STANFORD, Calif. - On Monday, December 4, Daniel Marx received a text from Stanford teammate Bryce Love.
"Do you want to go to New York with me?"
Love had received the news that he was a Heisman Trophy finalist and wanted his fullback to accompany him to the ceremony.
"I was kind of in shock," Marx recalled. "Almost disbelief. You want to take me? It was unbelievable. I was like a little kid going to Disneyland."
His body of work is almost unparalleled considering that two of the nation's greatest backs in recent years benefited from Marx's ability to drive a wedge into defenses.
Both Love, a junior, and McCaffrey, a rookie with the NFL's Carolina Panthers, were Heisman finalists and first-team All-Americans. Love broke McCaffrey's Stanford single-game rushing record of 284 by breaking loose for 301 against Arizona State this year. Now, he has a bead on McCaffrey's season record of 2,019, needing just 47 against TCU in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 in San Antonio to break it.
"Both of those guys are great players and great runners," Marx said. "But a lot of their ability came from the preparation they put into their work. It's not necessarily the differences that separate them, it's the similarities in their dedication."
For instance, "If they have a 20- or 30-yard run, they ask 'How can I get this to 50 or 60? How can I get the score on this play?'" Marx said. "They always want to be better and push themselves to reach their highest potential. Good is the enemy of great, and that's their philosophy."
Marx learned his craft at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High under Orange County legend Bob Johnson, who coached the likes of Steve Stenstrom, Stanford's all-time passing-yardage leader, and former Stanford and NFL tight end Konrad Reuland. Marx played fullback, tight end and linebacker for the Diablos, who used a disciplined pro-style offense that prepared him well for the college game.
"I was fortunate enough where they kind a system that allowed me to thrive in that environment and at that position," Marx said. "When I realized I the capabilities of playing at the collegiate level, we honed in on what I needed to do to be better."
At Stanford, Marx immediately carved out a role as McCaffrey's wing man. It seemed that every McCaffrey rushing touchdown was set up by a Marx block.
McCaffrey and Love are fast, but their quickness and ability to change direction allowed them to find the space created by Marx, an honorary member of the offensive line's Tunnel Workers Union, and his brethren.
Love has the burst and sustained speed to break a big play on any snap, and Marx has the ability to reach a spot and create enough leverage to make those plays possible.
Stanford's first play from scrimmage this season, a 62-yarder up the middle against Rice in Sydney, was helped by a Marx lead block of a defensive end. On Love's 75-yard touchdown run in the regular season against USC, Marx came out of a four-point stance and took out three second-level defenders to spring Love. He took out a cornerback to create a seam for Love's 53-yard off-tackle score against San Diego State.
The season is full of plays like that. Love's 301-yard effort against Arizona State and 263-yard performance against UCLA were Marx masterpieces. That the fullback position is losing traction in the college and pros seems unfathomable considering the impact that Marx has provided for Stanford.
With his collegiate career coming to an end, Marx sees himself as an extension of the fullback tradition that began a decade ago with Owen Marecic and sustained by Ryan Hewitt, Lee Ward, and Patrick Skov.
"I'm just another fullback," Marx said. "I'm very fortunate to have come after them, and learned a lot from each of those guys by watching them play and seeing how they carried themselves on the field and as a person.
"They've guided me along the way."
McCaffrey and Love can say the same about Marx.
