Kern: Ex-Marine follows heart, plays football at East Stroudsburg

FRAN McMENAMIN doesn't see himself as anything unique. Or special. To hear him tell it, he's just another one of the guys on East Stroudsburg's football team. Even if he happens to be close to a decade older than some of them.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

"I'm 27, in college, playing football," he said. "I can't have any complaints.

"I'm really having the time of my life."

Circumstances just dictated that it took him a while to get there.

The 6-4, 280-pound senior offensive lineman originally went to Widener in 2007. But the cost, in part because of a family situation, became too burdensome. So he soon left. And eventually found his way into joining the Marines.

"At that point, college wasn't my thing," said McMenamin, a product of Father Judge. "Most of it was monetary. I was doing pre-physical therapy, and I had a lot of hard courses. But I couldn't even afford to buy textbooks. So I kind of struggled. I was like a 'C' student. It wasn't (a lack of) maturity. I didn't party that much. I don't like depending on people. I didn't want to live at home. I wanted to be my own person. So the military seemed like my best fit."

An uncle whom he'd lived with for a while was a Vietnam veteran. Then he went to see someone he knew graduate from boot camp in Parris Island, S.C. And . . .

"It looked cool," said McMenamin, the second oldest of four children. "No one tried to deter me from going.

"It's not like everyone thinks it is, from watching the movies. It's definitely the experience of a lifetime. You'll never forget it. You think it's physical, but 90 percent is mental. They're trying to get into your head. I enjoyed it. I always wanted to belong to a brotherhood type of thing."

From there, he was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, N.C. A year later, he was deployed for what turned out to be the first of two tours in Afghanistan.

"You get nervous, because no one really tells you what you're going to do over there," McMenamin said. "And I was still young. You automatically assume they're going to put a rifle in your hands to fight the bad guys. I served with (Marine Aircraft Group 40) at Camp Leatherneck. It wasn't even a year old yet. They were still doing a lot of building up. So we did a lot of grunt work: digging holes, putting up barbed wire, filling a lot of sand bags. At home, you see YouTube videos of Marines blowing up (crap) and stuff. So you're wondering why you're not doing that. But after you're done, you're kind of thankful you didn't."

That lasted four months. His second trip overseas was three times longer, with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, where he mainly handled supply duties.

"I get people asking me all the time, 'Did you kill someone?' he said. "It's an uncomfortable question. They think you're a badass, kicking down doors and shooting guns. It's awkward. I tell them the truth. I wasn't in the infantry. I had a job to do. I went out and did it.

"But we were all in the same base together. I've heard stories."

He was almost ready to re-enlist when he had a change of heart.

"It was one of the hardest decisions of my life," he acknowledged. "It literally took me, like, six months. One of my best friends told me to follow my dreams.

"And that was football."

Not just to play, but to coach someday.

"I found out late in my Marine experience that I liked mentoring people," McMenamin explained.

He had a younger brother who had just enrolled at ESU, so . . .

"It made the transition easier," he said. "I didn't want to be a 24-year-old freshman who didn't know anyone. I just wanted to fit in. Age was never an issue. I like to have a fun time, too. I don't think about (being different). I don't like being in the spotlight. I'm probably like a big brother. I think some of them were actually scared to talk to me at first."

Denny Douds has been at ESU for a half-century, the last 42 years as the head coach. He has a son who was a Marine colonel, flew combat jets and now teaches at the U.S. Army War College.

"I'm a little bit aware of where those guys are coming from," Douds said. "Don't let age be an excuse, OK? It's just a state of mind anyways. If you want to play, play. I knew he could contribute not only with his skills, but the places he been and the things he's seen.

"He said he'd probably play one or two years and then he'd be too old. We sat down and I told him, 'By the time you're supposed to graduate, you'll still have a couple of good years left.' If you want to do something, go do it.

"It was a seamless fit from the beginning. He has that kind of demeanor. And worldy experience that 99 percent of our kids will never get. He has built-in leadership capabilities. You're always looking for people who can provide that in situations where it's needed. He's not a rah-rah guy. He's a solid player who just goes out and does what he's supposed to do."

The Warriors are 4-2, 2-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East (a four-way tie for second place). They were picked to finish fifth, and in a recent game played 21 true or redshirt freshmen.

"But the guys on the offensive line, they're not Joe Rookies," Douds said. "They shave five or six times a week."

McMenamin - a sports management major who's made the Honor Roll and will graduate this semester, one after his brother Dan and one ahead of his sister Kelly - wants to be an offensive-line coach, preferably at a Division I school. He's looking into schools that have open spots for graduate assistants.

"I just want to be part of a group," he said. "I love the family aspect of it. That's why I love the offensive line.

"I'm going to apply everywhere, send letters out, do whatever I have to. I'll know more in December. I've been around young people since I was a corporal in the Marines. I like looking out for people. I feel like I really care about my fellow linemen. And I just like the game.

"We had a kid come in a couple of years ago, and he wasn't kind of buying in. Our position coach pulled me aside and told me to start mentoring him. We're best friends now. I think I've been able to help him."

Douds believes his three-year starter has a future in the profession.

"First of all, he has the passion," he said. "Regardless of who you are or where you are, if you don't love what you've got to do, coaching is the wrong thing to be in. People go to work for 37 1/2 hours, instead of 85 a week preparing for games and also preparing kids. In his own way, he's had an influence on them already."

And what more can anyone ask for than a story that ends the right way?

"It was mostly by accident," McMenamin said, laughing. "I never thought I'd actually use my GI Bill. But when I was in high school, I never imagined joining the military. Then I never imagined being back in college. It all worked out.

"And I got my grades back up. Having textbooks makes a difference."

As does a facilitating background.

@mikekerndn