Topic: DAILY MAIL: McGill: Cato stays mum on Twitter to the delight of Herd greats

[biggreenarms]

It was 690 days ago — June 16, 2012 at 11:03 a.m. — when Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato sent his final, profound tweet.

“yeah,” read Cato’s last post on the social media website Twitter. He’s permitted 140 characters per tweet, but he didn’t need the final 136 of the allotment.

And he hasn’t needed the Twitter account since.

Cato, who has posted gaudy numbers as the Herd’s QB and will likely enter his senior season on the early list of Heisman Trophy contenders, is a rarity among college athletes these days. While past Heisman winners like quarterback Johnny Manziel, a sure-fire first-round pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft, have nearly 800,000 Twitter followers and a history of dos and don’ts on social networks, Cato stays mum.

He’s not focused on what’s happening outside the lines, especially entering his final season of eligibility and with the expectations running high in Herd country.

Appropriate hashtag: #focused

“What he’s doing is extremely smart,” said Chad Pennington, a record-setting quarterback at Marshall who made 89 starts in the NFL. “Football is very difficult and you have a lot of moving parts, a lot of people. The team needs to understand who the leader is, and you don’t lead on Twitter.

“You lead on the field.”

Byron Leftwich, another Herd QB great who made 50 starts in the NFL, agrees with Pennington. Neither Leftwich nor Pennington are active Twitter users.

“He shouldn’t be on there,” Leftwich said of Cato. “He better stay off it. That would be my advice. I see the mistakes that people make and they’re unfortunate mistakes, uncalled-for mistakes.”

Cato isn’t a mistake maker, clearly. He had only 20 interceptions in 1,083 pass attempts the last two seasons. Of course, he’s always had the physical gifts to play the quarterback position. Now, however, he is the complete package coaches covet.

“Not just the on-the-field stuff, but off the field too,” said Bill Legg, Marshall’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “Just the maturity level. He came here as an 18-year-old kid and now he’s a 22-year-old man. We aren’t all as mature as we’d like to believe at 18 years old, but he’s taken coaching and he’s continued to grow as a person and he’s continued to grow as a player.

“Expectations are high on him, but none higher than the ones he places on himself.”

Cato, once benched as a true freshman in favor of erstwhile Marshall QB A.J. Graham, is climbing career statistical lists that include Leftwich and Pennington. Neither will likely be able to stave off Cato’s charge, barring injury.

Cato has 10,176 passing yards with, perhaps, as many as 14 games left of his collegiate career. He is already No. 77 on the NCAA’s all-time passing list. Leftwich is No. 21 on the same list with 11,903 yards. Pennington is No. 34 nationally with 11,446 yards. Cato might catch them both by the time Conference USA play commences in October. A 4,000-yard season puts Cato in the top 10 for passing yards by any major college quarterback ... ever.

Cato is No. 29 on the NCAA’s all-time passing touchdowns list with 91. He needs 33 touchdown passes — below his average of 38 the past two seasons — to climb into the top five in college football history.

That’s a long way to come since a post-UCF benching, eh?

“You can hear the maturity, how far he has come, when you talk to him,” Leftwich said. “If you listen to an interview from two years ago and an interview today, they sound different because the kid is learning. He’s learning and developing. You can’t ask anymore from a kid than that.”

Part of that learning curve is how to block out distractions. Checking mentions from anonymous social-media users on Twitter isn’t the way to do that.

Cato, who turned 22 in March, has grown much more than that scraggly beard. He has grown as a student, athlete, teammate and leader.

“As a player you have to be self-motivated,” Cato said. “If you put your personal life out there, you have to be accountable for that. If you choose to have a Twitter or a thousand social networks, be a man and don’t put anything crazy on there.”

It is Cato’s final insight, however, that deserves to be favorited.

“That thumb will get you in trouble,” he said. “That send button is trouble.”

http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20140507/DM03/140509459/1311

[MarshallGrad]

"Neither Leftwich nor Pennington are active Twitter users"

A breath of fresh air. No two better influences for the next Marshall QB superstar.

[Big City]

A breath of fresh air. No two better influences for the next Marshall QB superstar.

Leadership.

[svherd]

The kid will go down as one of the all time greats - on many fronts. Too bad some of our fans still don't seem to appreciate him.

[parshall2marshall]

It was Firin' "Your stats are down. You didn't throw for 400 last week." Byron that they didn't appreciate.

p2m

[parshall2marshall]

I thought Cato slyly tweeted, "What down is it ?" in response to the USPAM Seahawk putting MU down.

p2m

[QuickStrike]

Cato is someone to root for and be proud of.  Very smart of him to realize Twitter has more of a negative potential on one's career.  Twitter antics are what made Canty seem worse than he probably is in Herd fan's eyes.  Wow....hard to believe Cato has the possibility to be in the top 5 all-time NCAA TD's thrown leaders.  Good luck to him on a good team season and individual accomplishments.

[goherd24]

The kid will go down as one of the all time greats - on many fronts. Too bad some of our fans still don't seem to appreciate him.

Dont know any of those folks. I was behind this kid since he was a freshman,  when everyone was all over aj grahams jock. I am so glad he worked out and I am frightened currently, as I see nothing but mediocrity behind him on the roster since blake left.

[BuyNtelos4]

I realize you were behind him over AJ Graham, but AJ's attitude made him and easy guy to root against.  It would be pretty rare for you to have predicted Cato's career to be much better than a couple of the young guys we have now and the freshman coming in... I think somebody will step up!  I do think that having a full-time QB coach would make that possibility a lot more achievable!! I really think of I was a HS QB with a lot of potietial, I would not want to sign with a school that wasn't willing to pay a coach specifically to teach and mentor me, as much as fans, teams, & coaches expect from these QB's!! I'd much rather have the TE's coached by the WR and OL line coach as a combination or some combination similar to that somewhere on the field.  The QB coach is the last position I would ever eliminate or add on to the OC's shoulders. 

[cincymike]

Dont know any of those folks. I was behind this kid since he was a freshman,  when everyone was all over aj grahams jock. I am so glad he worked out and I am frightened currently, as I see nothing but mediocrity behind him on the roster since blake left.

Enjoy the present..this is a potentially special time.  Worry about the future next January.  Young and inexperienced kids grow up and sometimes surprise us all.

[fedale]

I thought Cato slyly tweeted, "What down is it ?" in response to the USPAM Seahawk putting MU down.

p2m

That was the @RakeemCato parody account.

[biggreenarms]

Dont know any of those folks. I was behind this kid since he was a freshman,  when everyone was all over aj grahams jock. I am so glad he worked out and I am frightened currently, as I see nothing but mediocrity behind him on the roster since blake left.

I'll never forget the first time I saw Leftwich take a snap when Pennington came off with an injury. He immediately threw an interception and I turned to my brother and said "We're doomed next year".

[Johnnyherd]

I was behind this kid since he was a freshman,  when everyone was all over aj grahams jock. I am so glad he worked out and I am frightened currently, as I see nothing but mediocrity behind him on the roster since blake left.

So did you just guess about him?  Or you scouted him in high school then watched him our in practice and knew he would ended up a Heisman finalist?

Because, Cato's first year he only passed for 150 yards a game and threw nearly as many picks as TD's...

I think Cato, Pennington, Leftwich all were products of their coaching staff...Not that they didn't step in and get it done, because they certainly did....

But, I feel that all three would not have even sniffed the success they had at Marshall had they went to another school....