forgotten?...

44 & more created conversations about Rick, Todd and Kevin Mason
especially from toga, ringo, scott, oburgorange and swc75 so I thought I'd do some research for you gentlemen and the board.


Rick Cassata


High School and College Athlete
Outstanding high school athletes frequent possess the tools of stardom in more than one sport, and indeed the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame features more than a few multi-sport notables. Even among that crowd, however, certain athletes stand out, including a player widely considered the best three-sport athlete ever produced locally on the high school level — Rick Cassata.

A product of Buffalo’s West Side, Cassata first served notice of future greatness at Tonawanda High School. A strong-armed quarterback, Rick attained All-Niagara Frontier League honors as a junior in 1962, and added All-Western New York and All- American citations in 1963. Rick paced the Red Warriors to a share of the NFL title in 1962, and to an undefeated championship season in 1963.

Basketball and baseball provided additional showcases for Cassata’s talents. Rick led his roundball teammates to an AAA Sectional championship in 1962, and a year later achieved All-NFL status as a forward. Rick’s basketball contributions were recognized with selection to the NFL All-Decade team for the 1960s. Rick was no less a terror on the diamond; the hard-hitting, hard–throwing shortstop/pitcher won an NFL batting title in 1963 and All-NFL and All-Western New York honors in 1964.

During senior year at Tonawanda, football scouts from Miami University and Notre Dame beckoned (he was the No. 1 prospect for the Irish, even more highly coveted than eventual Heismann winner Terry Hanratty), but Rick stayed close to home by choosing Syracuse University. With Cassata and Csonka in the backfield, the mid-1960s was a golden gridiron era for the Orangemen, and Bowl appearances capped off each of Rick’s last two seasons in college. Although the 1966 Gator Bowl featured a fine performance from Cassata, he saved his best for last. In a memorable 1967 clash in the Hula Bowl before a nationwide audience, he soundly outplayed his counterpart, UCLA quarterback and Heismann winner Gary Beban, and captured the game’s MVP award.

Rick also captained the Syracuse nine senior year, and faced another fork in the road after graduation, as scouts from the New York Yankees and Washington Senators crowded pro football scouts on his doorstep. Rick opted for the Canadian Football League. Cassata flourished as a quarterback in the wide-open CFL, and his stellar nine-year career north of the border included a Grey Cup win with the Ottawa Roughriders in 1973.

Cassata is proud of his Western New York roots, which he still maintains, and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame is equally proud to call him a member.

G CMP / ATT YDS TD
1965 - 10 47 104 525 2

1966 - 10 41 85 472 4

1967 - 10 92 176 992 8

One thing about Rick's stats to remember was that he had arguably the best backfield combination RB/FB in SU history Floyd and Larry. We ran the ball a lot thus Rick's passing stats were not that high when compared to others but still he went on to win a Grey cup. Great career!

Todd Philcox

G CMP/ ATT YDS TD

1986 - - - - - -

1987 - 11 4 9 29 0

1988 - 11 141 234 2076 16

Todd played nine years in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers, and New England Patriots. In 1993 he was starting for the Cleveland Browns in week 11 against Seattle. On the first play of the game he fumbled the ball; it was recovered by Seattle and was run in for a Seahawks touchdown. It was the fastest score in franchise history for Seattle. He finished 4 for 8 and passed for 49 yards and had one interception in 1991.He would go on to play two more seasons for Cleveland. He never fully recovered from a broken thumb in September 1992.

In nine NFL seasons his stats are: G CMP/ ATT YDS TD
15 85 173 1,138 7



Kevin Mason

G CMP/ ATT YDS TD

1992 - 9 4 8 47 1

1993 - 6 7 17 92 0

1994 - 11 105 189 1627 10

At SU 116 214 1766 11



Compare the above to Donovan McNabb who redshirted then started 4 years


G CMP / ATT YDS TD

1995 - 11 128 207 1991 16

1996 - 11 118 215 1776 19

1997 - 12 145 265 2488 20

1998 - 11 157 251 2134 22

At SU he also had career rushing numbers of 465-1561 YDS with 19 TDS

All were very good quarterbacks but there is that tangible difference between good and great.

From 44& more:
The two points: get the 44 in front of the right back and recruit another DMc. EASIER SAID THAN DONE, but until then we are not the prominent FB program we used to be and won’t be until these two points are addressed.

Hopefully after this GREAT weekend with men's and women's LAX ACC champions we now may be half way there with Washington verbally committing to us. My hope is he stays with us and he stays healthy playing his senior year. The schools that were after him along with us saw something very special. Floyd ran a 9.7 hundred. I don't know the formula of how that converts into a forty time but Washington's 4.47 at this point is really good. I sincerely hope every school recruiting him took notice and that we may be recruiting a quarterback none of us knows about and be able to get that next great QB because it will definitely make a difference.