Handing off a family tradition

Area players follow their fathers and brothers onto the gridiron

Sam Stone had been hanging with an older crowd for the past few years: his brother, Alex, and friends. Under their wing in the weight room, on training runs, and most certainly on the field, he was reminded daily of the football tradition at Wellesley High School.

"He just pushed me that extra mile," Sam, a Wellesley lineman, said of Alex, a captain last season for the Raiders. "When you're playing with kids older than yourself, and you get to know them, you pick up the game a lot quicker."

And when the bumps came, Stone said, they carried an extra punch - particularly when it came to last year's Thanksgiving game with rival Needham, the nation's oldest public high school football rivalry. The Raiders lost in overtime, 20-14, in the 120th meeting between the two schools.

"It was devastating for him, and devastating for me," said Sam, a captain this season. "You feel all the losses that much more, because maybe you feel like you're letting him down, like it was his year to win. When you lose, it makes it that much more painful, but when you win, it's that much better, too."

The precedent was set a decade ago for teammate Casey Tanner. His brother, Greg, was a linebacker then, a defensive force who helped lead the Raiders to two Bay State Conference titles and a Division 2 Super Bowl win in 1999. Greg, who later starred for Trinity College, was also a Globe All-Scholastic that season. Casey remembers watching his brother in those games at Wellesley, and then again at Trinity, and he knows that the bar is set high.

He sounds more relaxed than Sam Stone when he speaks of his brother's legacy.

"The coaches always mess around with you and everything, because of your backstory," Tanner said. "Obviously, I go to him for tips and stuff. It's just a great time - you love it, you'll work hard."

Across many a town, traditions have been set by previous generations. For Wellesley, those traditions reach back more than a century.

"Certainly, if you have a kid who has a good experience, he's going to pass that on," said Wellesley High's football coach, Bill Tracey.

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High has two such legacies brewing. The older brother of junior defensive back Steve Collins was a quarterback two years ago. Their father, Mark, was their Pop Warner coach, and played at Lincoln-Sudbury; during his final year, 1972, current head coach Tom Lopez was an assistant.

"Since I was getting ready for high school, everything's been about getting ready for varsity," the younger Collins said.

Sophomore lineman Zach Smerlas figures to see considerable time along the defensive line for the Warriors. His father, Fred, is one of the more recognizable figures on the football scene; he starred at Waltham High before embarking on a 14-year career in the NFL, including five Pro Bowls, and is now a cohost with former New England Patriot Steve DeOssie on a sports talk show on WEEI-AM.

Of course, there can be no legacy talk in this region without mentioning the Fluties.

Doug dazzled in football, basketball, and baseball at Natick High before going on to win the Heisman Trophy as Boston College's quarterback, executing one of the most famous touchdown passes in college football history, and enjoying success with the NFL's Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, and New England Patriots, as well as three Canadian Football League championships. His brother Darren followed him at BC after winning a Super Bowl with Natick, and like Doug is considered to be one of the CFL's all-time greats.

In recent years, Doug and Darren have seen nephews emerge on the scene. Brett Flutie, son of their brother Bill, will be a junior at wide receiver for Natick this season. Brett's older brother Billy, now a sophomore receiver and punter at Boston College, kicked two field goals in the Redmen's 8-3 Super Bowl win over Foxborough High School in 2005.

Even schools that did not emerge until the second half of the 20th century offer longstanding football customs.

"We talk a lot about the tradition of the program," said veteran Nashoba Regional High coach Ken Tucker. For him, part of the mission is firing up his players from Berlin and Boylston for several regional rivalries, whether it's next-door neighbor Clinton High or Westborough High School, a 20-minute drive south on Interstate 495.

When the Chieftains open up the season on the night of Sept. 12 with a visit from Westborough, it will feature a matchup of two intriguing legacies.

Rangers running back Dave Orlando is the latest in a long line of brothers to suit up in the red and white, following Pat, John, Pete, and Brian, while their father played for Westborough more than two decades ago, when Jan Gebo was the squad's head coach.

On Nashoba's side of the ball, Ryan Williams will be wearing the same uniform number (52) and playing the same position (offensive guard) as his father did in 1985, one of Tucker's first seasons as a head coach.

"His dad is around, and supporting him every step of the way," Tucker said. "We also have a tradition of bringing players back to talk to the team on the night before Thanksgiving. We bring up similarities in situations when playing certain teams."

Tomorrow night, Wellesley's Raiders open their season under the lights with a visit from Bay State foe Weymouth. If there isn't already enough of a model from the last century, then there's one from the last decade, right in the family tree.

"It's definitely something to live up to," Stone said.