Running Back Stanton Excels, Inspires

Harvard senior running back Paul Stanton Jr. has played in 35 games over the course of his college career, and at each one of them, Paul Stanton Sr. has been watching from the stands.

For each weekend, Stanton Sr. leaves from Kenner, La. on Thursday or Friday and returns on Sunday or Monday, depending if the game is home or away. In between he has the privilege of watching one of the most prolific rushers in Harvard history add to his career totals.

“He was always my coach growing up,” Stanton Jr. said. “I’d get upset about it sometimes, but that’s really why I think I did so well playing sports when growing up. He was always there to motivate me."

That motivation has paid dividends, as Stanton ranks second in Crimson history with 38 career touchdowns and fourth with 2,832 rushing yards. He has held the starter’s role since sophomore year and missed only one game in the past three years despite a long list of nicks and injuries.

Rushing records, a reputation for durability, and even a Harvard uniform would have appeared foreign six or so years ago, when Stanton was a Louisiana prospect with a far-off dream of attending LSU or Tulane.

Sandwiched between two sisters with athletic accomplishments of their own, Stanton grew up playing pretty much any sport he encountered—soccer, basketball, baseball, and yes, football. That all-athletic equilibrium remained constant until sophomore year, when Stanton had to make a choice between football and basketball.

Despite his father’s personal love of basketball, the decision came easily.

“I was kind of skinny and underweight,” Stanton said. “And I just loved football a lot more.”

But that no-brainer commitment engendered more difficult decisions down the wire. In particular, Stanton had to choose a college.

Despite eye-popping speed, Stanton said that he hardly considered Ivy League football as a possibility; it wasn’t until a pair of Ancient Eight coaches showed up to a spring ball game that Stanton began to take the possibility seriously.

The running back only came to Harvard’s attention by chance, when Stanton was attending a recruiting camp at Brown and heard a tip from senior David Trompke—then a fellow prospect, now a track runner for the Crimson—that Harvard was holding its own camp about an hour away.

Although Stanton was tired and sore, his father urged him to attend, and the pair showed up up without an invitation. That anonymity did not last long, especially after Stanton ran a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash.

“[My dad] saw what a great opportunity it was,” Stanton said. “Without him, I honestly don’t know if I’d be here.”

Soon enough, Harvard coaches took notice, letters began to arrive in the mail, and Stanton arrived on campus, ready to battle for a second-string position. From these early days onward, entrenched senior starter Treavor Scales proved to be a formative influence.

“He really showed me what a Harvard football player was and what it was like to be a leader on the team,” Stanton said. “I owe a lot to him.”

Stanton won the back-up spot, and showed flashes of potential when he played, putting up 456 all-purpose yards as a freshman. A year later, with Scales graduated, Stanton then took over as the starter.

In addition to meeting Scales, freshman Stanton also ran into senior defensive back Jordan Becerra. The fellow rookies forged a quick connection; to this day, they live right next to each other as blockmates.

“He’s hilarious,” Becerra said. “Just look at him—he’s comical.”

The bond between these two, and between Stanton and other members of the football team, is evident pretty quickly. Off the field, Becerra recounted how he, Stanton, and captain Matt Koran often hang together, watching movies in each other’s rooms or just relaxing.

During football games—well that’s a different story.

“He’s one of the most dedicated people I’ve ever met,” Becerra said. “When he’s on the field, he’s just intense all the time. When he gets off, he’s so exhausted because he’s putting everything in.”

The exhaustion makes sense. For someone who frequently disappears beneath larger offensive players during the huddle, Stanton has a perplexingly physical style of running. He hits linebackers with apparent impunity; he specializes in lunging for the extra yard after contact.

“He battles through all the beatings he takes,” said senior offensive lineman Adam Redmond. “That charges us up as a group…. We want to protect him, keep him safe, and let him have success.”

Success he has had, running for a career average of 6.0 yards per carry. This season he has eclipsed 100 yards in exactly half of his games.

Certainly some of these statistics reflect the unusual dominance of Harvard’s offensive line, which started the season with three experienced senior starters. But external factors have only so much explaining power.

“He’s unbelievable, the stuff he does,” Redmond said. “No matter who you throw at him—linebackers or defensive linemen—he runs through them…. He needs a second, and he’s gone.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.