Basketball, Wrestling
Favorite athlete: Kevin Durant
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Playing in my first varsity football game my sophomore year
Music on iPod: Toby Keith, Zac Brown Band
Future plans: Serve in the military, become an engineer
Words to live by: “Don’t do something because it is easy, do it because it is hard.”
One goal before you turn 30: Be proud of what I am doing
By Mary Jane Souder
John Donnelly describes Mark Remmey as a rock on the defensive line of this year’s Central Bucks East football team.
The senior defensive end had 10 tackles in Saturday’s big win over Central Bucks South. It’s the kind of performance that is all but expected from the gifted lineman.
“He really excels on the defensive side of the ball,” Donnelly said. “He’s just got a tremendous motor – he’s relentless.
“There are times when he’s just unstoppable. He can be that dominant as a player.”
Remmey – who measures in at 6-4, 235 - has the physical attributes to be an outstanding player, but it’s much more than that.
“It’s a lot of time and effort you put into it in the offseason,” he said. “Coach Donnelly says it’s about the motor. Can you consistently play at a high level?
“There are guys that have the strength and the size, but they don’t always apply it on the field. It’s a completely different thing. You just have to have it.”
And Remmey certainly ‘has it,’ something his coach recognized early on in his career.
“Mark has been in the program all four years I have been here,” Donnelly said. “As a sophomore he played a little bit towards the end of the year.
“You quickly saw because of his intellect, he picked things up quickly, and we knew we had a good one.
Initially, Remmey played defensive end and tight end, but out of necessity, he was asked to move to tackle going into his junior year.
“Mark very unselfishly said, ‘Whatever the team needs,’ and he became a pretty good offensive lineman,” Donnelly said.
Remmey comes by his athletic talents naturally. His mother and father were both standout athletes as well twin sisters Melissa and Carolyn. Growing up, Remmey played basketball, baseball, lacrosse and football. In middle school, he stuck with football, basketball and lacrosse, but opted to give up both basketball and lacrosse when he got to high school.
Last year, Remmey joined the wrestling team in order to stay in shape. He did much more than that as he became an important contributor. He wrestled in the 220-pound weight class and advanced to districts in his first season.
“In the beginning, I struggled a little bit, but toward the end, I started doing better,” he said. “The hardest part was the stuff I’d never done before – all the moves.
“I was learning a new sport and doing things I’d never done with my body before. It was kind of challenging. It was just a cool thing to try something new.”
Remmey enjoyed it so much that he plans to go back out for the team again this winter, but football is his passion.
“I think it’s a sport I excelled in,” he said. “I have more fun playing football.”
Winning doesn’t hurt either, and the Titans recently knocked off archrival Central Bucks South.
“I have always known we were a good team,” Remmey said. “Other people didn’t give us much credit before.
“Now they’re starting to realize that after we beat South. The teams we’ve lost to have all been good teams. I think we’re starting to assert ourselves and show people we’re a good team.”
Remmey was rated one of the top lineman in the area by the Philadelphia Inquirer in its preseason all-area list. He plans to play at the collegiate level with his top choices West Point or the United States Naval Academy.
“I have always wanted to go there since middle school,” he said. “It’s something that’s important to me.”
According to Donnelly, he is a perfect candidate.
“He’s outstanding in the classroom, and he’s a natural leader,” the Patriots’ coach said. “We have had a lot of kids who have gone through the football and lacrosse programs who have gone into the academies.
“It takes a special person, and Mark is that kind of kid.”
Remmey, a member of the National Honor Society, excels in the classroom. He boasts a 3.8 GPA and received a 1360 on his SATs (verbal/math). He is a peer tutor, a member of FCA and coaches at youth camp.
The past three summers he has taken mission trips with his church.
“We work on houses for lower income people and people who need it for whatever reason,” said Remmey who was joined on the trips by teammates Jake Duncan and Ryan Kronmiller. “This year we helped put up a tin roof. The year before we built a handicap ramp.
“When I was in West Virginia, I remember especially we were talking to the pastors about how we’re given so much. People down there learn to enjoy things that aren’t so materialistic.”
Remmey plans to major in mechanical engineering with hopes of a future in the military.
“He will be an outstanding football player, but his real track is he wants to get into the academies” Donnelly said. “He’s not looking at the next four years but the next 40.
“Mark is well respected by his peers. He represents everything we want an East football player to be.”
