Thursday, December 15, 2005

Oakland Tribune: Bear with a special mission

Cal's Philip, a Mormon, finally gets chance to face BYU when teams meet in Las Vegas Bowl

By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER 

BERKELEY — Marvin Philip is every football coach's dream. The Cal center is a first-team All-American. He goes to church every Sunday. He abstains from drinking and smoking. And he doesn't swear — well, not knowingly. On the gridiron, he isn't sure of what he might have said to foes in the blur of battle.  "During a football game, I don't know what's happening," he said. Philip, a 6-foot-2, 305-pound senior, is a two-time finalist for the Rimington Trophy, awarded to the nation's best center. And this clean-living Bear of a man now will end his college career in a personal way. Philip is Mormon. And Cal's opponent in the Thursday, Dec. 22 Las Vegas Bowl is BYU. Thus Philip's last game for Cal will be his first against the Mormon school from Provo, Utah.  He just missed playing in two previous Cal-BYU games — the year before he enrolled at Berkeley, and the following year after his freshman season when he departed on a two-year church mission. "I'm thrilled," he said this week. "I've always wanted to play againstthem, and this is my chance. That connection for me is real."   Philip is Tongan, and there is a strong Polynesian influence in BYU football. Thus he was tempted to join the now more than 100 Polynesians who've played for the Cougars since 1951. But Tom Holmoe, who was then Cal's coach and also a Mormon, convinced him to wear the blue and gold.

"I wanted to go to a school that would be OK with me going on a two-year mission," Philip said. "Coach Holmoe told me that I would be the first one in Cal football history to go on a mission and come back."  Of course, when Philip returned in 2003, Holmoe no longer was the coach, having been replaced by Jeff Tedford the previous year. Another twist to the story: Holmoe now is BYU's athletic director.  By avoiding a 1-10 season and delaying his Cal career two years, Philip will play in three straight bowl games. And he'll face two cousins who play for BYU in fullback Manase Tonga and defensive end T.J. Sitake.  Mormons are held to a very disciplined lifestyle by their church. Besides no drinking or smoking, they're asked to practice celibacy until marriage. Philip, now 23, has remained celibate. Cal has five Mormon players in Philip, fullback Chris Manderino, defensive end Nu'u Tafisi, quarterback Nate Longshore and defensive end Tosh Lupoi. Longshore and Lupoi won't face BYU because of broken legs.

"When it comes to locker-room talk, we hold our standards at a higher expectation than most other people," Philip said. "After a while, players come to respect you for your ... morals and beliefs."   Those morals and beliefs have been Philip's guideposts.  "It is tough when you're young, and you have a lot of temptations," he said. "For me, you don't put yourself in those type of situations. You learn right off the bat (as a child) how to be disciplined."  Philip speaks with Cal teammates about the Mormon religion, but he avoids openly recruiting them. However, he tells them how his mission made him more mature, more accountable and a better leader.  Philip and two older brothers were raised by a single mother, Luseane Philip, first in Foster City and then in Cameron Park, about 30 miles east of Sacramento, where Marvin finished high school at nearby Oak Ridge.  His parents separated after his birth. He rarely sees his father, who lives in Tonga.  "I tried to teach them to be good to others, to respect parents and older people," Luseane said of her three sons. "Marvin is a genuine person. He walks the talk as you say. I trust him that he won't get into something that would be offensive to someone."

Luseane works as an administrative assistant at Intel in Folsom. She has attended every Cal game, home and away, to watch her baby boy.  "I tell Marvin that I have a hole in my pocket," she said.

 

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