Mason Maximizing All Michigan Has to Offer on Football Field, in Business School
7/10/2020 1:00:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Fullback Ben Mason was twice voted the Toughest Player Award by his University of Michigan football teammates, and can be counted on for touchdowns, crushing blocks and punishing tackles in a career that has also found him playing defensive tackle and linebacker.
He spends as much time with Ben Herbert's strength and conditioning staff as anyone, but often puts in three hours a day in the Ross Academic Center. He's a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree studying in the prestigious Ross School of Business.
Mason, a 6-foot-3, 270-pound senior from Newtown (Connecticut) High, also has engaged meaningfully with recently retired director of athletic counseling Greg Harden and Phil Johnson, the team's director of athletic training.
He maximizes all the Wolverines have to offer, while providing quite a return to his team and the Michigan community.
"I'm making the most of the opportunities that Michigan has given me," Mason told MGoBlue.com. "Wanting to do that when I got here was intuitive. There are all these resources here. I knew that I wanted to come to Michigan because of all it had to offer academically and in football, and it would allow me to accomplish my goals off the field and on the field.
"And if they had all these resources, 'Why wouldn't I use them?'"
Mason realized that even a long NFL career would find him entering another career in his early 30s, and he's preparing for that as thoroughly as he is for pro football.
"I want to play football as long as I can," said Mason. "But it can end at any given point -- especially with this coronavirus (pandemic) going on. You never know when your last practice, your last game is ever going to be. You can't take anything for granted on the field. So, it's nice to have the Ross Business School and all the connections there."
Claiborne Green, director of football academics, helped get him off to a great start.
"Claiborne has been truly unbelievable for me -- especially when I was a freshman and sophomore," said Mason. "I was learning my way around Michigan, and he was really, really helpful in making sure I had all the credits I needed to take to get into Ross.
"Then, when I was admitted, I worked mostly with the academic counselors at Ross. There's definitely a lot of help when you need it. Now I work with Ashley Lawrence. Any time I need to know if a class can help me, what a class has to offer, I talk with her. And any time you need a tutor for any class or a mentor, or just about anything, they are going to get you the resources you need to do well."
Mason said the entire academic team assures no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of excellence.
"We have very busy schedules," said Mason. "When I was a freshman, my schedule looked something like this: Wake up and have a lift at 6 (a.m.) and then go to classes to about 1. Head over to the (football) facility, eat a quick lunch, and then practice. From 7 to 10 (p.m.) you're in the academic center (used by all student-athletes), banging out any of the work that you have in your studies, whether you're with a tutor or alone. There's always somebody there who can answer any question that you have.
"As you get older, they kind of take the leash off a little bit. You become more self-sufficient. As a younger kid who comes in, you have that ability within you. But they just really want to make sure that you have all the skills to be successful in the real world."
Time management is essential to making it all happen. He faces the challenges of being highly competitive in academics, training, practices and games with many helping him stay tightly focused.
"In the Ross School of Business, the way that it goes is that it's a very, very competitive school -- with grading especially," said Mason. "So, I'm definitely competitive on and off the field. And I'm very thankful for the relationships I've built (in academics) and a lot of my closest friends are over there."
He's been inspired by his professors, particularly Len Middleton, lecturer of strategy and entrepreneurship.
"I took his entrepreneurship class this past year," said Mason, "and I really enjoy just listening to him. Everything he values is pretty much what I value as a person, and he's all about doing things the right way. By doing that, good things happen to people who do it the right way.
"We had to create a product or initiative in his course where it was an idea that really could impact people. We worked closely with him through the whole project and his message was: 'You need to do something that people around you, once you pitch the idea, it really works for them.' So, you have input from people you trust even before you bring it to life. Then, when the product or service hits the market, it has a good chance to be successful."
Mason said that matter of developing trust "also transfers to football."
"You need to be able to trust your teammates and your coaches," said Mason, noting that entrepreneurship "definitely could be" the route he takes in business.
He also connected with Harden in that regard, focusing on leadership.
"I early-enrolled here at Michigan," said Mason, who began attending school in January 2017. "Greg Harden was one of the first people I got to interact with. We'd meet once or twice a week with a group of about a dozen people, and bounce off ideas about how to be a leader at a young age, and what it means to be at Michigan, what it means to wear the Block M. Greg's such a really genuine guy and stresses how important mindset is, and how you have to be cognizant of that all the time. You can't let negative thoughts creep into your head."
Body and mind are a powerful blend for the Wolverines, and that's where Herbert and Johnson also became factors.
"Both of those guys have been really positive in my development," said Mason. "Phil Johnson does an unbelievable job with his responsibilities at Schembechler Hall. He makes players feel welcomed and handles things very professionally. But also in a way where players really can trust him and believe exactly what he's saying at all times.
"Ben Herbert is always up with the latest technology, and always pushing for his way of doing things. But he understands that training doesn't always have one correct way, and you can get really creative with workouts."
Mason, nicknamed "Bench" for his ability to excel on the bench press in addition to other lifts, has discovered something:
"I personally believe that the reason that we lift weights isn't just to get stronger and faster. I think that's a byproduct of lifting weights. I think the main reason is, first of all, developing confidence as a person. The more that you lift, the more confident you become. And that translates to confidence on the field."
It's all intertwined for Mason -- the success in training to playing, the success in academic trust to football team building.
He was asked how Michigan has made him a better student.
"I came in with really good time management and discipline," Mason said. "Those are things I've had since I was young, and a big reason for that was because I played football since a young age. But I've really enhanced those skills here at Michigan through football and academics. At Michigan, you take it to the next level."
How did he become a better athlete and football player under head coach Jim Harbaugh and the many assistant coaches who have influenced him?
"I was a linebacker when I got here for spring ball," said Mason. "Then I played fullback for two years and had two pretty good years. Then, last year, they moved me to defensive tackle -- which I'd never played in my entire life. A lot of people look at that as a failed experience. But personally, I am very thankful for that experience, and glad that it happened. I know at the end of the day it's going to make me a better football player. I know going up against those big offensive interior linemen, then when you hit linebackers and safeties and corners and defensive linemen, it makes it that much easier.
"The biggest way I've gotten better is the exposure to playing different positions."
Then we spoke about his personal journey as a Wolverine.
"Through all my friends on the team and people that you meet on campus," said Mason, "the college experience brings you new things that you've never seen before, and I definitely feel that I've improved as a person in my time in Ann Arbor."
Mason has taken every Michigan opportunity and run with it, scoring as surely as he did in that Nebraska game in 2018, when he rushed for three touchdowns. He's become a great example of an all-around Michigan Man.
Visit Prepared for Life for more on how the resources and opportunities Michigan provides student-athletes are helping develop well-rounded individuals.
