BALTIMORE — It will certainly be a special day Saturday at Morgan State University. For the first time ever the Bears football team and the University of Maryland football team will both take the field inside Hughes Stadium for spring practice.
"Coach Locksley brought it to my attention a few weeks ago and I thought it would be a great opportunity for both universities and for the city of Baltimore," said Bears head coach Damon Wilson.
The idea was formulated by Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley. The Terps are calling it "Baltimore Day".
"To have a presence up in Baltimore is a responsibility for us, as the flagship university of the state, to promote football," said Locksley.
Morgan will take the field for their practice at 11:00 a.m. The Terps will follow at 2:00 p.m.
"It’s great to see two different brands of football here in the state of Maryland and it is good for the state," said Locksley.
"It’s big time. You have your FBS program in Maryland and your FCS program in Morgan State and everybody can’t go to FBS," added Wilson. "There are some guys that will probably be here to take a look at what Maryland Terps have to offer and some guys looking at what Morgan State has to offer."
It’s an effort for both programs to keep local recruits just that… local. Current Terps running back Roman Hemby is a native of Edgewood.
"I think it’s a big deal. It’s really good to keep local recruits in-state just for the simple fact that it’s a certain pride that you play with here at Maryland and I think you can really embody that culture and what we have going on here if you are from the state of Maryland," said Hemby.
"This is a thank you to Roman Hemby. This is a thank you to the players in our program that we have recruited because now we will take our brand up there for their families to be able to see us on a Saturday and watch a program that is developing into what we hope will become a Big Ten championship program," said Locksley.
"We have a lot of talent here in this area. We wanted to make sure we display our talent as a university. So, hopefully bring some of that high school talent to our university," said Wilson.
The practices are free and open to the public. Players and coaches will also be sticking around after the workouts to mingle with the fans.
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