Baby Cajun: A rising star in Rising Star
Start ‘em young.
That’s a slogan for many an endeavor for young athletes, musicians, singers—you name it, and it should be no surprise it’s used in youth football in the Big Country. From youth tackle football to FCA touch football, in which my boys play, there are plenty of opportunities for young players to start taking part in a game most grow to love. Especially in Texas.
The smaller communities in the Big County are no exception. There are leagues like the West Texas Rural Youth Football League for the kids who play tackle and flag football leagues like the Texas Six-Man Youth Football Association. It’s in that league you’ll find the Baby Cajun.
Baby Cajun, Mason Stevens, is technically Baby Cajun II or Baby Cajun Jr. The original Baby Cajun is his father, Brandon. Brandon and his brother Derek, the head coach at Rising Star, grew up in East Texas but his family is originally from Lafayette, Louisiana. When they played together at Howard Payne Derek was known as Cajun and Brandon, the younger brother, was Baby Cajun. Now a younger Stevens football player is taking his turn on the gridiron, and his father is right there every step of the way. Most of the time with his camera.
Mason is just a second grader in hist first year at Rising Star, but is already making a mark on the field for a team that is playing in the Texas Six-Man Youth Football Association Super Bowl Saturday.
However, his success began long before he came to Rising Star. The Stevens family traded the city life for the country recently, moving from Prosper to Eastland County to be closer to Derek and Rising Star. Mason started playing as a youngster in Prosper and has only ramped things up over time. He plays for several select teams in addition to the Rising Star squad and is nearing 1,000 followers on Instagram. His handle: @baby.cajun.
Nearly 1,000 Instagram followers for a second grader is no joke. It’s more than the Big Country Blitz account, way more than my personal account and probably your account as well. Mason runs it with Brandon and they say that while exposure is certainly a goal, inspiration is as well. “We’ve had many kids and parents says they love Mason’s videos and watching what he’s doing with his training,” Brandon said. “Mason’s main message is for kids to never give up, work hard and don’t quit on your dreams.”
Mason has dreams of a long football career and he works hard at it already. You’ll see him doing various workouts on his Instagram page and you may question whether it’s too much for such a young kid. Brandon understands the concern and says it’s all up to Mason. “Our rule of thumb is he doesn’t play or workout unless he wants to. I let him make the decision. Sometimes he just wants to fish or hunt or play video games. Our usual training is only 30 to 45 minutes, it’s not like he’s doing a two-hour session. I want him to be able to experience the joys of being a kid, but he understands to be elite you have to be doing what other people aren’t doing.”
Mason started working with a personal trainer two years ago and hasn’t stopped trying to improve. With his bigger city background, he’s played against sons of NFL players, like Tony Romo’s son, and works with trainers like D’Juan Woods, who was part of the Saints Super Bowl 44 championship team in 2010and Ryan Moore, who played in college at Southeast Missouri State. “Mason misses his friends back home but he does love being with his uncle and seeing him and being able to be involved at Rising Star. We went from Prosper’s $68 million dollar stadium to Rising Star. When we first saw the stadium Mason told me, ‘Dad, that doesn’t look like a football field’,” laughed Brandon.
Mason and trainer D’Juan Woods
Mason with LaMichael James
For the Stevens, the move may have been to a smaller town but the dreams are still big. The mindset is focused on big things as well. “Mason wants to grow and compete and get better. His trainer tells him if you want to look good in front of thousands of people you have to work harder than thousands of people in front of nobody.”
Mason may not be playing in front of thousands quite yet but he and his Rising Star teammates have been putting on a show in their flag league this season. The Wildcats are unbeaten and getting set to face Jonesboro in the championship game this week. Mason, who is used to playing quarterback or receiver and has never played running back before this year, has amassed some gaudy stats: 1,632 yards and 35 touchdowns rushing, 60 tackles and 30 yards receiving through eight games. Rising Star got past Sidney in the semifinals to set up a rematch with Jonesboro, a team they beat in double overtime in the first game of the season.
About now you may be thinking along the lines of “Is this all too much?” for a 2nd grader. The training. The Instagram. The traveling to play with multiple teams. Whether or not it turns into a scholarship or a career down the road, Brandon Stevens answer is clear. “I think overall it will help him out with whatever he does. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Networking is so key. It’s all about connections. Building up his following and having a leadership role will help him have influence in whatever he does in life.”
Those connections have already given him an opportunity to play with some big-time teams. He’ll suit up with the top ranked team in the nation next week, the 8U Bulldogs, in the Turkey Bowl and also plays with his old team, the Longhorns, in Prosper under head coach Justin Grube and assistant LaMichael James, who played at Oregon and was third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Cam Newton and Andrew Luck, and Aim High Select out of Las Vegas.
Time will tell if the training, the travel and the hype will end up being worth it, but it certainly seems to be working well for Mason so far. It’s already given him opportunities he couldn’t have imagined, and it just may end up giving his uncle another star in the Rising Star program a few years down the road.
Have a story or feature you’d like me to write? Email cody@bigcountryblitz.com
