Christian Massey started at left tackle for Salpointe Catholic High School in 2017 — no small feat given the Lancers’ stockpile of Division I talent.
But a back injury had limited Massey’s playing time before that — and constrained his college choices afterward. He had Division II and NAIA offers, but like most players at big-time high school programs, he sought something greater.
Lancers coach Dennis Bene suggested junior college — specifically Pima College, which could offer Massey an opportunity to grow and develop into the Division I prospect he believed he could become. Massey also could live at home and save money on rent.
Massey signed with Pima. But before his career with the Aztecs even could begin, the school announced it would be discontinuing football after the 2018 season. Pima became the fifth of seven Arizona junior colleges to drop the sport, with most citing financial concerns.
“There was always hope that if we won a certain number of games, played spectacularly, fundraised … it was to no avail,” Massey said. “We went 6-3 (in the regular season). It wasn’t enough to keep the program around.”
Massey appeared in seven games for Pima. He still held out hope of securing a starting job and earning a scholarship at a Division I program.
But while Pima’s Jim Monaco and his fellow JC coaches scrambled to find spots for players who would have been sophomores this season, Massey elected to hang up his cleats. He’s no longer playing football, and he seems to be at peace with the decision.
“It had always been my dream,” said Massey, who had played football since he was 7 years old. “Everyone has to stop at some point.”
Bene described Massey as a “casualty” of the statewide decree to end junior college football. Massey doesn’t see it that way.
“It’s not the end of the world,” he said. “It’s not like I’m dying. It’s not like I have some life-threatening disease. It’s not going to put my life in a rut.”
Massey remains enrolled at Pima. He always had a Plan B if football didn’t work out long term. He’s lucky that way.
Most of the players who were displaced by Arizona’s statewide move to drop JC football have found new homes, according to coaches interviewed by the Star. But most doesn’t mean all.
The latest entry on the Twitter account for Scottsdale Community College Football — now dubbed “Formerly Scottsdale Football” — begins as follows:
“Still getting lots of player inquiries for the 2019 season that we are not able to assist.”
The account urges interested student-athletes to reach out to former SCC coach Doug Madoski, one of the founding members of the new Hohokam Junior College Athletic Conference, which is attempting to revitalize JC football in Arizona.
Massey participated in a couple of the HJCAC’s combines but decided it wasn’t for him. He was hesitant to commit to a league with an uncertain future after unwittingly being part of Pima’s final football season.
“The whole experience with the jucos kind of left a bad taste in my mouth,” Massey said. “I guess I just don’t want to be promised an opportunity only for it to be taken away from me again.”
Massey stressed that his decision to step away from football had nothing to do with the way Pima treated him. He described his experience there as “great.”
Massey had an offer to play at Western New Mexico University, a Division II school in Silver City. He turned it down. “It just didn’t feel right to me,” he said.
Pivoting in a different direction did. Massey, who’s 6-foot-5, feels fitter and healthier at 250 pounds than he did at his playing weight of about 290.
“Right now I’m just working on myself, trying to get through school, get good grades, eventually go to veterinary school,” Massey said. “To be able to save someone’s dog from a potentially life-threatening ailment is something that would be really fulfilling for me.”
Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences is atop Massey’s list. You won’t see him tweeting out his finalists. Those days are behind him.
Massey’s family owns five dogs, four chickens and a hedgehog. Massey named the newest edition to the flock, a Belgian Malinois puppy, after Arya Stark from “Game of Thrones.”
“She’s a badass,” Massey said, referring to the dog as well as the character.
His days in that sort of role — trying to pile drive or pancake defensive linemen — likely are over. Massey will miss certain elements of football, to be sure. He believes the sport helped build his “inner character” and made him a “stronger, better” person. He made friends through the brotherhood of football that he’ll have for life.
But Massey knew this day would come, sooner or later. If Arizona dropping junior college football pushed up the timeline, so be it.
“Not everything can happen the way you want it to all the time,” Massey said. “It sucks, but that’s the reality of life.”
