Sprint Football: New players lead team into meeting with Post

One of the reasons for the team’s recent success is the influx of former varsity football players. Namely, senior wide receiver Peter Perdue, senior running back Sean Conrad and senior wide receiver Ross Cadman are all former varsity athletes who are suiting up for the sprint team this season.

Though there are certainly differences between his two experiences, Cadman said that at the end of the day, football is football no matter the team.

“There are similarities in that people love football, love the sport,” he said. “The differences are that the whole team dynamic is not going to be the same. There are different personalities, different coaching staffs, different locker rooms, but overall the guys have been great. It was an easy transition.”

For Cadman and the rest of the new players, there has also been an effort to change the culture of the sprint football locker room. As Cadman said, the team wants to be respected, and now that they have some additional talent, they can be.

“This year we wanted to change our culture around the league and what people thought of us,” he said. “We wanted everyone who we played to be respecting us. We haven’t won games yet, but we’ve definitely made some noise in the league.”

Cadman also emphasized the experience and seniority of the Tigers.

“There’s more confidence on the team now that we have some more players and are competing in games. It’s a senior led team, so everybody on the team has been there for so long and has seen the ups and the downs.”

The team is looking ahead to this weekend’s matchup against Post, a team that many are predicting Princeton can beat. The Eagles are 0-2 so far this season, though they have faced traditional powers Army and Navy, and only began playing sprint football in 2010.

However, Cadman is not making any assumptions. He, like the rest of the team, knows how difficult winning is.

“Post is a very athletic team. They haven’t been in the league long, so I think that’s why people might think it will be an easy game, but for us, every game is going to be difficult,” he said. “The mistakes we made the first couple of weeks are what we have to look back on and build upon. We’re expecting to be in the game and we’re expecting the game to be close.”

This year’s sprint football team is different. It is now a group of players that is respected in its league, has the talent to be competitive and may begin to win games. The impact that just three players have had on a team has been culture-changing and makes the team’s outlook significantly brighter.

Princeton will host Post at Princeton Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.