Mason Zandi serious about the right to vote

Asked which teammate would get his vote for president, Gamecocks offensive lineman Zack Bailey put forth his fellow lineman Mason Zandi.

The towering Chapin product is a political science major, interested in politics, and delivered oratory worthy of a politician when the subject of voting came up Tuesday.

“I encourage everyone to vote,” Zandi said. “One thing that somebody had said to me is, ‘Oh, I’m not going to vote because I don’t think my vote makes a difference or because I don’t like Hillary or Trump.’ My message to everyone is go vote because hundreds upon hundreds of veterans have given their lives, given the ultimate sacrifice for us to go vote. If anything, honor what they did.’ ”

So how was he feeling on Election Day?

“It’s an important day, and I want everyone to stress the importance of going and voting,” Zandi said. “No, we’re not the only country in the world that offers citizens (the right) to go vote, but there’s a lot of countries that don’t. To have that right is huge.”

Future pundit?

South Carolina linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams is a broadcast journalism major, and for most athletes, that’s aimed toward a career in spots media.

Allen-Williams bucked that trend. Instead, he’s interested in perhaps covering politics.

“I just try to break that mold,” Allen-Williams said. “When I came in talking to my advisers, that’s something I talked to them about, that I wanted to break that mold of athletes going to straight to sports. I want to be on CNN or MSNBC. That’s something I found was a passion of mine coming into college.”

Notes:

▪  Perry Orth, Zandi and T.J. Holloman were among the players teammates said would get their vote for president.

▪  No players guessed who Will Muschanp supported, though Allen-Williams joked he was supporting the Green Party.

▪  Tight end Hayden Hurst said he was disappointed Gators quarterback Luke Del Rio is out this week. They knew each other in high school.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 8:58 PM.