JMU’s Dean Of Big Plays
Marlowe Might Be The Dukes’ Next LeZotte
Posted: October 10, 2012
HARRISONBURG — Talk to James Madison free safety Dean Marlowe long enough and you notice he’s humble, appreciative and well-spoken. But after his star defensive performance Saturday against Towson, he couldn’t resist flashing some New York City swagger when a reporter asked about his big-play mindset.
“I ain’t gonna sound cocky, but I’m just a ball hawk,” Marlowe, a Queens native said.
His words aren’t so much cocky as they are precise.
On Saturday, Marlowe made some gasp-inducing hits and intercepted two passes, including the game-clincher during the final minute. That’s becoming typical for the sophomore, who is second on the team in tackles (31) and tackles for loss (three) and has three of the Dukes’ four interceptions.
“You’ve got to be around the ball,” Marlowe said Tuesday after practice. “That’s how you create turnovers, get interceptions. … I have a different mentality probably than a lot of people. I feel like I always have to be involved with what’s going on, on the field. I take care of my responsibility first and then I try to find the ball.”
At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Marlowe is hardly bulky for a hard-hitting safety, but he’s come a long way since his first year at JMU, when he redshirted. He was a ball hawk then, too, but a flimsy hawk who sometimes would be trounced by the rabbit when going in for the kill.
“He was just so dadgum skinny,” coach Mickey Matthews said. “He was 160. He was just an absolute beanpole. He would get run over in practice and we used to laugh. He would stick his face in there and tackle in those scrimmages, but he would get run over a lot. And here, 35 pounds later, he still sticks his face in there … he’s an excellent tackler.”
Madison coaches dole out production points for defensive players and Marlowe’s 80 points through five games trails only tackle-machine linebacker Stephon Robertson (127). Next best behind Marlowe is linebacker Jamie Veney with 52.
What’s remarkable about Marlowe’s total is that he barely has any variance from week to week, scoring somewhere between 14-20 points in each game thus far.
He’s not just consistent, he’s New York tough.
“I would say he’s one of the toughest guys on the team,” Matthews said. “There’s no question if he were to keep getting bigger, he could play closer to the line of scrimmage because he’s a physically tough guy. If he was walking down the street, if there was a fight going on in front of him, he wouldn’t move over to the other side of the street to avoid the fight.”
Except that he would avoid the fight. Not because he couldn’t handle himself, but because that’s how he was raised.
Marlowe said his parents worked for the New York police department – his stepfather Mike Neil a sergeant in the 75 Precinct in Brooklyn, his mother Lisa in Harlem. Marlowe used to go to work with his mom when he was a little kid, seeing a side of Harlem he was taught to avoid. Coaches along the way reaffirmed the point.
“Coaches, when I was younger were always telling me just be different,” Marlowe said. “Don’t follow the crew, avoid the negative influences, just be yourself.”
Marlowe, who has a Yankees-like “NY” logo tattooed on his left shoulder (even though he’s a Mets fan), said he has “a lot of pride for my city.” At JMU, he sometimes gets grief for his New York roots. Only three Dukes are from the state, and Marlowe is the only player from the city.
Former safeties coach Mo Linguist found Marlowe at Holy Cross High School, and the Dukes were actually more impressed with his play at quarterback than safety.
Marlowe – a four-year honor roll student – was the New York Post and New York Daily News Queens Player of the Year after throwing for 1,657 yards and 15 touchdowns, and rushing for 797 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior (he also made 63 tackles and five interceptions, one of which he returned 102 yards for a score).
“I’m not sure he couldn’t play quarterback still,” Matthews said. “When we got him here, I would watch him, I was tempted to move him, leave him at quarterback because he has a good arm. … We recruited him as a safety, but after he got here… when we got him here and he threw the ball pretty good, I thought, Hmm, I thought we should leave him at quarterback. He has a great 40-time, he has a great change of direction. But he’s turned out to be a great player at safety.”
Asked about an obvious comparison to Tony LeZotte, another JMU safety who started from his freshman year onward, Matthews didn’t back away from it.
“They’re much the same,” Matthews said. “They’re hitters and great competitors and have a great feel for it. They’re much the same player. Dean is just two inches taller.”
LeZotte, a Division I-AA All-American who graduated in 2007, became the first Atlantic Ten/Colonial Athletic Association player to be on the conference’s first team four times. Marlowe was third-team All-CAA last year and is well on his way to bigger honors than that for JMU (4-1).
Now the Dukes’ safeties coach, LeZotte didn’t want to compare Marlowe to himself, saying that they’re two separate players. But he’s extremely high on his pupil, who he said keeps getting more and more confident in his role.
“Out there he’s making checks and trying to be a leader on the field,” LeZotte said. “That’s something that you don’t regularly see from a sophomore.
“… He’s only beginning to scratch that surface, and he’s only going to get better. He’s got so much room for improvement and the sky’s the limit. And that’s the cool thing about coaching him. He knows that and he’s out here asking questions, trying to get better. … He’s always looking to improve, he’s always ‘yes sir/no sir.’”
And he’s sometimes “I’m just a ball hawk.” After all, it’s polite to tell the truth.
“I ain’t gonna sound cocky, but I’m just a ball hawk,” Marlowe, a Queens native said.
His words aren’t so much cocky as they are precise.
On Saturday, Marlowe made some gasp-inducing hits and intercepted two passes, including the game-clincher during the final minute. That’s becoming typical for the sophomore, who is second on the team in tackles (31) and tackles for loss (three) and has three of the Dukes’ four interceptions.
“You’ve got to be around the ball,” Marlowe said Tuesday after practice. “That’s how you create turnovers, get interceptions. … I have a different mentality probably than a lot of people. I feel like I always have to be involved with what’s going on, on the field. I take care of my responsibility first and then I try to find the ball.”
At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Marlowe is hardly bulky for a hard-hitting safety, but he’s come a long way since his first year at JMU, when he redshirted. He was a ball hawk then, too, but a flimsy hawk who sometimes would be trounced by the rabbit when going in for the kill.
“He was just so dadgum skinny,” coach Mickey Matthews said. “He was 160. He was just an absolute beanpole. He would get run over in practice and we used to laugh. He would stick his face in there and tackle in those scrimmages, but he would get run over a lot. And here, 35 pounds later, he still sticks his face in there … he’s an excellent tackler.”
Madison coaches dole out production points for defensive players and Marlowe’s 80 points through five games trails only tackle-machine linebacker Stephon Robertson (127). Next best behind Marlowe is linebacker Jamie Veney with 52.
What’s remarkable about Marlowe’s total is that he barely has any variance from week to week, scoring somewhere between 14-20 points in each game thus far.
He’s not just consistent, he’s New York tough.
“I would say he’s one of the toughest guys on the team,” Matthews said. “There’s no question if he were to keep getting bigger, he could play closer to the line of scrimmage because he’s a physically tough guy. If he was walking down the street, if there was a fight going on in front of him, he wouldn’t move over to the other side of the street to avoid the fight.”
Except that he would avoid the fight. Not because he couldn’t handle himself, but because that’s how he was raised.
Marlowe said his parents worked for the New York police department – his stepfather Mike Neil a sergeant in the 75 Precinct in Brooklyn, his mother Lisa in Harlem. Marlowe used to go to work with his mom when he was a little kid, seeing a side of Harlem he was taught to avoid. Coaches along the way reaffirmed the point.
“Coaches, when I was younger were always telling me just be different,” Marlowe said. “Don’t follow the crew, avoid the negative influences, just be yourself.”
Marlowe, who has a Yankees-like “NY” logo tattooed on his left shoulder (even though he’s a Mets fan), said he has “a lot of pride for my city.” At JMU, he sometimes gets grief for his New York roots. Only three Dukes are from the state, and Marlowe is the only player from the city.
Former safeties coach Mo Linguist found Marlowe at Holy Cross High School, and the Dukes were actually more impressed with his play at quarterback than safety.
Marlowe – a four-year honor roll student – was the New York Post and New York Daily News Queens Player of the Year after throwing for 1,657 yards and 15 touchdowns, and rushing for 797 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior (he also made 63 tackles and five interceptions, one of which he returned 102 yards for a score).
“I’m not sure he couldn’t play quarterback still,” Matthews said. “When we got him here, I would watch him, I was tempted to move him, leave him at quarterback because he has a good arm. … We recruited him as a safety, but after he got here… when we got him here and he threw the ball pretty good, I thought, Hmm, I thought we should leave him at quarterback. He has a great 40-time, he has a great change of direction. But he’s turned out to be a great player at safety.”
Asked about an obvious comparison to Tony LeZotte, another JMU safety who started from his freshman year onward, Matthews didn’t back away from it.
“They’re much the same,” Matthews said. “They’re hitters and great competitors and have a great feel for it. They’re much the same player. Dean is just two inches taller.”
LeZotte, a Division I-AA All-American who graduated in 2007, became the first Atlantic Ten/Colonial Athletic Association player to be on the conference’s first team four times. Marlowe was third-team All-CAA last year and is well on his way to bigger honors than that for JMU (4-1).
Now the Dukes’ safeties coach, LeZotte didn’t want to compare Marlowe to himself, saying that they’re two separate players. But he’s extremely high on his pupil, who he said keeps getting more and more confident in his role.
“Out there he’s making checks and trying to be a leader on the field,” LeZotte said. “That’s something that you don’t regularly see from a sophomore.
“… He’s only beginning to scratch that surface, and he’s only going to get better. He’s got so much room for improvement and the sky’s the limit. And that’s the cool thing about coaching him. He knows that and he’s out here asking questions, trying to get better. … He’s always looking to improve, he’s always ‘yes sir/no sir.’”
And he’s sometimes “I’m just a ball hawk.” After all, it’s polite to tell the truth.