Marcus Rios rewarded with coach Jim Mora’s first ever ‘game ball’
A year and a half ago, redshirt sophomore defensive back Marcus Rios (9) was battling for his life against a deadly fungal infection. On Saturday, he became the first-ever recipient of a Jim Mora ‘game ball’ at UCLA, after reeling in the game-clinching interception at Cal.
(Austin Yu/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Chris Kalra
Oct. 21, 2014 12:58 a.m.
For almost two and a half years at UCLA – a span of 33 games before Saturday – coach Jim Mora never once handed out a ‘game ball.’
Again and again, situations that might have warranted one arose, yet the act never came to fruition.
In the locker room after UCLA’s 36-34 win over Cal, Mora stood tall in the center of his players, his hand rested atop redshirt sophomore cornerback Marcus Rios’ shoulder. Mora held, in his other hand raised high, the game ball. This was a first.
“Everything that the kid’s been through, to have a moment like that, it just made sense,” he said. “The resolve, the resilience. He kind of epitomizes what we’ve kind of become about … a never give in, never quit type of spirit.”
Cal – down two – was nearing field goal range under a minute left, while Rios and the Bruins were on the ropes.
Rios, running down the sideline alongside a Bears receiver, turned his attention from his man to the overthrown, lofted pass. He outstretched his hands, but the ball fell in between, nearly ricocheting to the ground before Rios pinned it to his body to secure the interception while tumbling out of bounds.
His teammates grabbed and hugged an ecstatic Rios, yelling in jubilation. They knew he had just saved the game – and the Bruins’ Pac-12 South title hopes.
Back in the locker room afterwards, Rios – well-known as a quiet guy – stood in the center with Mora, smiling ear to ear. Simultaneously, the coach spoke, recounting bits and parts of Rios’ journey.
“It was so true what coach Mora was saying,” said junior cornerback Ishmael Adams. “All the struggle that we go through as a team and for somebody to make a play at the end, at such a crucial time, (who was the one) that went through the most out of anybody.”
Around a year and a half ago, Rios was battling for his life. He had been diagnosed with a deadly fungus, Aspergillus and had headaches, serious trouble sleeping and dropped from 185 pounds to 125.
Once, during his stay at the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Center, Rios was told there was a good chance he was never going to walk out.
Back then, Rios wanted most just to get healthy again. But that didn’t stop him from telling the doctors he needed to have a room that looked out over Spaulding Field. He had to see “his brothers.” He had to have that room.
Every morning, he woke up with his teammates to see them practice. When they ended, he left with them, going back to sleep.
“I made sure I was up watching them every single day,” Rios said. “I definitely used that as motivation.”
From the end of last season to the offseason, Rios has regained his weight, and as Mora says, he’s slowly, but surely – quietly, yet confidently – fighting his way back.
Even now, as in Saturday’s game when Rios said he knew he would be picked on because he had very little game experience, the fight hasn’t stopped. It’s only made him stronger.
The same can be said about the Bruins, who tore out a gritty road win after two straight losses dismantled their high early-season hopes and doused them in criticism and doubt from the outside. The same too the Bruins hope can be said for their season as it winds down.
In part, that’s why as Mora stood with Rios in the center of the locker room post game, he broke the precedent. He gave out a ‘game ball.’ To him, Rios’ journey seemed to mean much more.
