Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the Mount’s offensive quarterback, Tyler Prather. It is important to give credit where credit is due.
To say Prather is a humble, intelligent, kind, and God-fearing man who isn’t afraid to step up for his team would be an understatement. I don’t think I have ever met someone who displayed such humility as Prather. As the Lions' quarterback, he has held down the team tremendously this season. I will highlight someone who isn’t only interesting but a pillar of our MSJ community.
Why did you choose the Mount?
TP: I wanted to play football; it was close to home and overall, I liked the atmosphere of the mount.
What does it mean to you to be a football player? Is this a hobby? Is this your life?
TP: For the most part sports have always been a big part of my life but it doesn't mean you can make it your whole life. You can't only have football because it's going to end at some point. No matter how good you are, even if you start in the NFL for 15 years, it's going to come to an end, so you have to have something bigger than that.
It's been an outlet that has allowed me to express myself and be around the guys all the time. It's fun in that aspect. Going to practice with your best friends is fun to do and that's what I’m going to miss the most once the season's over, that bond that you create with people.
Who’s your go-to artist you listen to before hitting the field?
TP: Rod Wave. I don’t want to get too hyped up before going out there. That’s really been my go-to this year.
Since you're the QB and a senior, do you feel a sense of pressure on you? Or is this something you have gotten used to?
TP: I feel I am used to it. Everyone I play with is my guys and we’ve been in this together for so long. It’s not like I am feeling pressure from them; they have faith and trust in everything I do. I don’t feel that I must perform a certain way. I can be myself. That also comes with how you work in the off-season. Being able to work out all the time, and trying to better myself every day, gives me the confidence to not feel that pressure.
What are your emotions before you step on the field? Right before you step on the field what's going through your head?
TP: I always feel some butterflies. I'm always a little nervous but I think nerves are a good thing because they let you know you’re alive and that you care. Going back to the faith aspect, I say a prayer before I go out and it’s not a prayer asking to win because everyone asks to win. I just ask God for calmness and stillness when I’m out there and to be able to operate and not get in my head or get too flustered. I always keep my faith in mind so I can play freely.
What would you tell someone who wants to come play for the mount?
TP: You’ll have a good time here. It’ll be a good experience; you’ll get more out of it if you buy in. Because we are a D3 school, it's different than it even is in high school because you're not constantly here. In the offseason, we have so much time off. We don’t start camp until two weeks before the season in the summer, so you have the whole summer to yourself. that's kind of what I think of when I think of the Mount football and D3 football; You’re going to have to work on your own a lot.
You might be a little bit more relaxed if you come from a D1 or D2 school, so there are times you have to be independent and not always look for somebody to tell you to go do something. For the mount in general even if you're not playing a sport, it's a small community. With classes, you're going to know the professor and it's going to feel like high school. For me, it felt smaller than a high school, like at Colerain I saw more people there daily than I do here.
How would you want people to view or remember you?
TP: I would want people to see me as caring and putting others first, especially in a football setting. Being a leader of a team, you can’t always think of yourself, you have to see things from a bigger perspective and realize that it all starts with faith.
I also would like people to see me as a man of God, someone who keeps his faith in God. That will make you realize that everything in this world is a lot bigger than yourself. You have to take into consideration how people want to be treated and how you should be able to influence the lives of others.
How would you describe this season since the last game is Saturday?
TP: There's been a lot of ups and downs at the beginning. Everybody was getting comfortable. For me, I haven't started really since my freshman year when I started two games, so it kind of took a second just to get back into the flow of playing. We had to deal with some ups and downs at first, but we got through them, and we’ve found our groove lately, so I feel like we're ahead of steam going into these next couple of games. I think we can make a run because we have it figured out. As an offensive unit, we’re playing good football now.