ORONO, Maine — There’s no Green Monster at Alfond Stadium and the game is football, not baseball, but the University of Maine football team has a legacy akin to that of the Boston Red Sox.
While Boston’s resides in left field, UMaine’s primarily lies along the defensive line, and although the Black Bears don’t retire their numbers, there are two in particular that loom large on both teams: 4 and 9.
The Red Sox have Hall of Famers Joe Cronin (No. 4) and Ted Williams (No. 9). Maine football has all-conference and impact defensive stars Aaron Dashiell, Stephen Cooper, Brandon McGowan, Daren Stone, Matt King and Jovan Belcher.
“I never thought of it that way, but I have a big picture of Teddy in my house and my wife Marilyn has a signed ball by him, so I like that comparison,” said Maine football coach Jack Cosgrove.
Williams’ legacy was inherited by Carl Yastrzemski and Yaz eventually was replaced by Jim Rice. All played left field, became Hall of Fame members, and had their numbers retired.
Boston’s impressive left field Hall of Fame string eventually was broken, but Maine’s is ongoing. After fellow all-conference standouts Dashiell, Cooper, McGowan, and Stone elevated No. 4 with an impressive eight-year run (1999-2006) of success that also produced five All-American honors, the current hot streak resides with the number 9, which King wore as a consensus All-American defensive lineman in 2006 and Belcher wore as a second- and third- team All-American in 2007 and a consensus All-American and conference defensive player of the year in 2008.
So that makes senior defensive end Jordan Stevens Maine football’s Jim Rice. No pressure there …
“The shirt has become now a real big deal, passing it on, especially when it’s a real good player who guys think will go on to the NFL,” Cosgrove said. “I think Belcher giving it to Jordan, there’s a lot of significance to that and sometimes it even brings a little intimidation too. I know Jordan said, ‘Geez, I don’t know if I deserved it,’ but I think it’s got a motivational component to it that comes from their teammates.”
Last year, Stevens was wearing No. 44, but he moved up into single digits via a tradition established a little more than a decade ago.
“Every year we have a senior will where we allow our seniors to speak to the team and we ask them to leave something funny, something tangible — which usually ends up being a shirt — and something from the heart,” Cosgrove explained. “I think, without making a big deal about it, it’s important you allow the young men in your program some creative ways of motivating each other and I think over the years some of the numbers here have taken on significance as far as being more prominent than others.
“I remember last year when Mark Masterson got No. 4, Mark was like ‘Whoa!’ That means something.”
It means a lot to Stevens, a 6-foot-2, 248-pound Temple native who played at Mt. Blue High School of Farmington and Bridgton Academy.
“Oh, it’s an honor for sure, but we try not to look at it as replacing people because nobody can be Jovan Belcher,” said Stevens. “You just put that to the back of your head and come out, work every day, and improve on your techniques and your game as a whole.”
Neither the coaches nor the players expect the simple act of switching numbers to transform a player, but it does seem to have a noticeable effect.
“I don’t think Jordan’s changed because of the No. 9 other than the fact he realizes he’s wearing it. He’s a lead-by-example guy,” Cosgrove said. “I will say this though, he’s become more vocal and it’s got an E.F. Hutton effect: When he speaks, people listen because he’s not a guy who runs his mouth or a rah-rah guy.”
If you think Cosgrove and others are exaggerating, they aren’t the only ones to notice palpable effects from Maine’s passing-of-the-numerical-torch tradition.
“Now that you mention it, I notice that other coaches in the league notice it, too,” Cosgrove said. “They’ve asked me ‘What is this thing you’re doing with the numbers? Those guys are always tough on us.’ It’s not like Belcher’s back. It’s another guy, but they play the same way.”