Belly Slaps and Business Casual: The Introductions of BC Football

As someone who grew up in the Internet's formative era, I love a good introduction.

I grew up in an era that personified personality. I watched the training theme from the Rocky movie series blast out while the Boston Celtics stood in their hallway, and I watched the New England Patriots go crazy in their tunnel before exploding out to the strains of "Crazy Train." "Enter Sandman" still makes me think of Mariano Rivera, ironic given my Red Sox fandom, and I used to dream about snarling like Trevor Hoffman to "Hells Bells."

All of those introductions contained music in some form, but the YouTube era opened the door on so many other looks behind the proverbial curtain. I'll never forget the first time I watched how John Henderson got ready for a football game or the first time a camera caught Tedy Bruschi's breakdown after a win.

Looking behind the scenes is an insatiable craving for me, so I went nuts the first time I saw Boston College swagger into the Fish Field House during this preseason. I'll never forget the first clip of the defensive linemen dancing towards practice in unison, how I tried to figure out what they were doing. I sent a couple of text messages off to friends of mine, and four hours later, we were still sending each other YouTube clips of football team entrances.

I loved everything about that first day, but I didn't realize how deep the meaning of it all ran until the next clip arrived in my social media feed. The offensive linemen, the resident funnymen of the Boston College football team, started slapping their bellies on video.

A tradition was born.

"I think when it's time to go, this team can lock in," head coach Jeff Hafley said of his charges. "But when we're done, I want it to be fun, and I want it to be light. They have to be able to flip the switch. When the final whistle is blown, I want to lighten up and be loose. We're playing a game, and we're spending all of this time together. We want to have fun, but we need to be able to lock in when the ball is put down. That's what I'm starting to see, and that's what I'm hoping to develop."

Each position handles the run-up differently by highlighting their own group's personality. The offensive linemen, for example, are a funny and gregarious group, so their humor comes out in their sumo wrestling match of belly slaps. They're the largest guys on the team, which in turn creates a fun brand of humor when they roll up their jerseys before trotting out the turf.

"One of the offensive linemen, Nate Emer, gained a lot of weight (in the offseason)," offensive lineman Ben Petrula laughed. "He used to be a skinny guy when he came (to BC) as a defensive end, and he just started slapping his belly around. We had some fun with it, and it became our entrance into practice. We figured we'd give that one a shot."

It's not always about humor, though. The linebacker group is much more serious by nature, so its introduction to the practice reflects its entire attitude.

"We always walk up and tell (everyone) that we have a section," Max Richardson said. "We bought a table in the club. We can cut the line, walk in, and get our bottle service. We break it down in the front, we get out of our Uber, and (everyone) rolls out the red carpet. We just walk right in. John Lamot and Isaiah McDuffie (said), 'We don't wait in line at the club. We barge right in.'"

It's all part of the team's imagining around social media. Alec Lindstrom transitioned into a podcast host with the debut of "Listen Up My Dudes." Max Richardson's "Max Richy Preps" videos debuted shortly thereafter on BC's football pages. Punter Grant Carlson, a Texas native, turned into an Internet meme the other day when he posed with a Waffle House arm sleeve. A mic'd up Phil Matusz, the head strength and conditioning coach, made skyline chili more popular than New England clam chowder among BC fans for a day.

It's upped the game every day, even though it's not all meant as humor. The defensive backfield doesn't have a designated leader walking into the fieldhouse for the moment, and every player does something different when it's time to lead the group out onto the field. This week, they preferred to get fired up instead of funny in order to prepare for practice.

"We switch it up every day," safety Mike Palmer said. "We don't set anything; we let a different guy take it every day, and they all put their own little flair into it. It adds to the fun because everyone has their own creativity. I want to see what guys have. (On Thursday), we had a speech that got us all riled up for practice. We're working on getting a little bit more creative. We haven't had any dances, but we will have something coming down in these next couple of practices."

It very obviously is a quickly-ingrained piece of the Boston College program fabric. Every player that I asked smiled when the question came up because they knew what they said would turn into instant fodder for the locker room. It was a way to catch the athletes off-guard when they probably expected a football-based question, but there was a certain joy and pride in how they bragged about their position groups.

"We're usually out earlier than everyone else, even before a strength coach could mandate our entrance," quarterback Dennis Grosel said. "Some days, we just walk in like it's business casual and we just own the place. But more recently, we've had a rock-paper-scissors tournament, with one shot to get what you get. We place our bets and roll into practice. It's not as loud or as hyped up, but that comes with our position of being calm, cool, and collected, and we have a little swagger to it."

It's all part of how Hafley intends to build this team into the 2020 season. This team needs to compete at every level in order to win football games in an ultra-competitive conference, but that shouldn't lose sight of the friendliness of team-building. It's important to the rejuvenation of players' minds, which are usually taxed by competitive periods as much as their bodies. It's a method to reshape BC football to a new personality, one built around enjoying the game and the love and respect - and friendly competition - that exists within a locker room.

"We've been on campus for so long," Grosel said, "that we're making time to give guys to relax. Coach Hafley does a great job of lightening the mood or mixing it up during meetings. During practice, we're dialed in and ready to go. During the dog days of game, it gets long, but we've been emphasizing that we would beg for this opportunity. We're here for a reason, but there's both a time to joke around and a time to get it done."

Belly Slaps and Business Casual: The Introductions of BC Football

Players Mentioned

Grant Carlson

Nate Emer

Dennis Grosel

John Lamot

Alec Lindstrom

Isaiah McDuffie

Mike Palmer

Ben Petrula

Max Richardson

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