Your Farnham Knights
Damian
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Regardless of what is happening across the pond, the new UK American Football season is well in to pre-season training with the BAFACL Premiership kicking off this month. Hampshire’s finest, the Farnham Knights, start their campaign on Sunday April 10 when the London Warriors visit Farnborough Rugby Club. To celebrate the new season and to promote American Football in the UK, we’ve been asking the players their thoughts. Today we are very happy to have a former London Monarch answering the questions we put to him.
What is your name?
Tony Mackenzie
What position do you play and what are your strengths in that position?
I currently play Defensive Tackle and have at numerous times in my career also played on the offensive line in college and during my professional career. I was voted the second all time best Defensive Tackle to ever play football in the UK and made the all time best All Star Offensive Lineman list as well…..
When did you first fall in love with American Football?
In 1986 at the age of 13. The UK had an abundance of US teams at senior and junior level with the league getting some great acclaim and sponsorship from major sponsors such as Budweiser etc.
How and when did you start playing?
I started playing on a village park in Dorset, when I was 14, this was for a team in Weymouth called the ‘Warriors’ I then moved and went to play for a great team called the Bournemouth ‘Renegades’ where I managed to get selected to play for the GB youth team. From this game I managed to recruit a number of offers to attend College in the US and secured a spot at Hastings College in Nebraska, where I played for 4 years. I then came back to the UK and immediately got picked up by the London Monarchs for 2 years as a national player and started all 10 games in my rookie year at left guard. To my knowledge no other UK player has started in the UK youth scene, progressed to college and then managed to play professional football. I consider myself very lucky to have been given the opportunity to take this path.
If you could play with any American Football player past or present, who would that be and why?
Have you ever seen David D. “Deacon” Jones play? He played for the Rams, Redskins and Chargers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. His nickname was the “Secretary of Defense”, and he was fantastic to watch play. Easily one of the greatest defensive sack master and players ever…..
About 6 years ago I started the recruitment process for a little known Running Back for the Knights, a young man with such blazing speed that he left defences tackling the air as he ran past. His name was Kingsley Ejiogue and the rest is history, if you have never seen him play then you are missing out!
Who is your team’s BIA (Big I AM)?
No comment – Don’t know!
Which game are you most looking forward to this season?
All of them. It’s a privilege to play football when so many can’t or have never experienced it.
Describe your team in three words.
Professional, Fun, Focused.
A big thank you to Tony and the Farnham Knights. If you want to see Tony and the not to be missed Kingsley Ejiogue in action, the former BritBowl champions kick-off at 3:30pm on April 10. The Knights are running a Youth Team this season, so if you are aged 16-18 and want to get involved e-mail info@paknights.co.uk to follow in Tony’s footsteps. Over 5,000 votes were cast for the Britball Now poll on Britain’s greatest ever players in which Tony polled second in his position. To get close to emulating the success he has had in the game would be some acheivement.
The Knights are online here if you want to find out more about them, and if you live locally get behind your Farnham Knights.
Here’s a video of the ‘Secretary of Defense’ so you can see every QB’s nightmare in action.
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