Making The Case For Ben Mason As A Michigan Wolverines Football Team Captain

Michigan Wolverines football is replacing all but one of its captains from a year ago, with fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp expected to become just the 15th player in program history to become a two-time team captain.

There's candidates to join Kemp and be selected captains by their teammates, including senior wide receiver Nico Collins, fifth-year senior tight end Nick Eubanks, senior defensive end Kwity Paye, senior cornerback Ambry Thomas and more.

But one some might be overlooking is senior fullback Ben Mason, who has the qualities that it takes to lead the Wolverines in his final season of college football.

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• He has strong bonds and familiarity on both sides of the ball: Mason came to U-M as a linebacker, before switching to fullback, the position he played his first two seasons at. Then, the two-time recipient of U-M's Toughest Player Award bulked up and moved to defensive tackle for the 2019 season (while playing a bit of fullback), where he played sparingly and had limited success.

Nonetheless, he's able to relate to his teammates that play on any of the three phases (he's an avid special-teamer, too), and can grasp what players on each unit is going through, something that could help prevent any potential divide between offense, defense or special teams that can happen in some locker rooms.

• He's all about 'The Team, The Team, The Team': As exemplified by our last point, Mason is unselfish, and he's all about what is best for the team as a whole.

He gained approximately 20 pounds — not an easy task — to make the position change over to defensive line last offseason, and did it without complaint. Even though it didn't necessarily work out like many hoped, he still has full trust in the coaching staff.

"I just looked at it as a challenge, and I wanted to make the most of that challenge," Mason told Jon Jansen on a recent episode of the In The Trenches podcast. "I worked as hard as I could, did pretty well, started a game or two and I wouldn’t change that experience for the world.

"For lot of people, they look at what happened last year and they say, ‘What were you doing? Why would you move to defensive tackle after doing pretty well at fullback?’ And it’s just like, I really believe in everything Coach [Jim] Harbaugh has to say. He would never advise any player to a wrong decision for their football career, just because of how much he loves football. It was just part of the process, so I really have trust in everyone in the building, in terms of putting people in the right positions to play at their best."

Legendary former U-M head coach Bo Schembechler's famous "The Team, The Team, The Team" mantra is displayed prominently throughout the Wolverines' facilities. Mason doesn't just love the saying, but he takes it to heart and acts out the meaning on a regular basis.

"That’s one of the best sayings that ever could’ve been invented, because if you can think about football as something bigger than yourself — which is exactly what it is — that’s going to lead to a lot more team success," Mason said. "And with team success comes individual success, so if your team is doing well, you’re going to do well.

"Yeah, I took that [mantra] into account when Coach Harbaugh asked me to move positions multiple times because I know that in the end … first of all, it’s going to make Michigan better, which is what we all want, and it’s also going to make myself better as a player. That’s definitely something I’ve taken into account.

"And Bo Schembechler, he’s definitely one of the most well-respected guys around here. I mean, we have a statue of him in front of Schem."

When asked what his personal goals are for this upcoming season, Mason steered the conversation away from himself, pointing toward how his role can help the team be successful.

"I want to make some big blocks and just bring the most out of my teammates," he said. "Anything that I can do to make the team better and anything I can do to make Michigan a great program, that’s what I want to do. Anything that they ask me to do from a coaching perspective on the field and in the locker room and off the field, [I’m going to do it]."

• He understands leadership within a football team: A mark of a program on solid footing is when veteran players are able to help mold younger players in an ongoing, cyclical manner. Mason understands that, and knows it's his duty as an upperclassman to take underclassmen under his wing — not only for the sake of this year's team, but for the years ahead.

"That’s one of the most important things as a football program because a program is who’s in at the time, but when the freshmen come in, they’re the future of the program," Mason explained. "You show them the right way of doing things. You want to be the first guy to show up, the last one to leave.

"If you can instill the right type of discipline and expectations in them, that’s going to have a positive effect on the program — not only right now, but for years to come down the road."

• He's a leader in the classroom: Mason is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (2018-19) and a student enrolled in the esteemed Ross School of Business.

"It’s a really tough and prestigious school, but if you do all the work that’s required and you show up to your group work and you’re a meaningful contributor, you can really get a lot out of it," Mason said.

He's using his experiences of playing at one of the nation's top football programs to help him in his studies, and vice versa. At the same time, he's letting both opportunities prepare him for the real world and what's next after graduation.

"We have all the skills, time management, we have the discipline — which we’ve learned from football — and the confidence, and it’s kind of cemented through the academics. Between those things, Michigan has really set up a lot of student athletes well for the real world."

• His passion shines through: Mason plays for the love of the game, with an unbridled enthusiasm that the Harbaugh family would refer to as "unknown to mankind."

"I play football because I love football — everything about it," Mason said.

"One of the best parts about playing football is the feeling of finishing your guy into the ground and being on top of somebody and yeah, that’s the best part about it for me.

"Whatever reason you do play football — it could be because your dad played football or you want to go to the NFL and make a lot of money — whatever reason you do, that drives you on a daily basis, and people talk about your ‘why,' why you do something. That’s something you always have to remember, but when you really love something, that can take you a long way if you have a lot of passion for it."

He approaches the game with the right mindset. Mason, who has been nicknamed 'Bench Mason' for his prowess on the bench press, sees team workouts as more than just a time to get stronger.

"A lot of people think you work out to get stronger, you want to have a big bench or be able to squat a lot of weight, but to me, it’s more about developing a mindset where you’re confident, because doing big weights is going to lead to confidence, and that’s only going to make you a more confident football player on the field," Mason said. "Along with that, a couple of the other big benefits of working out are you get to be around your teammates and get to see how they work, so you get to get on them and press them a little bit, too, so that’s always a good time."

Before Mason ever played a down of football at U-M, Harbaugh said he believes Mason was "made to be a fullback." Three and a half years later, he might just prove he was be made to be a captain, too. After all, he's built a great case for it.

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