Tai Felton: Just Warming Up

When Tai Felton came off his record-setting, three-touchdown performance against Indiana on Saturday, he had two main thoughts. First, he was pumped to have his big day fall on an even bigger one—his mom’s birthday. Second, he was excited that the game’s results were tangible proof that coach Michael Locksley’s recruiting vision—for Felton and for his program–were coming to fruition. 

"It feels good," Felton said to lead off his postgame press conference after Saturday’s game. "Today's my mom's birthday so I know she's very happy with that.

"The most exciting part is that when Locks was recruiting me, he had a blueprint for how my years here were going to go,” Felton added later in the presser. “He said we were going to keep winning as we keep going. Seeing that come to fruition is very exciting, but we know that this is not the final destination. We still have more work to do." 

For Shannon Felton, Tai’s mom, the birthday gift was incredible but the latter is even more rewarding.

“Everything Coach Locks recruited us to is now happening,” Shannon said. “From Tai getting bigger, faster, stronger, to us winning bowl games, to us competing for Big Ten Championships—it’s all happening just like he said. It was really dark for a bit, but we’re on the other side of the road and we’re here now.”

The darkness Shannon describes was Tai tearing his ACL late in 2019 at the peak of his recruiting process. Soon after the injury, he was prepared to commit to Virginia Tech. However, the Hokies rescinded the offer, leaving Tai in a tough spot. 

As Shannon says, everything that happened to Tai happened for a reason, and that incident allowed Maryland and Locksley to come back into the fold. And that’s when Locksley and Felton really connected. 

“He just described the vision he had for the program and where the program was going to go based on the offseason plans he had and the individual player plans,” Felton recalls of Locksley’s recruiting pitch. “‘The Best Is Ahead’ slogan was the blueprint for me and for my family that he showed us. He showed the growth I was going to have on the field as a player and off the field as a man.”

For Shannon, who wanted her son to go to Maryland from day one but wanted him to make his own recruiting decisions, the decision was sealed when they heard Locksley’s vision for Tai off the field. 

“What really sold me was the fact that Coach Locks spoke about him being a Black man in society,” Shannon said. “He wanted to talk about Tai as a husband, friend, father, and a man outside of football. And that’s what locked me in. I loved what he was saying about the program, but once he started talking about Tai after football—that’s what did it for me.”

Felton committed to Maryland in November of 2019 and joined the Terps ahead of the 2021 season. He saw solid action in both of his first two seasons in College Park, making six starts in that span, but was behind NFL-caliber receivers including Rakim Jarrett and Dontay Demus Jr. during that time. 

Understanding that it was all part of his development process, Felton embraced the opportunity to learn from the talented older guys in the room.

“It was a big learning moment for me because I got to grow and watch those guys play,” Felton said. “Even when I wasn’t on the field, I gained a lot of experience just by watching those guys and learning from them every day.”

“They taught me a lot about the mental part of the game, how to carry yourself when you’re going through a game week every week, and how to take care of your body. They just showed me a lot of the little things and minor details that I’ve been able to make my own now.”

With Jarrett, Demus and Jacob Copeland leaving for the NFL after last season, Felton was poised to become one of the leaders of the wideout group. 

His 2023 season, however, got off to a bit of a slow start as he had a couple drops and wasn’t able to find the end zone through the first four weeks. Nevertheless, Felton’s mindset never wavered.

“Just keep believing—that’s always the biggest thing. My teammates and coaches kept encouraging me and believing in me because they know how much work I put in. I’m my biggest critic and I try to be perfect as much as I can, but I understand that adversity is going to come and I just have to keep having that next play mentality.”

Felton has brought that same mindset to his younger teammates, specially those within the wide receiver unit as he’s emerged as one of the group’s leaders.

“I try to relay to the younger guys that time moves fast and you never know when your time is going to come, so always be ready because you can be put on that field at any minute,” he said. “I tell those guys just keep believing and keep putting the work in because it’s all going to come to fruition—just like it is now.”

It certainly is now.

Against the Hoosiers on Saturday, Felton set career-highs in catches (seven), receiving yards (134), and touchdowns (three). He also became the first player in Maryland history to have three receiving touchdowns in the first half of a game and is just the sixth Terp and first since Torrey Smith in 2010 to have three or more receiving touchdowns in a game.

But while Felton was putting on his record-setting first half, his parents were miles away in his hometown of Ashburn, VA, attending his 16-year-old sister’s cheerleading competition. They watched from the stands on their iPad, cheering loudly at every big play their son made.

“I didn't care about keeping it together. I was hollering and screaming in those stands. I couldn’t hold it in; there was no way,” Shannon said.

From the game’s first drive, Shannon could tell her son was in for a big day—even through her iPad.

“I saw something different in him. It finally clicked. Once I saw him get that first touchdown, just the way he ran in the end zone, I knew he was in the zone.”

Of course, there’s some sadness that she wasn’t there to witness Tai’s big day in person. However, she wouldn’t have done it any other way as the cheerleading competition also ended in a big victory.

“It was a little sad that we weren’t there to see it, but Tai did what he had to do and that’s what’s important,” she said. “I think it happened the way it needed to happen. I think not being there actually helped him because he knew I wasn’t there and that he still needed to have a good game regardless.”

“That was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had,” she added.

And just like her son, Shannon knows that the performance can only be celebrated for so long. 

“We celebrated for that second, but then we moved on. Because the job’s not finished. It's that Kobe Bryant mindset— job's not finished. We’re just getting started. The best is ahead.” 

Tai feels the same way, especially as the Terps head into their biggest game of the year on the road against the fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. 

“That game meant a lot, but I always knew that I was capable of that. I know what type of player I am and how much work I put in.I know this is just the start of what I can do.”

“I really feel like I’m just warming up.”