Vincent Mason has spent much of his adult life performing with the popular hip hop group De La Soul around the world at sold-out arenas, rubbing elbows with the biggest of big shots in the music industry, selling over 20 million records.
Last Saturday night, for once, he was in awe. As he watched his son Tre, Auburn’s star junior running back, honored alongside college football’s top players as a Heisman finalist in midtown Manhattan, he nearly was speechless.
“It’s so surreal,” Vincent said he fumbled for the right words to describe his son’s rapid ascension. “Tre is more famous than me right now.”
With that, Vincent , a Long Island product and celebrity in the hip-hop world known as DJ Maseo, let out a few hearty laughs that seemed to carry across the entire ballroom of the Marriott Marquis, because that statement would have been hard to believe even a month ago. His son — and his team — have come from out of nowhere, helped by a few miraculous endings — one “an act of God” Vincent said, in describing the win over two-time defending champion Alabama — to reach the BCS national championship game Jan. 6 against Florida State.
Tre, 20, the son of the lyrical star, has been leading the charge. He has run for 1,621 yards and 22 touchdowns, and has reached at least 100 yards in seven of the past eight games. In the SEC championship against Missouri, he hit all the high notes, amassing 304 yards and four scores.
And he credits his father, whom Tre describes as a “legend” and his “mentor,” for all he has accomplished. Tre saw firsthand what hard work and belief can do.
“Of course it motivated me, having a father who my dad is,” Tre said. “He’s made it. I’ve seen someone make it from nothing. He doesn’t really give us nothing. He makes us work for everything.”
Vincent, now 43, encouraged his children to follow their dreams, as he did at their age. He defied his mother to go into music and went from the Amityville streets to hip-hop stardom, winning a Grammy, and making one platinum and two gold records.
He moved his family to Lake Worth, Fla., when Tre was 8 years old to give them, in his words, a “life of normalcy.” Instead, his son is following his famous footsteps, albeit in a completely different field.
Tre played the drums. He never was musically inclined like his father, but he frequented his concerts and cherished the opportunities to meet renowned artists like Jay Z and Lil’ Wayne. A hyperactive kid, sports was Tre’s calling. As a teenager, Vincent played basketball and boxed. He planned to play football his senior year in high school, but a record deal was on the table, so he shelved that idea.
“Easy decision,” he said, letting out a bellowing laugh.
His influence on his son’s football career on the field was limited. Off the field is a different story.
“The only thing I can say, I was just always myself, just being myself, coming in doing exactly what was in my heart, just having tremendous love and passion for what I do, and I’ve seen him have tremendous love and passion for what he does,” Vincent said.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has coached a handful of NFL running backs, from Darren McFadden to Felix Jones and Ben Tate to Peyton Hillis, and the first-year Auburn head coach rates Mason right there with them.
“He’s in that category,” Malzahn said. “He’s a next-level back, there’s no doubt.”
De La Soul’s music is known for its sampling of different musical genres, ironic considering Tre is a jack-of-all-trades player, a speedy yet powerful back built like a piece of steel at 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds.
“He’s physical, he protects well, he’s as good a back in the country, if not the best back in the country, on third-and-short,” Malzahn said. “He’s unbelievably strong, he’s got great balance, he’s got the knack. The hole doesn’t have to be much, he’s going to get it.”
Auburn is a longshot on Jan. 6, an 8 ¹/₂ -point underdog to ACC champion Florida State and Heisman winner Jameis Winston in the BCS title game in Pasadena, Calif. The odds don’t scare Tre.
“We’ve been fueled by doubt all year,” he said. “Everyone doubted us since Game 1. We’ve been on upset alert since the beginning of the season. We don’t worry about those things, how people doubted us. We’re going to continue to do what we do and get better as a team.”
He learned that lesson from his father several years ago, and it has pushed him to this point.