Football Captain Walks Onto Men’s Lacrosse

After falling in love with the game of lacrosse at a young age, senior football captain Owen Gaydos ’25 has returned to the sport for his final semester on campus, walking onto the men’s lacrosse team for their spring 2025 season.

Gaydos had an illustrious career for the Mammoths’ football program. Playing all four years, he brought in 120 receptions for 1067 total yards. However, his true contributions to the team cannot be quantified. Fellow football wide receiver Keith Delaney ’26 described Gaydos as having the “best hands [he’d] ever seen from a receiver,” and men’s lacrosse captain Ben Bruno ’25 noted his aggressiveness and amazing footwork.

His playmaking ability is also unmatched — Delaney recounted Gaydos’ catch in a 2023 game against Bowdoin as a prime example of his phenomenal skills.

“We needed the first down, and asked him to run a route he doesn’t normally do. He caught the ball falling down and contort[ed] his body to ice the game for us,” Delaney said. “Even the Bowdoin announcers couldn’t believe the catch.”

And his legacy to the team far surpasses these isolated instances — as a football captain and Academic All-District honoree, “Gaydos facilitated a strong team culture that emphasized many important values,” added fellow dual-sport athlete (lacrosse and football) Sam Gerber ’26.

After the completion of his football career in 2024, Gaydos decided to put the stick back in his hand more than 10 years after he first picked it up. “I loved football more than anything,” Gaydos explained. “But I always missed lacrosse.”

The sport runs in Gaydos’ blood. He grew up playing for Long Island Express North, beginning in just third grade. His actions mirrored those of his older brother, Luke, who went on to play collegiate lacrosse at Brown, where he won an Ivy League championship and earned both All-Ivy and Scholar All-American honors. Aside from his sheer athletic talent, Gaydos says his brother set the tone for hard work and dedication, both on and off the field: “I think watching the way he never cut corners and always did the right thing really molded me into the person I am today.”

Covid meant that Gaydos missed most of his brother’s collegiate career, but during Gaydos’ first year at Amherst, his brother was in his final season at Brown. That year, Gaydos “made it [his] goal to go to every one of [Luke’s] games whether it was home in Providence or all the way in Philadelphia.” The team had quite the tournament run that year, which “definitely kept lacrosse on [his] mind and made [him] miss it that much more.”

When Gaydos got to Amherst, he focused on football from the start, but the idea of becoming a dual-sport athlete stayed in the back of his mind. Walking on “was something I had always thought about doing since I was a freshman,” he explained. Ultimately, it was the other two-sport athletes on campus who solidified his choice to walk on. He credited people ahead of him at Amherst — like 2022 men’s lacrosse captain PJ Clementi ’22 — who showed him it was possible to walk on as a senior. “PJ walked onto football his senior year, and I thought it was the coolest thing.”

But it was Gerber — who, like Gaydos, plays wide receiver on the football field and middie in lacrosse  — who inadvertently pushed him to schedule the meeting with Head Coach Sean Woods and ask if he could try out. “Just seeing [Gerber] excel at both sports and rave about the lacrosse guys was enough for me to want to meet [with the coaches],” Gaydos said.

And Coach Woods was happy to schedule the meeting. “After only a few days of trying out it was clear that Gaydos was a great leader. His effort level and attention to the details was immediately noticeable,” Woods said. Although he said that Amherst has seen a decline in dual-sport athletes due to increased specialization in high school sports, Woods praised the dual-sport athletes on the men’s lacrosse team: they are “all very dynamic and team-first guys.”

As Gaydos works to translate his football skills — like his change of direction and footwork — to the lacrosse field, his new teammates are ecstatic to welcome him. Gaydos’ “care for his teammates elevates everyone around him individually and the team as a whole,” noted Gerber.  ‘"I feel our energy and positive vibes have skyrocketed,’" Bruno added. Woods has great faith in Gaydos’ athletic ability but ultimately zeroed in on his leadership as the quality he is most excited for Gaydos to bring to the locker room and field.

Speaking with his football and lacrosse teammates, their enthusiasm towards Gaydos joining the team was palpable. When Woods announced Gaydos’ acceptance to the team in a video posted to the team’s Instagram, it was reposted by @LacrosseNetwork and currently has more than 534,000 views. “Seeing all the guys excited after [the announcement] meant everything to me,” Gaydos said. “It was also funny just getting texts from people I hadn't heard from in years who saw the video.”

This excitement is shared by all Mammoth fans. Through it all, Gaydos said his focus is on the upcoming season, meshing with the guys, and converting his football quickness and IQ to the lacrosse field. The team kicks off their season at home against Middlebury on March 1 at 2 p.m. “This is such a tight group, and I'm just lucky to be a part of it,” he said.