The Marcoux Effect

SOME NEW YORKERS LIKE THE GIANTS. Others like the Jets. But there are many reasons this fall to like the Eagles—the Fieldston Eagles.

One reason is Fieldston senior Quarterback Cole Marcoux, who is anxious to lead his Eagles to their third consecutive Hudson Valley Football League championship. Last year Marcoux and company went undefeated, and they haven’t lost a conference game since his sophomore year. I know it sounds funny but this guy is a good reason for a lot of New Yorkers to chant “Fly Eagles Fly!”

Would you draft yourself in a Hudson Valley Football League Fantasy Football League?
(Chuckling) Oh yeah, I would definitely draft myself. I think we throw the ball more than anyone else, so even by default I’d probably pick myself. But I mean, I’m lucky I play for a coach that was actually a professional quarterback so he likes to see the ball thrown around a little bit. I get to throw my share of touchdowns and do that sort of thing.

How often do you worry about your QB rating?
Not much, actually. Last year I was like first in the state for the whole year in quarterback ratings, so that was crazy. I don’t get enough yards because I don’t always get to play the whole game because we beat teams by so many points. There are games when coach takes the starters out at the half. But for a little while I was like number one in the state which is pretty funny.

If you could play catch with any player in NFL history, who would it be?
Wow, I guess of all time, being a Jet fan, I would have to go back to Joe Namath. Joe Willie (smiling)! I’d like pay him his due and catch up with him. I need to understand what it was like in the glory days, because I don’t have the luxury of getting to see him play now.

Last week, the New York Post last week coined the “Sanchez Effect” referring to the positive on and offfield effect the of the rookie Jets QB. How would you describe the “Marcoux Effect”?
(Laughing) Wow, uh, I think the Marcoux effect would be someone that will do everything they can to help their team. I mean, I always want to be a respected leader, the kid that the rest of the team is gonna like. And you know, I might not be the guy posing for all those GQ shots like Sanchez in the white shorts— although I did just take a few pictures for you guys—but I think that the more focus on the team as a whole, the better. The Marcoux Effect is bringing well-rounded leadership to the team, that’s the most important effect a quarterback can have.

What are the challenges unique to being a quarterback?
I definitely see more challenges now that I’m a senior than when I was a younger, because now I’m actually seeing the things that make the quarterback position difficult.

As a sophomore, I would just pick the guy that I liked the most and hope that he got open and I threw him the ball to him if he did. Now I do a lot of film work. I’m trying to prepare myself for the next level. So I try to breakdown film and see the different coverages. I understand now why QB is such a difficult position. When I was a freshman or sophomore, I probably would have said that it’s just a fun position where you just throw the ball as hard as you can. Now I see its difficulty, but at the same time it’s also just the best position in any sport, just from a leadership standpoint, because of how much your team depends on you to win a game.

On a more serious note, what would you do if you thought you had a concussion, but you really wanted to stay in the game?
I would trust my trainers from that point. If I go out there, and I’m risking my health playing football, I want to let them make an intelligent decision as to whether or not I should be out there playing. If they think that its up to me and it’s a matter of just getting through any sort of pain that’s not gonna hurt me in the long run or risk my life, and its up to me to play, I can’t imagine I would be taking myself out of the football game. But that’s where I think you really need good trainers. They really don’t get that much credit, but they do take care of so much, and take the stress off you in making that kind of decision.

What’s the best football field you’ve played on in NYC?
Our field! Our field at Fieldston is the best field in the city! It’s that new artificial field turf. Soooooooo nice. But you know, home is always the best place to play. There’s not too much field space in Manhattan, but you just barely leave the island and go into the Bronx, there’s Fieldston, and a pretty nice field to play on. Growing up my friends and I would go to Riverside Park, Central Park, pretty much any decent plot of grass in the city. We didn’t really care about conditions. We had a good group of kids and we’d make anything look like NFL field turf, so it didn’t really matter where we were.