Arnold Britt Senior Feature
11/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 9, 2005
Throughout his career at Mizzou, Arnold Britt has always been a team player. When he joined the Tigers he switched positions from quarterback to wide receiver so the team could better utilize his speed. He continued to be unselfish during his career and has worked his way toward more playing time this year as he has a career high seven receptions for 65 yards so far this season including a career high 20 yards against New Mexico, Sept. 10.
Trash-talking and taunting are not part of Britt's game, as he is a quiet player who plays hard and does his job every week.
"I'm kind of quiet on the field," Britt said. "Sometimes I talk in the heat of a game or practice, but I pretty much just do my job."
Britt first played football when he was seven years old. He also played basketball throughout his childhood and high school and played baseball for a few years when he was young.
"I first started playing when I was seven," Britt said. "My mother took me and my cousin to the Boys Club because she wanted us to be doing something, not just hanging out around the house."
At Vashon High School in St. Louis, Mo., Britt was a two-sport athlete playing football and basketball in Vashon's legendary program. On his high school team, Britt was a star quarterback who was a dual threat running and passing. Over his junior and senior seasons, Britt passed for over 2,000 yards and rushed for over 1,200 yards earning all-league honors both seasons. Rivals.com ranked Britt as the 66th high school quarterback in the nation.
"I had a pretty decent high school career," Britt said. "Getting a college scholarship was great for me."
Playing basketball in Vashon's legendary program helped Britt with his football game as it kept him in shape and helped with fundamentals as well.
"Playing basketball helped me a lot," Britt said. "There's a lot of movement in basketball and it helped with my footwork and concentration."
The recruiting process was a positive experience but had a quick resolution for Britt. He was scouted by several schools but committed to Mizzou once they started recruiting him.
"It [the recruiting process] was pretty fun, but once Mizzou started recruiting me I pretty much dropped the other schools and committed."
Mizzou was the best fit for Britt for many reasons including location and the coaching staff. He also liked the fact that Mizzou could potentially put him on a big stage in college football.
"Mizzou was good for me because it was close to home and my parents could come to the games," Britt said. "I also liked [wide receivers] coach [Andy] Hill. When I first met him he was real down to earth and a really cool guy."
Britt has done an excellent job making the transition from a high school quarterback to a college receiver. During his redshirt year, he was a valuable member of the scout team and was used as a speedy quarterback and a receiver.
He has enjoyed his time at Mizzou so far and has enjoyed the general college life and the atmosphere and experiences it provides.
"Not too many people make it to college football," Britt said. "It's such a big stage. I've also gotten to meet lots of people from all over the country. We've got guys on our team from Texas, Florida and California."
This season, Britt has only one goal on his mind - winning. While he does hope to have a successful season individually, that is not important to him; he just values team success.
"I just want to be the best I can be," Britt said. "I don't really care about the individual stuff, I just want to win right now; if I'm doing my individual thing that's good too, but I just want to play my best and help the team win. I'm looking forward to winning this season and getting to a bowl game."
This season, Britt is enjoying playing in Mizzou's new spread offense where wide receivers are utilized more and Britt can use his speed. He also has liked the chemistry on the team which has been the best since he has been at Mizzou.
"This year has been a lot of fun," Britt said. "The new offense is nice because you get the ball a lot more. The chemistry on the team is great; we're having lots of fun out there." Britt is a business major and will graduate in May of 2006. -By Jeremy Anders
