For Mississippi State running back Christian Ducr, Tulane University was almost like home. Not necessarily because the coaching staff and players made him feel welcome, even though they did, but because the New Orleans campus was just 45 minutes away from his hometown of Mandeville, La.
Ducr also had the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps. Brad Ducr played running back for the Green Wave during the 1991-1994 seasons.
Everything was set-up perfectly for Ducr to achieve much success for the Green Wave. The best part of the deal remained that he would get to do it in front of his family and friends.
Then everything changed. Before Ducr would get the chance to play a down for the Green Wave, Hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans.
Katrina caused $200 million worth of damages, forcing the university to get rid of several undergraduate programs, mostly engineering majors, including computer science, which was Ducr’s major.
“The university got rid of 20 majors,” Ducr said. “They had to cut back because they lost so much money.”
Along with academics, Ducr’s athletic career stood in jeopardy.
Katrina forced the university to scrap six sports, including its men’s and women’s tennis teams, women’s swimming, soccer, golf and men’s cross country.
“I heard they were talking about getting rid of the whole athletic program,” Ducr said. “One of my coaches was good friends with coach Amos Jones, who used to coach here, so I sent my tapes, and the coaches liked what they saw, and coach Croom offered me a scholarship.”
Ducr joined the MSU football team in September of 2006, literally minutes after being cleared by the NCAA, which allowed student athletics to transfer to other schools without penalty if their major was no longer being offered by Tulane.
MSU head football coach Sylvester Croom said he thinks Ducr has adapted well to his new surroundings, saying that he is at home now. Ducr couldn’t agree more.
“Last year I had to learn on the move, but this season, I’m so much more comfortable and have gotten to know my teammates better. It’s made life easier,” Ducre said.
Dixon describes Ducr’s on the field manner as all business like; Ducr says it’s nothing personal, just part of the game.
“There are no friends on the field, I’m out there to do my best,” Ducr added.
Ducr will take that ‘no friends’ attitude into Saturday’s game against the Green Wave, when the Bulldogs look to get their season back on track.
And while he says he’ll take it as any other game, he’s not foolish enough to believe that it won’t be special.
“I know a mostly everyone on their team, and my whole family is going to be there watching. It should be a lot of fun,” Ducr said.