ORONO – Joey Morrison could hardly contain his excitement when he arrived Wednesday at the University of Maine football team’s practice.

The beaming 3-year-old from Bangor skipped happily along the sideline. He was a bundle of energy as he tossed a football with his adoptive parents, David and Judy Morrison, and his grandfather, Gil Pratt.

His favorite team? “Maine Black Bears,” he said without hesitation, having attended UMaine hockey games with Pratt since he was a year old.

His favorite football players? “Jovan [Belcher] and Jhamal [Fluellen],” he exclaimed.

Joey’s impressionable mind was a million miles from a reality that has haunted him – the recent death of his beloved grandmother, Sandra Pratt.

“She actually, for the first year of his life, was his caregiver until she got really sick, so he had a hard time,” said Judy Morrison, Pratt’s daughter. “”He was very angry. He didn’t know what to do with his feelings.”

In coping with his grief, Joey has exhibited aggressive behavior toward his 18-month-old brother Danny. The Morrisons sought the help of a local counselor who, through a colleague, knew of someone who might be able to help.

Enter Myer Taksel, a charismatic academic counselor for student-athletes at UMaine.

Having worked intimately with UMaine football players, Taksel has tremendous respect for coach Jack Cosgrove, his program and the players.

“It’s a resource we have that we need to utilize a lot more – the beauty and the special talents of these young men like Jovan and Jhamal,” Taksel said.

He approached Belcher and Fluellen, two child development/family relations majors, about spending time with Joey. They jumped at the chance.

“He [Taksel] said he kind of wanted us to mentor the kid, help him, give him a chance to hang around with us,” said Belcher, of West Babylon, N.Y., who would like to work with kids that are less fortunate or have special needs.

Joey first met the guys after the Sept. 22 game against Massachusetts and played ball with them on Morse Field. The relationship has blossomed.

Fluellen, from Lockport, N.Y., said spending time with Joey reminds him of two special nephews he now doesn’t see very often.

“I absolutely love it,” Fluellen said. “I get to play with him, so it’s a lot of fun. Any time you can influence a little kid’s life it’s the best thing in the world, just to see him smile.”

Joey has attended a handful of practices. Cosgrove recently taught him how to hike the ball, a skill he showed off Wednesday. Joey also demonstrated his touchdown dance.

“All the time he talks about his big buddies,” Judy Morrison said. “They’ve really clicked. It’s really cool to see.”

On Mondays, Belcher and Fluellen spend time with Joey off the field. This week, they went to the Memorial Union where they ate ice cream and played in the arcade.

“He warmed up a lot to us, so that was good,” Belcher said.

Morrison has already seen changes in Joey since he began spending time with the Bears.

Taksel related a story about how Judy Morrison overheard Joey telling Danny he couldn’t hit his brother any more if he wanted to be a Black Bear.

“He looks forward to coming up. It gives him something positive to talk about,” she said.

Joey keeps the guys entertained. They marvel at his sharp memory and high energy level.

“It’s not like he’s a shy little kid,” Belcher said. “He’ll talk about whatever he feels, so for a 3-year-old he has a lot of potential. He’s a smart kid.”

Pratt said Joey’s ability to interact with two other African-American males is another key aspect of the relationship.

“Joey’s at the age now where he’s starting to recognize color,” Pratt said. “He talks about Jovan and Jhamal all the time.”

Taksel saw the educational value of the arrangement. He talked with UMaine professor of family relations and human sexuality Sandy Caron, who turned the mentoring into an independent study course for Fluellen and Belcher.

Taksel also wants to develop a more comprehensive mentoring program that will draw on the talents of numerous UMaine student-athletes such as football players Bobby Admire and Teron Allen, who have been working at Acadia Hospital in Bangor, where they lend their muscle and compassion in dealing with patients who need to be restrained.

“What we want to do is show them that with Black Bear football, we’re here,” Taksel said of the athletes’ willingness to be active in the community.

Cosgrove isn’t surprised to hear about his players’ success in mentoring Joey. Each year, the Bears hold events geared toward local youth.

“Giving back and the modeling that they do for young people, that’s a great part of their experience as a student-athlete,” Cosgrove said. “They learn a lot about themselves in terms of their creativity, their teaching skills.”

He said Fluellen and Belcher have a natural knack for dealing with children.

“There’s nothing probably as impactful as the moment when a child is looking into your eyes for direction or something from you and you can impact him with what you say and do,” Cosgrove said. “It’s great to see them respond the way they do.”

Fluellen and Belcher said the experience has proven more rewarding than they possibly could have imagined.

“Any way we can influence a little kid’s life, just showing him the kind of role models we are and the positive things we try to do in the community, it helps us out a lot but it helps him out even more,” said Fluellen, who added they plan to continue seeing Joey even after the semester is over.