The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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42 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER n 2020, NC State's game-week media availabilities — typically held in per- son after Tuesday and Wednesday's football practices — have been forced online thanks to the COVID-19 pan- demic. Offensive players go Tuesday, defense a day later. In the final availability of the regular sea- son, leading up to Senior Day on Dec. 5 against Georgia Tech, fifth-year senior of- fensive guard Joe Sculthorpe led off with a long-winded 17-minute back-and-forth with the press. The follow-up act was his classmate tight end Cary Angeline. Sculthorpe sarcastically noted it was time for the "talkative" Ange- line to take questions. That same day, Angeline cut about a 40-second video on the day of his gradua- tion from NC State, thanking the university and Raleigh for becoming his second home. Upon seeing it on Twitter, junior safety Tan- ner Ingle responded, "The most words I've ever heard this man speak at once." Angeline may be quiet and soft-spoken, but his play has and continues to speak loudly on the field, in potentially record- setting ways. Bred Into Football Some people are born to play football. Angeline may have taken it a step forward by being born to play tight end on the gridiron. "Ever since when I first started playing tackle football, the first position I played was tight end," Angeline pointed out. "It's kind of been my only position." It started with his grandfather Fran, a two-way performer who lined up at tight end on offense and was a team captain at Colgate. One of his most famous opponents in those days was legendary Syracuse star and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown, argu- ably the greatest running back of all time. Angeline's father, Chris, was a standout high school quarterback that played at Co- lumbia. A shoulder injury led Chris to, you guessed it, move to tight end in college. An- geline also had two uncles that played some college football, including one at tight end. Brother Ryley bucked the trend, playing linebacker and running back at Delaware. It's easy to picture what Thanksgiving was probably like in the Angeline house- hold. "Growing up, we would always go to my grandparents' house around the holidays, whether it was my mom's side or my dad's side, but football was always there," Ange- line said. "It's always been big in both sides of my family. "There were always football games on, football conversations going on." Angeline is somewhat unique in the fam- ily. He checks in at 6-7, 250 pounds and was always the tall one in his class. His height even stands out among relatives. "I think I am the tallest by about four to five inches," he noted. "Not exactly sure how I got so tall. My parents are relatively tall, but no one in my family is really as tall as me." Growing up, Angeline was active in sports, playing baseball, basketball and football. Obviously being tall provided ad- vantages on the hardwood, and Angeline conceded that in middle school and the be- ginning of high school he probably figured he was destined for basketball more so than the family tradition of football. He had reasons for believing that. With a soft touch and the ability to use his height in the post, Angeline averaged 15.0 points per game as a freshman for Downingtown East High in Chester Springs, Pa. That increased to 19.9 points an outing a year later before he averaged a double-double of 22.4 points and 12.0 rebounds as a junior. By the time he was earning all-league honors following his junior campaign, An- geline had already had a change of belief about his future. As a sophomore competing against older players on varsity, Angeline caught 33 passes for 456 yards and six touchdowns, giving him the confidence that he had a future in football. "That was the first time, that first year of varsity, I got to compete with the older guys, see how I stack up against them," he recalled. "I did a good job against the older guys." His first recruiting letter, coming from the University of Miami in January of his sophomore year in high school, provided further vindication. Soon, Angeline would become a high-profile recruit, a four-star prospect according to most recruiting ser- vices with a who's who offer list. For someone who was a fan of watching the powerhouse teams at Southern Cal led by Heisman Trophy winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, an offer from the Trojans proved to be the ultimate prize. "I was lucky enough to have some good opportunities and good offers," Angeline said. "I was lucky enough that my dad took me on a bunch of visits. USC was one of them. "Growing up, I was always a big USC fan. I just took a visit out there and thought it would be a great opportunity that I couldn't pass up. It was definitely a great experience there, being the kid from Pennsylvania and going out to L.A., where it's a whole differ- ent culture and different lifestyle. "Getting that experience when I was 18 was great for me." Finding A New Home At NC State When Angeline redshirted his first season at USC, he was named its Offensive Service Team Player of the Year, the Trojans' ver- sion of the scout team. Expectations were building, but Angeline wanted something different. In September of his redshirt freshman year, Angeline decided to transfer. NATURAL-BORN TIGHT END After Transferring From USC To NC State, Cary Angeline Has Established Himself As One Of The ACC's Best At His Position I