Ben Moffitt: MAN.

[BigShoop]

What a stud this guy is. Talk about a leader and an example for the younger players.....

http://www.tbo.com/sports/bulls/MGBY9IBM8RE.html

USF Middle Linebacker Moffitt Is Always In Overdrive

By MARTIN FENNELLY

Published: Aug 24, 2006

They broke the mold when they made Ben Moffitt. Actually, the mold simply died of exhaustion.

It's hard to know where to start with South Florida's junior middle linebacker, husband, father of two, student, leader, hunter, fisherman, churchgoer, Wal-Mart shopper (well, sort of) and rearranger of opponents' molecular structures. It's hard to start because, well, Ben Moffitt never stops.

"You just get used to it," he said.

Meet your point of light, or headlights, USF fans, your high-octane hero, the Bushnell Express. Ben Moffitt should be named commuter school president. He long-hauls it each day, down I-75, 55 miles to school and practice, then back to Bushnell, where he'll always be from. He gave up his Ford pickup and squeezed into a Kia in the name of mileage. It takes him 45 minutes to an hour each way.

"A little Kia. God love him, my 6-foot-2 husband," says Ben's hero, wife Shauna.

"I love that man."

Attention Wal-Mart Zombies

The USF coaches love that man, too, and not just because he led the Bulls with 96 tackles last season or doesn't get the notoriety like senior linebackers Stephen Nicholas and Patrick St. Louis.

"The shadows never bother me," Moffitt said. "These guys deserve the attention. That'll never affect me. Never."

"He's kind of a throwback guy, hard-nosed," USF defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Wally Burnham said. "He's our quarterback."

Burnham has coached linebackers forever. Nine of his linebackers were NFL drafted out from under him when he coached at Florida State, including Derrick Brooks and Marvin Jones. They all had something in common.

"A burning desire not to fail," Burnham said. "It kills them to fail. Derrick had it. Marvin had it. Ben has it."

Mind you, athleticism never hurts. They still talk about the 6-2, 240-pound Moffitt running down speedy West Virginia quarterback Pat White last season. Also the 14 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one recovered fumble he had in last season's upset of Louisville.

Moffitt is as nice as you can get off the field. Then he gets on one.

"There's a switch you've got to flip."

Put it this way: If Gentle Ben's grandma had the ball …

"Bless her heart," Ben said, "she won't make it."

Losing is hard for him. Take the Pittsburgh loss last season. If you were shopping in Wal-Mart around 3 the following morning, you probably noticed the zombie in aisle 4.

"Oh, man, I was frustrated," Moffitt said. "We flew in that night, and I drove home and laid down in bed. But it was no use. I thought, 'Where is there a place that's always open?' So I walked around Wal-Mart in the middle of the night. Three and a half hours. Finally wore myself out walking. Went home and finally went down around daylight."

Moffitt smiled.

"Losing's personal."

He Does It All

He always bounces back. One reason is Shauna. They met as students at South Sumter High School in Bushnell. She was keeping stats for the team when she saw him. He saw her right back. They were married less than three years later. They're two-deep at adorable children. There's Trevor. He's 3. And Rylan. She's 2.

They tried living in Tampa when Ben was a USF freshman, with Shauna commuting to Bushnell for her job in the county property appraiser's office. But Ben decided to move the family back to the place they love. "He's just a country boy," Shauna said.

He drives 20,000 miles a year to and from USF. And no matter where Ben Moffitt gets out of the car, responsibility awaits. Two small kids will give two-a-day practices a run for their money.

"He's a great father," Shauna said. "He's a diaper changer, a bath giver, a hair doer."

"Guys at school ask, 'How do you do all this?'" Ben said. "You just have to push yourself to another level."

Moffitt works for his father's tree service every summer. He climbs, cuts, chops, chips, drags, sweats. He has done it since he was 8.

"I was taught to give a man an honest day's work."

Anywhere he goes.

"I can't get him to sit still," Shauna Moffitt said. "If he's not working for his dad, he's out in the yard doing something. Ben's always going. Ben's Ben."

Who needs gas?

[smazza]

he could be the best one yet

[BULLfreak]

Very well could be.

He has a motor that does not stop you have to love that in a Middle Linebacker

[GetAHobby]

wasn't this posted already?

still good story

[CoolBull1]

I Bullieve!