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Andrea Adelson
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Carson Beck remembers the first time he saw Malachi Toney making plays against the Miami defense in the spring. He was running routes like a veteran and making moves that Beck calls «inexplicable.»
Beck stood on the sideline, unable to throw while rehabbing an elbow injury, but he had seen enough to know the receiver would be a star. He asked Toney to watch game tape with him, so they could be on the same page once fall camp started. The two spent hours together inside the Miami facility: Beck, the sixth-year veteran; Toney, the 17-year-old true freshman who should have been preparing for his senior year of high school.
They watched tape of Georgia, where Beck played the previous season. He pointed out the way receiver Ladd McConkey, tight end Brock Bowers and running back Cash Jones ran option routes to perfection.
«I want you to do it this way,» Beck told him.
Toney listened and nodded.
Elija Lofton for the touchdown.
Cristobal has repeatedly praised Toney for carrying himself like an NFL veteran, pointing to his work ethic as exemplary.
Every morning, Toney wakes up at 4:55, the same time as his mother. He arrives at the facility 30 minutes before he is supposed to, then proceeds to get taped up and stretched before going to meet with coaches upstairs to go over the practice script and take notes.
After practice, he spends more time on the Jugs machine, gets in the cold tub, heads to class and comes back to the facility to watch more tape before going back home to do it all again the next day.
«I know what I had to do to get to this position, so I was willing to sacrifice things like sleep, not going to parties, missing out on time with my mom,» Toney says. «What you put in is what you’re going to get out, so that’s how I go about it. If I want to go out there and have a big game, I’ve got to put in the work.»
Once rivals, now teammates, Bain has watched Toney work since his arrival in January. When the offense has a 30-minute break between the end of practice and a lifting session, Bain sees Toney lead the receivers on the Jugs machine. «He’s the last guy to leave the building and the first guy to be in,» Bain says. «It’s a mindset for him, and it’s a way of life.»
He has not let Toney forget that fumble. This past Wednesday, after the first-team offense went against the first-team defense to close out practice, he went up to Toney and could not help but talk some trash, telling him, «I’ve got a play in your mind that will last the rest of your life.»
Toney played it off, but Bain is right.
Because every time he takes the field, Toney remembers the way he felt three years ago in the state title game. He channels that pain into action. He grips the football tight.
He has not fumbled since that night.
