ESPN feature on Bryant Moniz

Asked how he was able to earn the starting job at 2 colleges despite starting at the bottom of the depth chart, Bryant Moniz said:
"I never really thought about it that way before. Both times it just ended up working out for me." (ESPN)


ESPN Note: "Determined to continue his football career, Moniz followed a friend to Fresno City College in California. When he arrived, he was last on the depth chart, but quickly worked his way up to becoming the starter. Moniz threw for 2,268 yards and 18 touchdowns his first year there in 2007. But his girlfriend got pregnant, and the two decided to come back home to Hawaii to raise their daughter."


About how he started at 6th on the depth chart at UH when he walked on, Moniz said:
"I knew what my chances were. It was for the love of the game that kept me playing. It didn't matter if I was last string or first string, I just wanted to play. I was a fan on the field watching Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares. It was just really cool to be out here with all the guys." (ESPN)


About how he noticed Moniz right away, Greg Salas said:
"Just catching balls from him, running routes, I would always compliment him on his tight spirals. He put it right on the money. We knew he was going to be good, but we had no idea he was going to be this good." (ESPN)


ESPN Note: "Since Moniz had to pay his own way at Hawaii, he took a job delivering pizzas to make money. He would essentially go to practice in the morning, go to class, do homework, go to meetings, go to work, come home, play with his daughter and go to bed. All the while, he found himself moving up the depth chart thanks to his talent, but also his ability to quickly pick up a complicated offense."


About how Moniz and their WRs worked hard over the summer to improve and get into sync, Mack said:
"They worked real hard together over the summer. We're on the same page now. Bryant is reading their body language. He knows before their break what they're going to do by their body language and they're deep into the package. They're clicking on all cylinders." (ESPN)


Praising UH's offense, Nevada head coach Chris Ault said:
"They're doing a nice job mixing their runs with their shovel pass in there. Most important for us, we've got to play steady, good, hard-nosed football and keep things in front of us." (ESPN)


About having to have a different mindset when joining the team as a walk-on, Moniz said:
"When you're a walk-on, you have a whole different attitude compared to guys on scholarship. You feel you have to prove something to rest of the guys and prove yourself as a player. It helped keep my fire going as far as trying to work hard. I would show everybody I could play ball." (ESPN)


http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/29804/moniz-goes-from-delivering-pizzas-to-tds