Mason Espinosa

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Mason Espinosa
No. 15 – Columbus Lions
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:Cookeville (TN)
College:Ohio Wesleyan
Undrafted:2014
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • NAL Most Valuable Player (2021)
  • First Team All-NAL (2021)
  • Second Team All-NAL (2017)

Mason Espinosa is a professional American football quarterback for the Columbus Lions of the National Arena League (NAL). He has also played for the Albany Empire, the Erie Explosion and the Billings Wolves.[1][2][3] Espinosa played college football for Ohio Wesleyan University. He currently holds 17 individual Ohio Wesleyan records, as well as being the all-time North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) career leader in passing yards and total yards, while also setting a single season NCAC record for completions.[4]

He was also an assistant football coach at Granville, Ohio-based Denison University, for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.[5]

College career[]

Espinosa played college football at Ohio Wesleyan University. He was a 4-time all NCAC selection, and was the NCAC Player of the Year in 2012. In addition he was named the ohiocollegefootball.com First-Team All-Ohio quarterback in 2012, and a Beyond Sports Network All-American that same year.[6][7] He was the MVP of the 2013 National Bowl Game.[8] In total, Espinosa finished as the record holder to 17 different records for Ohio Wesleyan, in addition to being the Conference's all-time record holder in career passing yards (11,069), total yards (10,839), and completions (1004), ranking him statistically among the best to have played Division III football.[9][10]

Professional career[]

Upon graduation from Ohio Wesleyan, Espinosa was invited to attend rookie mini-camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers.[11][12][13] Shortly after, he was signed to the Erie Explosion of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) for the 2015 season.[1] In his rookie year, he was an Honorable Mention for Rookie of the year and was the Week 9 PIFL Offensive Player of the week.[14]

Espinosa started the 2016 season with the Columbus Lions of American Indoor Football.[15] In late March 2016, he signed with the Billings Wolves of the Indoor Football League (IFL).[16] He led the Wolves to their only playoff appearance and was the IFL's week 10 Offensive Player of the Week.[14][17]

For the 2017 season, Espinosa signed and played with the Columbus Lions of the NAL. He was voted 2nd team All-NAL and was 2-time NAL Player of the Week, while leading Columbus to the NAL championship game against the Jacksonville Sharks, where they lost 27–21.[18][19][20] He has re-signed with the Lions for 2018.[21]

On March 5, 2019, Espinosa was assigned to the Albany Empire of the Arena Football League. With the AFL closing down its teams in anticipation of either closure or reformatting as a touring league, the Columbus Lions re-signed Espinosa for the 2020 season.[22]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Mason Espinosa '14 Signs with Professional Indoor Football League". owu.edu. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  2. ^ "Mason Espinosa". goifl.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  3. ^ "Lions resign standout QB Mason Espinosa". nationalarenaleague.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "2015 Defiance College Media Guide". issuu.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  5. ^ "Inside Athletics: Mason Espinosa". denisonbigred.com. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  6. ^ "Mason Espinosa". denisonbigred.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  7. ^ "Ohiocollegefootball.com All-Ohio DIII Teams" (PDF). bluffton.edu. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  8. ^ "Sherman Gains Red Nation MVP at National Bowl". goetbutigers.com. December 12, 2013. Archived from the original on November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Denison Coaches". denisonbigred.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  10. ^ "NCAC Football Records". northcoast.org. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  11. ^ "Bishops' Espinosa Invited to Pittsburgh Steelers' Camp". battlingbishops.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "First test comes for Steelers rookies with team's three-day camp". triblive.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  13. ^ "NFL Competition Committee Needs To Change Minicamp Eligibility Rules". steelersdepot.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  14. ^ a b "Billings Wolves' QB Mason Espinosa putting up eye-popping numbers". Billingsgazette.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  15. ^ "Lions open season with dominating 86-0 win". wltz.com. March 21, 2016. Archived from the original on November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ "Wolves sign Ohio Wesleyan quarterback". billingsgazette.com. March 31, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  17. ^ "Week 10 IFL Offensive Player of the Week". goifl.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  18. ^ "Lions resign standout QB Mason Espinosa". columbuslions.net. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  19. ^ "4 COLUMBUS LIONS NAMED TO ALL-NAL OFFENSIVE SQUAD". columbuslions.net.
  20. ^ "Lions Nation, I wanted to personally thank you for a great 2017 season". columbuslions.net. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  21. ^ "Lions resign standout QB Mason Espinosa". nationalarenaleague.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  22. ^ http://www.nationalarenaleague.com/news-m/980-espinoza-resigns-with-lions-for-2020-season.html
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