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Punter Will Rose and
long snapper Jac Casasante are "the perfect connection."
An 'unbreakable bond' between two Sig players
may be unlike any other connection in sports
In sports, there are teammates who must build a connection with each other more special than any: Pitcher and catcher is perhaps the most recognized.
But there is another pair of teammates, lesser known, who must know how the other is thinking, where trust and confidence are paramount. In football, when the punter and the long snapper are in sync, victories happen. When they fail, games are lost in catastrophic fashion.
Will Rose and Jac Casasante have a “unbreakable bond,” says Wiil. He is the starting Trojan punter and Jac is the starting long snapper. And they’re both Sigma Chis.
They are “the perfect connection,” says Will. “I trust him a million percent and he trusts me a million percent.”
Jac agrees: “He’s got to have a certain level of faith and trust in what I do. And I put faith and trust in what he does.”
“Him relying on me so much and me relying on him so much - on the team and in life - is amazing,” he says. They routinely spend 16 hours a day together on the field and off. In fact, Will is Jac’s Big Brother in the Alpha Upsilon chapter even though Jac is a year older and gave Will some mentoring tips. Jac was Magister while Will was his Assistant Magister. They were roommates for a semester. Even their girlfriends get along well. As Sigs, they’ve shared brotherhood, candle passes, preparation for brotherhood, initiation and all that goes with it.
Punter Will Rose is Jac's Sigma Chi Big Brother
Brother Jac Casasante, Trojan long snapper, puts trust and faith in brother and punter Will Rose
Jac explains how they have each other’s back. In a game, if Jac launches an imperfect snap, Will does what it takes to get off the punt anyway. If Will launches an imperfect punt, Jac add hustles downfield to minimize the run back. Do they get angry at each other for missteps? “In practice, we joke around a bit,” concedes Jac, “but we’re always supportive always moving on to the next one.”
“The play doesn’t really start until I move the ball,” says Jac. And then it’s a chain reaction into Will’s hands.
“It’s hard to get emotional in such a man’s man sport,” Will concedes. “I’d never done anything like a candle pass. Now I’ve done plenty with teammates who are also guys in house. So, to get on such an emotional level brings you even closer.”
Sigma Chi’s on the Trojan football team is a long-standing tradition dating back to the very first football team at USC in 1898, the year the Alpha Upsilon chapter began.
And Will is certain it will continue. “If you’re interested in brotherhood outside of the team,” he says, “the only place you should go is Sigma Chi because of the base already developed.” A number of Sigma Chi football players were recruited by other Sigs on the team. It’s important for many of them to have a life outside of football. And Sigma Chi is a favorite respite.
That dual pronged structure brings them incredibly close. “I don’t know if this is a story that can really be told,” begins Will. “We’ve gone through so much more than other guys on the football team.” During a candle pass, one of their brothers collapsed. Jac had to resuscitate him, performing CPR while waiting for the ambulance. The brother was fine, but it brought pledge class together even closer. “We had to tell our coaches that day, ‘hey something happened, we’ve been up all night, we maybe need to take the day off’.” The Trojan coaches, knowing the closeness of some of their players through Sigma Chi, were very supportive.
“I have nothing but positive things to say for guys like me that want a little more social side at USC and brotherhood to rely on.”
“I might be biased,” Jac says in assessing fraternity options for football players, “but you get quality with Sigma Chi. It comes down to one.”
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Will, seen here launching another punt, says he and Jac can communicate on the field without talking. They have "the perfect connection."
Will is also Jac's Assistant Magister
Long snapper Jac Casasante was the AU Magister with Will as his Assistant Magister
Will kicks a punt in a scrimmage in the Coliseum
Jac says there are too many deep bonds between he and Will that will ever dissipate