Ex-Wildcat Antoine Cason discusses time at Arizona, 'Baby Gronk', and UA supporting alumni

About 280 former Arizona Wildcats are expected to attend the UA football spring game Saturday afternoon at Arizona Stadium.

Among them: The Gronkowski brothers, Rob and Chris, and the most decorated cornerbacks in Arizona history, Chris McAlister and Antoine Cason.

Rob Gronkowski is the honorary head coach of the “Red Team,” while the younger Gronkowski leads the “Blue Team,” with Cason and McAlister as honorary defensive coordinators; Cason, the former All-American and 2007 Jim Thorpe Award winner, will pair up with the older “Gronk.”

“I got a call and they were talking about spring football, and of course I would go back. They were telling me about what they wanted to do with the Gronkowskis and Chris McAlister and I being the honorary coaches or captains, and of course I said yes,” Cason said. “What I’m doing, I don’t know. I’m just going to be on the sidelines wishing I could suit up again.”

Cason joined The Star’s Justin Spears on ESPN Tucson earlier this week to discuss spring ball during the Stoops era, being teammates with Gronk, and feeling appreciated by the UA football program.

What were spring practices like under Stoops?

A: “It’s interesting, because I only did two years of spring ball. ... Spring ball my senior, I didn’t really do because I ran track, so spring ball was always interesting for me. But it was so much fun though, because that’s where I was able to figure out, ‘Alright, I can play coverage like this, work this technique, don’t this, do this — ope! Don’t do that again.’

“Spring ball was pretty fun for that, and Mike Stoops was intense, but he wasn’t as intense as the season, if that makes any sense, because that dude was always on 10.

“He brought intensity every single day. It was incredible how he saw things you thought he didn’t see. If he wasn’t talking to me or not saying anything or yelling at me, I was doing OK. He always shuffled his feet on defense, on offense or see something out of the corner of his eye and start yelling. He was just being Mike Stoops (laughs).”

What was your first impression of Gronkowski in 2007?

A: “The first year, I was like, ‘Sheesh, this kid is big,’ you know? He’s just such a big body. We heard about the recruits who signed and where they’re from, and when he came in, he was a big-bodied tight end. We hadn’t had anybody like that.

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“But this freshman came in and is huge. He catches the ball, and he obviously had to develop, but jeez, right away he was all over it. It was a no-brainer he’d be pretty good.”

Since ‘Gronk’ was so dominant, but has a bright personality, did Stoops and other staffers approach coaching him differently than others?

A: “We see Gronk now, but freshman Gronk wasn’t as Gronk-ish — I should say — as he is now. Mike Stoops didn’t give a darn who you were, he yelled at you and got after you when he needed to. That was baby Gronk at the time, and now we’ve seen him develop a little bit.”

Do you have any ‘Club G’ stories?

A: “What’s Club G?”

Club G was the Gronkowski brothers’ house that hosted a number of large gatherings and had an indoor — and self-made — ‘Slip N’ Slide’ with soap and water.

A: “I didn’t even know what Club G was. I really focused on my studies and football (laughs).”

The program has emphasized turning the spring game into UA alumni weekend; how important is that you and other ex-Wildcats?

A: “As they should be. College programs, really it’s about the alumni and how that looks to the players of today. When I was there, I would’ve loved to see all the alumni come back and support. That’s big with that going on. It feels good. Hopefully the energy is getting stronger. I haven’t been back since last season, so hopefully the energy and fire are still there.

“It seems like more and more guys are coming back each year. That is good and it’s what the staff is doing. We have some former Wildcats over there, like Syndric Steptoe, who I played with and is working with football, and Brandon Sanders — some former guys from different years that have connections and reaches with different era of guys. So it’s pretty good that that’s what is going on.”