HUNTINGTON -- A passion for football and the love of competition and winning is what makes the various players in Conference USA sworn on-field enemies over the four-month stretch of the season.
Yet that passion and love is also what brings those players together as friends off the field for events such as the C-USA Football Media Blitz last weekend at The Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn.
"We are all here for the same reasons," Southern Miss linebacker Gerald McRath said. "We love the game and we bond through the game."
McRath was the 2007 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and is a 2008 preseason All-American in several publications, but his demeanor reminds you of anything but one of the most feared linebackers in the country.
He used Marshall tight end Cody Slate as an example to describe the way players see each other when they aren't literally butting heads.
"You look at Slate. We are going to after each other during a game," McRath said. "He's going to come at me and I'm going to go at him. That's what we are supposed to do.
"But we aren't that different. We go through two-a-days to get better and we want to make our teams better. We are all here for the same reason."
Memphis coach Tommy West has been around the game for a long time and said the attitudes of players have changed exponentially since he was co-captain of the Tennessee Volunteers in 1975.
"When I grew up, you hated every team you played but now it's not that way," West said. "The game has changed a little bit. A lot of these guys talk on the internet and stuff like that."
Camaraderie was visible throughout media day as players began Sunday with breakfast before moving through the newspaper and broadcast interviews.
They joked as they waited for TV interviews and commercial spots and some even got together after the media portion was finished to visit sites in Memphis such as the National Civil Rights Museum and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Memphis wide receiver and native Maurice Jones served as a tour guide for the crew.
"I feel right at home," Jones said tongue-in-cheek.
While the mood was light for most of the trip, one bonding experience for the players was seeing first hand just how lucky they are to be playing a sport that they love.
All the players in attendance visited the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on Monday, interacting with kids who aren't as fortunate as they are.
Even though the football players are deemed to be tough guys, they each showed a soft side after getting to interact with kids who are forced to be mentally tough in their own personal battles.
Following Monday's visit to St. Jude, the weekend festivities came to a close, but players know they will see each other soon enough.
However, each of them know it is not likely that their next meetings will feature such a fun tone.
"It's business during the game," McRath said. "At the end of the game, we can go up to each other and talk about it, joke around and have fun."
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