[sears3820]

Here's an old article about Mougey that also includes a pic of him and Donovan McNabb.


http://www.azcentral.com/community/s...ougey24Z8.html




Major colleges show interest in Mougey

Richard Obert
Scottsdale Republic
Jul. 24, 2003 12:00 AM



SCOTTSDALE - As swimmers turn laps at the Brophy East pool, athletes braving Phoenix's mean July temperatures are in a circle at an adjoining field dodging each other.

Darren Mougey chases after Donovan McNabb. McNabb goes after Mougey.

It's one of the few places in the Valley where high school athletes train with NFL players under the guidance of trainers Warren Anderson and Tim McClellan, who run Rehab Plus.

But Mougey, who will be a senior at Chaparral High, isn't a typical high school athlete with money to burn. He is a chiseled 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. He has the good looks and blond locks that cause McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback, to call Mougey "Sunshine," after the quarterback in the football movie Remember the Titans.

"Donovan helps a lot," Mougey said. "There are just a lot of little things about the game and playing quarterback that I pick up from him."

Last winter, after Mougey as a junior had led Chaparral to its third Class 4A state football championship in four years, he returned to Anderson's workshop where college athletes, finished with their playing careers, get themselves in shape for the NFL's combine and workouts. The college athletes there thought Mougey was a junior in college, preparing for the draft.

College coaches have started tripping over each other to be the one who gets his commitment. He has until February to make up his mind, but Mougey said he would like to make a decision early in the fall.

Already, he has four solid offers on the table: Arizona State, Vanderbilt, San Diego State and Northwestern. He said he is getting considerable interest also from Virginia and Arizona.

He said that ASU is looking at him primarily as an "athlete." He's big, strong and fast and could be turned into a tight end. But he has a special arm, which he showed off at Sun Devil Stadium in December by repeatedly finding his favorite target, John Peel, in a victory over Greenway.

The modest Mougey, who is constantly working at being perfect, said he would like a shot at playing quarterback in college.

"There is still a lot of room for improvement," Mougey said. "I work on my agility, arm strength and overall knowing how to play the game."

His summer has been full. He attended camps at UCLA, Arizona, San Diego State, Stanford, Southern California and ASU.

"I'd like to commit early in the season, but I want to wait and see what else happens early in the football season," Mougey said. "I want to get on the field. But I'd rather play quarterback."

ASU also has offered a scholarship to Mesa Mountain View senior Max Hall, who led the Toros to the Class 5A state championship last season when they went 14-0 and hardly received a scare. Hall, whose uncle is former ASU and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White, has been working out with Mougey and McNabb at least twice a week under Anderson's supervision.

Anderson and McClellan have the players doing mostly quick-burst, reaction drills on a grass field.

Mougey and Hall blast the weights at their respective high schools.

Hall went from an intense leg workout, where he did squat lifts, early in the morning at Mountain View to Anderson's two-hour agility workout in 100-plus temperatures in the late morning one day last week.

"He said he felt a little tight from doing squats earlier," McClellan said of Hall. "That's the Mountain View way. They work all the time."

This could be the year of the quarterback in Arizona high schools.

Washington features athletic Andrew Eghbali. Coronado has strong-armed Louis Marson. There are others who will emerge during the season.

"He's kind of a throw-back," McClellan said of Mougey. "He works hard. He's got a lot going on to come out here and condition.

"We do a lot of reaction, athletic things, things he'll be required to do. It's great for these kids to be out here with a guy like Donovan."

The grounded, yet loose McNabb, who owns homes in Phoenix and Philadelphia, is generous with his help.

"When you're in high school, it's not well-rounded as far as having a quarterbacks coach, or positional coaches who actually played the game," McNabb said. "What I try to do is take what I've learned in college (Syracuse) and in the NFL and try to help the guys out.

"I'm out here to try to polish my skills, too. In doing that, it really helps them out. It shows that I'm not the perfect guy, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help the guys out, too.

"These are great athletes with strong arms."

McNabb said he's impressed by Mougey.

"He's got a great physical body," McNabb said. "Good arm. I think in high school it's mainly your athletic ability and what you can do. Whatever I can do to help them."

Mougey and Hall are all ears.