During fall camp, ODUSports.com featured one Monarch a day in a "Get to Know Your Monarchs" segment. That will continue during the season, as we get to know senior wide receiver, Marquel Thomas.
Marquel Thomas/WR/Virginia Beach, Va.
Q: What do you like about the Hampton Roads area? I love the area; it has a lot of city limits. It has a great atmosphere of all the seven cities. There’s great football in this area. I love everything about it.
Q: What are some of your favorite community service projects that you’ve done as a team? My favorite community service is the Special Olympics. Its great to come out here and give back to the kids, the kids that look up to us.
Q: What do you think about the move to Conference USA? I feel like it’s not too much of a big change. We just come out here and work harder and play faster. We just come out here and compete everyday.
Q: You’re 1-of-5 guys that played on 2009 team, what is it like being of the guys from the first team? We have come a long way. The program has built and time flew. I am just happy to be a part of the program as it was built.
Q: What is your major? Sociology
Q: What do you want to do when you graduate? As far as what I want to do, is be a mortician, which has nothing to do with sociology. Hopefully when I graduate I have different options. I can try to go to TCC and take some mortuaries classes and go from there.
Q: How did you end up wanting to be a mortician? Long story short, my aunt used to date a guy who was a mortician and when I was younger I always wanted to know what it was. I used to always ask him a lot of questions. As I got to college I started to research it and I found it interesting. I love that kind of stuff.
Q: Do you find yourself talking to the younger guys about this program and where it started? Yeah, I hear a lot of guys from high school and from the area asking about the program, I tell them that I love it. At first when I got here there was nothing really around. I tell them if they can keep working hard, stay focused on the books, everything will work out for them.
Q: How does it feel to be one of the older guys on the team? The biggest thing is being a leader. I try keep everyone’s head in the right direction and stay focused.
Q: What is your most memorable moment at Old Dominion? I would have to say scoring the first touchdown in Old Dominion history.
Q: What is the feeling coming out of that tunnel onto the field? Coming out with all the smoke, we have fireworks and 20,000 people yelling and screaming, the happiest moments are coming out of that tunnel every time.
Q: What’s been you favorite away game so far? I would have to say ECU because it was our first time in a bigger stadium, bigger environment and bigger crowd.
Q: What was it like going into that game? It was a big challenge for us. A lot of people underestimated us so we just went out there and played hard.
Q: What got you interested in football? I’ve been playing since I was five, from flag and going all the way up. Ever since then I stayed with it and it got me this far.
Q: Did you play other sports growing up? I played basketball in high school.
Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals? Yeah, just listening to music, keeping to myself and staying focused, read up on assignments.
Q: What do you like to do outside of football? I like to hang out with my friends and teammates.
Q: What is your favorite part about game day? My favorite part is the Monarch walk. I love the Monarch walk.
Q: Who on the team would be elected more energetic than Big Blue? I would have to say D.J. Morrell. He’s always fired up.
Q: What do you like most about playing wide receiver? Being a part of a great offense, a great quarterback, a great offensive line, because we always start from the front. Just being able to catch the ball and make plays for the team.
Q: What do you like better, bus trips or plane rides? Plane rides, they’re so much faster.
Q: What is one thing you’d like to say to all the 12th monarchs? I want to thank them for all their support and being there for us through everything we been through. They just keep supporting us. Go Monarchs!