From ‘dumb kid’ to ‘grown man,’ senior Mason Randolph found ‘home’ in Boise
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- Mason Randolph spent five seasons at Boise State and now regards Boise as home
- Randolph transformed from a troubled youth into a mature leader on and off field
- He plans to pursue pro football and later a career as a strength and conditioning coach
For most student-athletes who come and go through the Boise State football program, their years are action-packed but fleeting, and you can count the number of years they spend in Idaho on one hand.
But for some, Boise becomes more than just a college town. It becomes their home.
California native Ian Johnson, immortalized in Boise State lore thanks to his heroics in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, got married and still lives in Boise, and is a State Farm insurance agent. Kicker Tyler Rausa, who played at Boise State from 2013-16, returned in 2023 to work as an assistant specialists coach for the program. Former linebacker Darren Lee is a police officer with the Boise Police Department.
You can look to add redshirt senior center Mason Randolph to that list in the future.
After five years, Randolph likely will be playing his final game at Albertsons Stadium on Saturday as Boise State (6-4, 4-2 Mountain West) welcomes Colorado State (2-8, 1-5) in a must-win matchup to remain in the race for a spot in the conference championship game.
“I think I would not be the same human being I am without this place, without the people here, without the family that I’ve made at Boise,” Randolph said earlier this week. “I think of Boise as my home. I don’t think of Southern California as my home, even though my family might live there. I think of this place as my home.”
Randolph arrived in the Treasure Valley in 2021 from Yorba Linda, about 37 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County.
There’s no doubting that Randolph has become a better football player the past five years — he was a consistent starter in 2023 as the Broncos boasted the sixth-best running offense in the nation, and powered back from an early-season injury last year to help Boise State win the 2024 Mountain West championship game.
But more than his growth as a football player, Randolph takes pride in his growth as a person in the Treasure Valley.
“I was just a dumb kid making mistakes,” Randolph said about his life before Boise State. “I was doing things the wrong way, going about things the wrong way.”
Randolph said he’s had a “troubled past,” and arriving at Boise State allowed him to “open up” and “be accepted” for who he is.
“When you look at (Mason), in the conversations I have with him, he is a grown man in the way he handles adversity now,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said. “The way he can speak to his team, the way he goes through class, all these different things he has to navigate.”
One of Randolph’s noticeable outside changes since arriving in Boise is the tattoos that now cover his body. His entire right arm is covered, as well as spots on his left arm and both legs. Earlier this year, he got a tattoo of Ashton Jeanty’s signature on his right thigh, after “losing” a bet with the former star running back that he wouldn’t reach 2,000 rushing yards in 2024.
But on his right forearm is a tattoo that keeps him grounded and reminds him of his life before Boise State. Before every game, he’d repeat a saying with two of his favorite high school coaches — one of whom is the father of former Boise State offensive lineman Nathan Cardosa, who graduated last year:
“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because I’m the baddest (mother) in the valley,” the tattoo reads.
The cursive-text ink — which is actually uncensored — is a reference to the “Shepherd’s Psalm” in the Bible, but you won’t find that latter part anywhere in the Book of Psalms.
“That’s something that is stuck with me and will stick with me for the rest of my life,” Randolph said.
The 310-pound offensive lineman would like to get even badder and continue his football career after Boise State. But once he’s done, he wants to become a coach.
“I would love to live here in the future,” Randolph said. “After my football career is over, I kind of plan on being a strength and conditioning coach. ... So that’s kind of dependent on wherever I get hired.”
Boise State Senior Night
Boise State will honor 20 student-athletes this weekend.
There are a couple of younger players who could be seeing their final game on The Blue, too. Danielson said Thursday that redshirt junior left tackle Kage Casey is entering the NFL Draft, while junior safety Ty Benefield is considering declaring.
However, those two players won’t be celebrated publicly on Saturday afternoon. Here is the list of who will:
- TE Mitch Bothwell
- WR Latrell Caples
- CB Jeremiah Earby
- DL Braxton Fely
- OL Zach Holmes
- LS Mason Hutton
- OL Tyler Keinath
- TE Matt Lauter
- DL Keanu Mailoto
- CB A’Marion McCoy
- LB Marco Notarainni
- WR Chase Penry
- OL Mason Randolph
- RB Malik Sherrod
- OL JJ Talo
- TE Luke Voorhees
- DL Dion Washington
- S Zion Washington
- EDGE Malakai Williams
- WR Kobe Young
Boise State vs. Colorado State
- When: 5 p.m. Mountain time Saturday
- Where: Albertsons Stadium (32,796, turf)
- TV: Fox Sports 1 (Chris Myers, Spencer Tillman)
- Radio: KBOI 670 AM / 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
- Records: Boise State 6-4, 4-2; Colorado State 2-8, 1-5
- Series: Boise State leads the series 12-1
- Betting line: Boise State by 16.5
- Weather: 48 degrees, partly cloudy, 6% chance of rain
