Behind the Shield with Cam Ayotte

Hello and Happy New Season, welcome to THE RETURN OF BEHIND THE SHIELD, an article series where I, your host, Denzel Valera, will be sitting down with some of your favorite Worcester State Athletes to get to know a bit more about what is inside the mind of these athletes and what inspires and motivates them everyday. 

On this week's series I sat down with a veteran member of the Worcester State University Lancers Men's Football Team. Class of 2026, Quarterback, from Millbury, Massachusetts , #6 Cam Ayotte.

To ease into the interview, I started off with some soft pressure for Cam:

DV: How did you find your love for Football?

Cam: My love for football started back in second grade. During family game times, a huge component was football, and I instantly fell in love with it. My cousin, who's a few years older than me, started playing too, and my grandfather actually founded the football league in Millbury. It's always kind of been in the family, and once I was old enough to play, everything just took off from there.

DV: Why did you choose Worcester State University?

Cam: So my sister was attending Worcester State, she's two years older than me so she really influenced me during my junior and senior years of high school when I knew football was the route I wanted going into college, I wanted to play somewhere close to home so my family could go to all the games, and as a way to get back home to people that were very involved in my football career and who I rely on. Worcester State  lined up with what I wanted and where I wanted to be for the next four years. 

DV: What makes the team culture different from past teams?

Cam: So, with our new coach, first year Head Coach Laz, it's kind of been a new voice we are following. It's a fresh start for us; we like playing for Coach Laz, there's a new element to it, it's really focused on bringing the fun and enjoyment back to the field. We are really starting to compete, really start to get after it, and this program is going to take off now.

Now to step away a bit from the serious and bring back a bit of that game time fun.

DV: Would you rather have speed or strength?

Cam: I think with the way I play, if I had speed I would capitalize on some plays a little bit more.

DV: What's your favorite movie? 

Cam: My favorite movie is Field of Dreams. I usually watch it at the start of the baseball season.

DV: Who's your all time favorite athlete, and how did they inspire you? 

Cam: My favorite athlete ever is Calvin Johnson,  he was a Receiver for the Detroit Lions. I think I saw him play once as a kid and loved him ever since, he was also another reason why I fell in love with football. I don't think there is any specific thing that drew me to him, he has always been my favorite player ever.

DV: What are your top 5 musical artists? 

Cam:

1. Zac Brown Band

2. Morgan Wallen

3. Cody Johnson

4. Zach Bryan

5. Riley Green

DV: What's your favorite food? 

Cam:  My favorite food gotta be steak,  big steak guy, I eat steak alot

DV: Instead of making it pro, what is your dream job?

Cam: My dream job now is I want to be a police officer when I leave Worcester State, I want to be a state trooper is the dream goal.

DV: Where do you want to travel to?

Cam: On my bucket list I really want to get to Ireland, like I really want to go to Ireland, that's up top.

DV: What (Field, Stadium, Arena) would you like to play in? 

Cam: I would like to play at Ford Field, that's where my favorite team plays, but obviously growing up in Massachusetts, Gillette Stadium, as well.

And now for the final drive... 

DV: Who was your biggest role model growing up? 

Cam: I would probably say my dad. He got me involved in sports heavily, he was an athlete growing up, I got a lot of my athleticism from him. He wasn't a football player growing up, he actually was a soccer player, he also played basketball and was a baseball player as well which I did get to learn from him, like competitiveness all stems from him.

DV: Who do you model your playstyle after? 

Cam: Yeah, after a little discussion with Coach Laz, we kind of decided that my playstyle is mirrored off of 2 guys, in terms of on the field traits of Jay Cutler, we went for the personality and the competitiveness of Phil Rivers.

DV: What were your personal goals/team goals this upcoming season?

Cam: I thought I was going to be an all-conference player here, obviously I don't know if the stats are there for it right now. It's still a goal right out there for me  that I want to take care of. So, we are a top passing offence in the conference, and we just need to try to put up more points on the board. Our team goals, my freshman and sophomore year we were 1-9 both years, last year we went three and seven, it feels like we are on a steady increase, our team goals is to obviously win a championship, win every game, get a little better every year, eventually at the right time this thing will take off and we will be competing at the top of the conference, it might not be this year after a 1-4 start but maybe we can put some more wins on the boards and get around .500  and that's a good season for us.

DV: Do you have any final remarks or comments? 

Cam: We have three more home games left, lets try to get a lot of people out there, lets try to finish the season strong, and have a good atmosphere out there, lets make this a place where people want to come and play football, so we can build this thing, lets make this thing a winner.

~Denzel Valera~