocked off a horse," wide receivers coach Gunter Brewer says. "When you've had a bad experience, you want to get the first one out of the way and move forward. It either comes along quickly or slowly, but it will happen on its own. You can't force it. Until it happens in a game or big-time situation, it's not the same."