As he waits for a call from the NFL, North Texas QB values leadership over legacy

Mason Fine is a catch-and-release kind of guy.

“I’ve  always been a hunter and a fisherman but recently, especially with this  quarantine, I’ve been fishing a lot more than I typically have in the  past,” said Fine during a pre-NFL Draft interview. “I usually bring in  maybe five fish and one bigger one every time I go out. I catch and  release. I take a cool photo with it and then I kiss it goodbye.”

For the 5-foot-11 North Texas quarterback, it’s never been about the trophies.

“You  talked about all the records but the accomplishment I’m most proud of  is being a three-time captain,” said the Peggs, Okla., native of his  numerous school and conference accolades. “That just shows it wasn’t all  about who I was as a football player but also as a person.”

Sure,  Fine finished his career as the all-time leading passer in Mean Green  program history with 12,505 yards. And, yes, he is first in passing  touchdowns (93), passer efficiency (140.68), touchdowns responsible for  (100) and is the record-holder in career completions (1,039) and career  pass attempts (1,655). Plus, he has the most 300-yard passing games in  program history with 18.

All those impressive statistics and still no NFL team came calling.

But  Fine will be remembered as more than a record-breaking QB in Denton,  Texas. He is the guy who stuck around, the guy his teammates looked to  for leadership, on the field and off, the guy who left his university  better than he found it.

“When he first got here, he and  that whole senior class — they all kind of had a chip on their  shoulder,” said head strength and conditioning coach Zack Womack. “They  wanted to come in and change the culture of this program. They wanted to  win and they were willing to do whatever it took to get there. He and  his teammates are a big part of that change in the culture here at our  university.”

While Fine credits more than just the  football staff for his success and his growth as a person and a player,  it’s his unusual bond with Womack that he emphasizes when talking about  his time in Texas.

“Typically, a quarterback isn’t close  to a head strength coach but me and him, we are tight,” said Fine. “He’s  someone who truly helped me out at my highs and my lows. He’s the guy  who pushed me to go out there and train with Drew Brees and learn all  that I could.”

But in what fires was this unlikely friendship forged?

“I  love the process,” explained Fine. “I love being a master of throwing  the football and learning the offense and defense, but I also love the  nutrition side of things as well as the exercises and the workouts. If  you are just playing football for the games under the bright lights in  front of people, you are going to have a really tough time having  success in this sport.”

Womack recognized Fine’s student-of-the-game mentality immediately as the gym quickly became the quarterback’s second home.

“He  was always hanging out in our weight room — he would come in and lift  and run with the first group and then later on that evening he would  back in there doing more,” said Womack. “We joked about how we should  put this guy on payroll because he’s in this building more than anybody  else.”

But dumbbells and deadlifts weren’t the only things that drew the two together.

“Our  relationship was good because we were like-minded; we both grew up in  small towns in Oklahoma and gravitated towards each other a little bit,”  added Womack. “I’m from Davis, Okla. — it’s bigger than Peggs, for  sure, but it’s still only about 2,500 people.”

The  small-town quarterback’s love for all facets of the game is what  catapulted him from 700-person Peggs into a Division 1 football program.  Well that and his DIY workouts and unwavering work ethic.

“There  weren’t a whole lot of people that would want to come play catch with  me and throw a football every chance I wanted to growing up,” recalled  Fine. “So, we had these big tractor tires that I would roll out on the  10-, 15- and 20-yard lines. And I only had like three footballs, so  every three throws I would have to go get the balls and reset. It took  me about 30 minutes to set up and about 30 minutes to get them back in.”

Clearly the high school version of Fine always found a way to get in reps.  And that didn’t stop when he got to North Texas.

“Now  he has an indoor facility and instead of tires, he has nets he can  throw into and instead of three balls, he has a whole bag of them, but  he still does the same stuff,” said Womack. “He will go for hours; I  mean you have to lock him in that indoor facility and tell him to turn  the lights out because he’s in there throwing balls all night.”